Calgarylicious: Gaucho Brazillian BBQ - meat lovers' happy place

Had our new friend Ray not led us to this place, we would never have found this hidden jewel behind Best Western hotel on 3605 Manchester Rd SE off of Macleod Trail in Calgary.

The restaurant is small, but cozy and casual with handwritten chalk boards that explain to you how their Rodizio - their $35 ($28 for lunch) buffet works. The chef comes around with skewers of meat, and he won't stop until you flip your cow-shaped card from green to red.

They first start you off with a couple of delicious appetizers, including two flavours of fried manioc roots, which tasted like big, crispy fries with a more meaty, starchy filling.

There was also garlic bread and a very refreshing, tangy salsa of peppers, onions and olive oil. The buffet also includes the 4 appetizers offered on their menu: Fried jasmine rice, chunky potato salad with green beans and corn, tomato salad with a chunk of bamboo shoot, and braised beef with black beans, which I though was very flavourful and tender.

Regrettably, I ate two bowls worth of trailmix before coming to dinner so I couldn't participate in the all-you-can-eatathon, so I orderd the 1 grill item + 1 side combo ($13). I picked the rump steak, which turned out to be a little dry, with a generous serving of the potato salad. The side salad was sitting on a pool of dressing that was so acidic that it hurt my throat on the first bite.

For Rodizio, I snuck a few sampling bites of a couple of of the items (the ones I comment on), just out of curiosity. They had grilled banana, pineapple, lamb (very flavourful, very juicy), chicken wings, chicken heart (may sound gross to some, but it was actually the best tasting piece of meat among all others), pork, bbq ribs, sausages, and different cuts of beef that were juicy and tender.

Overall, this place is worth the visit for hungry carnivores who want to spoil their tastebuds with a diversed selection of well bbqed meats.