My experience in a Brazilian restaurant in Nuenen

Written by Bruna Ugá. 

    One of the things we Brazilians miss the most when we are abroad, even if it is just for a short period, is our food. My husband and I always cook meals for us and our friends to celebrate our cuisine, but sometimes you just miss going to a restaurant and having your favorite dishes - without the need for grocery shopping and doing the dishes afterwards. So you can imagine my excitement when I went to "Comigo", a Brazilian themed restaurant here in the Netherlands. 

With me's decoration. Feb. 2024.

    I had been to "Comigo" last year but it was during the afternoon while we were showing the town Nuenen to my parents-in-law. Because of that we just had some coffee and dessert which tasted really good and already made me like the place. So this time we decided to go there during the evening since at this period they serve our famous barbecue (barbecue) truly in the gaucho*  style roasting meat with the swords (big metal skewers). Also in the Brazilian style is the rodízio in which the meat is served in turns by the waiters at the table. There's a buffet with different kinds of salads and pastas which you can get freely and you can't forget my beloved trio: feijoada , white rice and farofa (toasted cassava flour). And to top all of that I had a glass of caipirinha, a popular Brazilian drink made with cachaça . 

    There's no mystery: I really enjoyed the food! Everything was tasty and reminded me of home. Of course there are a few differences from what I would usually get at home, so I'll point them out here: there was a big variety of meat, like chicken, pork, sausages, lamb and even fish and shrimp. I like eating all of this so it was great - well, I just didn't have the fish because that was a little bit too distinct at a barbecue for me. I think the main difference is that there were fewer options of red meat cuts than we would find in a rodízio in Brazil. The star of the show was the picanha which tasted DELICIOUS! It melted in my mouth like butter and that is a terrific sign. So in my opinion the meal was really worth it. But here is the heads up if you are the kind of person that goes to a Brazilian barbecue only with the red meat in mind. 

Rump steak. Feb. 2024.

Caipirinha drink. Feb. 2024.

    Another big difference for us was the soup before the main meal. I have to say that it was something odd for my husband and I because we had never heard of soup before barbecue but of course we gave it a try. There were three options, I had the mushroom one which tasted good. The soup is not mandatory in the menu and you may skip this part if you like it. But this actually was a learning moment for me because after sharing this experience on my Instagram stories, a classmate from college in Brazil told me that having soup before barbecue is a common practice for gaúchos who live in the countryside of Rio Grande do Sul. That it was a surprise not only for me but also for my husband who is also a gaúcho but from the capital region and I was really amazed to have learned that. 

Roasted meat. Feb. 2024. 

Sausage, farofa, salad and chimichurri. Feb. 2024. 

    For dessert I had brigadeiro and beijinho, two kinds of Brazilian sweets made of condensed milk with chocolate/coconut. It doesn't get more Brazilian than that, I assure you. We went there with a couple of friends who are European and I'm glad they really liked the experience. My friend had pavê for dessert which is very popular in my country but here it was served in a different style. That didn't stop me from making the famous joke "É pa-vê ou pa comê ?"** which is an old and silly Brazilian joke with the name of the dessert. So I guess I'm already old enough to be that relative at family gatherings who make dad jokes.  

Mushroom soup. Feb. 2024. 

Brigadeiro and kiss. Feb. 2024. 

With Me Restaurant. Feb. 2024. 

You may find "Comigo Lunch & Braziliaanse BBQ" at  Park 25, 5671 GB Nuenen, and at their website comigo.nl . Good barbecue!

*Gaúcho is the word used for Brazilians who live in the state of Rio Grande do Sul. 

**The word pavê  really sounds like when we say "to see" in Portuguese, so there's always someone to point at the dessert and ask "é pa-vê ou pa comê ?" or  "is it to see or to eat ?". (Maybe I just ruined the joke by trying to explain it, but I had to try).