This restaurant closed on 2023-01-28. Thanks for the memories!
Artisanal Bolivian snacks
Bolivian restaurants are really hard to come by. Even in New York, the city with the most number of cuisines in the world, there are less than 3 Bolivian places. It might be due to the paucity of unique dishes and scarcity of immigrants. Bolivia is one of the poorest countries in South America and not as touristed as its neighbours. So, I was excited when Munay opened up in the Wychwood neighbourhood. It’s probably the first, and definitely the only Bolivian food place in Toronto.
Munay
Munay is a cafe that specializes in salteñas and other pastries. Without question, salteña is the most emblematic dish of Bolivia. The best way to describe it is a soupy empanada. There’s a certain technique in eating it so that the liquid doesn’t spill out.
This restaurant closed on 21 June 2022. Thanks for the memories!
Bringing out the best in Brazilian cooking
Sabor Brasil is one of the rare full-service Brazilian restaurants in Toronto that has a decent ambience and terrific food. In fact, it does humble classics much better than most places I’ve been to in Brazil.
Sabor Brasil
Most people outside of lusophone countries don’t know much about Brazilian food other than steak houses (churrascarias). Toronto does have examples of those but churrascarias are meant for a splurge meal. To get an idea of everyday Brazilian food, come to Sabor Brasil.
Ecuadorian dishes are mostly the same as its neighbours, Colombia and Peru. There are a couple of unique ones, but none of them has captured the attention of South America, let alone the world. If you would like to try this lesser-known cuisine, La Morena is a good place to start. It specializes in snacks but offers special entrées on weekends.
La Morena
Their most popular finger foods are South American empanadas. Argentinian, Chilean, and Colombian varieties are on their regular menu. Strangely, Ecuadorian ones are absent. More on that later.
Copacabana is one of the few places in Toronto to experience a Brazilian churrascaria, rodízio style. A churrascaria is a grilled meat restaurant while rodízio means all-you-can-eat. In Brazil, such restaurants typically have waiters going around tables with different cuts of meats on a skewer. The meat is carved tableside. Outside of Brazil, this sort of restaurant is simply known as rodizio, or a Brazilian steakhouse.
Copacabana is the longest-running rodízio in the Toronto region. However, this branch is not the oldest. It’s the most convenient though, right in downtown Toronto.
Dining area, lower floor
How to eat at a rodízio
The typical rodízio has a buffet where you pick up vegetables, appetizers, and desserts. But that’s not what diners are there for. Waiters roam around the restaurant, brandishing skewers of barbecued meats. Diners use a mechanism on the table to get the waiters’ attention. At Copacabana, this mechanism is a disc. Flip to the blue side “Sim” (Yes) to indicate you want more meat. Flip to the red side “Não” (No) to stop the flow of meat.
Top right: disc used to indicate whether the diner wants more meat. Appetizers clockwise from left: cheese bread, roasted brussels sprouts, farofa (toasted cassava flour), feijoada (bean stew), roasted zucchini.
Copacabana also provides each diner with a small tong to grab slivers of meat as they are carved in front of them.
Special orders can be made on request, especially for more expensive items or items that take longer to prepare. The hostess at Copacabana frequently moves around the restaurant and asks diners which items they would like to have. This is a good idea as it reduces food wastage.
