La La La Brasil in Hyderabad!
Hyderabad’s rapidly-evolving F&B scenario now includes a Brazilian churrascaria (grills) styled barbecue restaurant, with a fair bit of Lebanese on the menu too, at Radisson Hyderabad Hi-Tec City. Located on the roof-top poolside terrace of the hotel, Chama Gaucha (literally translated means flames of the South American cowboy!) has a decidedly groovy ambience, with a fabulous aerial view of the glittering night life of High Tech City and Gachibowli. The entrance to the restaurant has a colorful wall representing the color and energy of Brazil. I wish there would be some foot-tapping Latino music, though there was a live performance which was pretty good too!
The entrance to the roof-top Chama Gaucha is colorful & vibrant!
While the restaurant did a soft launch a couple of months ago, a bloggers table was hosted officially more recently one evening, announcing their menu, to which Eatopan Chronicles was also invited.
The weather was breezy and extremely pleasant that evening to be sitting outdoors and we were soon attended to by Vikramaditya Kura, the F&B assistant manager, whom I remembered having done an earlier stint at The Park Hyderabad, and who stirred up the most amazing cocktails for us on this occasion.
From the beverages menu, Vikram suggested Suffering Bachelor, which I ordered, despite being neither of the name. It turned out to be a humungous sized serving, but was a well-made cocktail, vodka, white rum, gin, angasutra bitters, lemon juice and ginger ale. No wonder, it tasted divine!
Suffering Bachelor was a lovely drink: vodka, white rum, angsutra bitters, gin ale, lemon juice, perfecto!
I will come to the other drink in due course of time. Coming to the food menu, it has plenty of salads, grilled meats, burgers, pizzas and desserts. There are plenty of cold and hot appetisers, and we began our meal with the Chama Goucha special house salad with berry reduction. It was lovely: fresh and flavourful, assorted greens (lettuce and arugula) with fruits (strawberries, musk melon, plums, oranges), nuts and toasted melon seeds. Followed a mezze platter, with their home-made pita breads which also bear the stamp of their insignia. The hummus and the hung curd drips were all perfect and fresh. The breads basket was also pretty good, and especially outstanding was the Pao De Quizo, cheese-filled bread roundels, which were crisp and with one bite the cheese went melting in your mouth, yummy!
Chama Gaucha House Salad was delish!
Mezze Platter with pita breads bearing the Chama Gaucha insignia
The Cheesy & crispy Brazilian Pao De Quijjo
There was also a Not So Classic Chicken Caesar Salad, which was crunchy and fresh too, cant remember what was “not so classic” about it, though…I mean, it was the usual lettuce, chicken salad thing.
In the hot starters were Fried Camaroes, crispy panko-crusted golden prawns with orange aioli, and these were just too delicious! The fresh prawns were crunchy hot outside and succulent-soft inside, perfect!
Panko crusted prawns
We also tried the Chicken Sheesh Touk (Med-style marinade of hung curd, paprika, cinnamon, lemon & garlic served with fattoush salad, harissa, hummus and pita breads) which was light and made for a great munch!
Time for main courses and it was churrascaria time. Churrascaria is the Brazilian word for a place to barbecue meats and at Chama Gaucha it is their live kitchen which houses the Brazilian grills.
We are served Coxa De Frango, chicken hand-rubbed and marinated in rock salt, paprika, thyme and fresh onion and garlic, and served with rocket jalapeno dip. The chicken was smoky and well-grilled and the grilled pineapple served along with some veggies (mushrooms, zucchini and grilled potatoes) providing the right tangy touch. There was also some herb buttered rice, making it a perfect entree.
Coxa De Frango
Also tried was Coxa De Cordeiro, the Australian leg of lamb with freshness of mint and spices, which was a tad salty although the meat (premium-grade Australian meat imported from source) was excellently done!
I had no stomach for desserts, so will perhaps touch on them some other time. But the second drink which I had, Grande Bastardo was superb, whisky, chocolate, hazelnut syrup, Baileys and all shaken..!
Where Chama Gaucha scores is its succulent grilled meats, fresh salads and breads, divine potions and the lovely poolside ambience. A meal for two would set you back by at least Rs 2000 at the least. Go, splurge on a special occasion! And if you have deep pockets, dine more often!
