Our new reviews

I have been suffering to solve a dilema for a while. Should I express and opinion about the Brazilian restaurants I visit or not? You may think this is a no-brainer for a blogger but the problem is that I know a lot of the owners of the restaurants in the UK. They are all very nice, decent hard-working people who are trying their best – even if sometimes the result is still quite far off the mark.

The second is that I have very high standards. I cook Brazilian food and even write about it quite frequently, so I will be fussier than most people when appraising a dish. I am actually Brazilian and have tasted most Brazilian dishes in Brazil and know what they should taste like – so there’s no fobbing me off with an imitation muqueca or a bad Quindim. I would hate to deprive someone from their first taste of Brazilian food just because it’s not the best they can have. Who knows what proper Chinese food actually tastes like. Should I stop eating the UK’s diluted form of Chinese just because it’s not 100% authentic?

But regardless of my feelings, I have come to realise that the readers of this blog, as of many magazines and newspapers, expect me to draw a line in the sand and tell them which restaurants I think they will enjoy and which should be denounced to the health authorities. I won’t say anything in my blog that I would not be happy to say to the restaurant owner’s face.

To keep things as impartial as possible I have decided that every time I visit a restaurant with the purpose of writing a review, I will take at least 2 friends, so they can give me their positive and negative points too. And I’ll make sure these are opinionated friends whose opinions I can’t influence. And hopefully we’ll be getting their opinions in video, so you can have the full force of their emotions.

If you would like to join us when we go out to review a restaurant email me at nandocuca@cucabrazuca.com, and please feel free to leave a comment on any of our reviews. You don’t have to agree with us and if we have done a terrible injustice to a restaurant, we’ll be glad to look at it again.