347 & 348 – Brazilian

Get you minds out of the gutter! This has nothing to do with shaving peoples genitalia.

A couple that we had become friendly with over the last year had recently given birth to their first child – Joshua. Although Isla had managed to see him, I’d been unwell that day and didn’t fancy passing on my dreadful cold to the new born. It took almost 2 months till we got a chance to catch up with them again as, understandably, they’d had relative after relative visit them from the UK and we’d all been tied up with work and the festive period.

So at last we met up for lunch were I got a chance to see the newest addition to their family. He was very cute but as is the want of 3 month old kids he spent most of the time asleep in his buggy. The adults on the other hand had a good gossip over wonderfully simple but deceptively tasty 347. Brazilian meal in a small South American café near their apartment in Manly. A hard one to describe, I’d got as far as to say that it was a bit like Mexican but with a more rustic flavour and presentation.

I had the beef-something-or-other which to be honest looked the same as everyone else’s at the table (and in the whole restaurant) but it was delectable and came with a scrumptious bean sauce, rice and salad. As I said simple but extremely palatable.

To drink we had a carbonated beverage called 348. Guarana which comes in a can much like any other soft drink but apparently is close to out-selling Coke in Brazil. Everyone in there, bar us, were Brazilian and they were guzzling it in what looked like and effort to put Coca-Cola out of business. It was actually quite decent but very sugary. Not a taste I’ve ever had before and I don’t really know how to describe it much in the same way that it’s impossible to describe the flavour of Irn Bru to someone who’s never drank it.

The café itself was very cool and as with everything in Manly, laid back enough to be virtually horizontal. So much so that the guy at the till didn’t know what charge us and settled on a figure around $50 for 4 of us which was more than reasonable. In fact I think he was more worried about changing the CD that was playing than making anyone pay for their meals.

Another new meal, another new drink. Not the ground-breaking adventures of legends but new things none the less.