Raizes

We had a great time at Raizes. It was our first time there. Staff was really helpful and prompt. We left after an hour (we had an appt at the other end of the city), we were totally full as the waiter would come with all sorts of meat all the time. The only down point was the buffet, but hey who goes to a rodozio to eat buffet anyway?? :) 5 stars on food, environment and staff!! Well done!

We didn't have the buffet. Come on guys, are buffets ever good?! Go for a selection of appetizers. We had the chicken hearts, sliced steak, casava fries and rice and beans. I've been to Brazil and few times, believe us, this stuff's delicious.

Raizes is the best Brazilian restaurant in London... My Brazilian boyfriend and I went here on Saturday night - we were pleasantly surprised. With all the bad reviews and our previous bad experiences at other Brazilian restaurasta, we weren't expecting much, but Raizes is wonderful. Actually, I can't fault it. Great atmosphere, brilliant staff and service... and most importantly, fantastic, authentic Brazilian food and drink. My boyfriend hates to do 'Brazilian things' but we'll definitely be going back to Raizes, even though we live the other side of town. Sorry I forgot to tip!!!

I love rodizio restaurants, and have been to quite a few around London. I'd have to say that in my opinion this is by far the worst I've been to. The salads run out very quickly and don't seem to be refilled. The hot buffet dishes are OK. But the really disappointing aspect is the meat - there is an extremely limited selection, it is all very dry and flavourless, and it comes to the table far too infrequently. Normally I would expect to go to a rodizio and come out an hour or so later feeling really full. I've eaten at Raizes twice, and left hungry both times. Please don't think I'm a serial complainer - I'm usually pretty easily satisfied, and this is the first time I've ever felt the need to leave a restaurant review. There are some good rodizio restaurants in London - but this isn't one of them.

One of my WORST dinning out experiences ever. It was quite embarrassing actually. I have been to Raizes a few times. And I noticed how everything started to deteriorate, from service to the quality of the food. I am not usually a cruel restaurant reviewer, but last night's experience at Raízes was despicable! First I called to make a reservation...I was told the restaurant was fully booked all day on a Sunday. Then he opened the exception to find me a table at 4:30PM. My first tought was: this is great! Busy restaurant means fresh food. To our surprise, upon arrival the restaurant was almost empty. I mentioned the fully booked reference and I was told by the owner that the restaurant would be incredibly busy in the next few minutes. I noticed the salad bar is now very small. The food was not replaced. Well, I stayed there for a couple of hours eagerly waiting for some fresh meat. But that never came to us. Now, I could expect to be at least served well by the Brazilians...but the service was so bad that we had to get out of our tables to buy drinks at the bar twice! No one came to check on us during the WHOLE time we stayed in there. And I repeat: no waiter came to us to ask if we wanted something! We had to go and get our plates in a self service manner and wait for the burnt and dry meat! Should I ever return? NO! And an unhappy customer will spread the word to a lot more people than a happy one.

We went to Raizes last night and left without eating!!!!! Had made a reservation but there was not a table ready for us so we were offered a table in the ultra cold conservatory where the other diners were wearing woolly hats! whilst waiting for the table we looked at the buffet which was almost empty and the food that was there looked awful. It was all dried up, the chips looked inedible and the beans and other dishes had a scum on them and scum all around the edges of the containers. There was even a ladle in one container that had fallen in and not been removed so you would have had the germs from everyone that had touched it all day - yumm. We decided the best thing to do was leave and not chance it at all. NO STARS FOR RAIZES!

1st time visiting raizes and also 1st time having a rodizio buffet Would not go back for the following reasons: 1) the concept was not explained to us on how service works with regards to serving the meet... we waited 30minutes seeing meat being taken to every other table but ours before i aksed to speak to the manager as teh table next to us had arrived and was given meat after 5 minutes. This is because they had gone up to the buffet got their sides and then came back to the table and waited for meat - we were waiting for meat then was going to get our sides had it been explained we would have known what we needed to do but no such luck! - only 2 out of the 4 staff could speak english. 2) the buffet of sides was very limited and looked a bit wilted and also like it had been sitting there all day (probably had some of it) - salad etc did not look fresh and beans had a skin on them under the heat lamp. 3) the meat - was such a let down. Was very fatty and salty. I am not a huge red meat eater and usually stick to white meats mainly chicken however when i go out to eat will eat steak occasionally and some pork if its not fatty.... Well we were there 8pm til 10pm and all that came out was steak which was cooked beautifully but was terribly salty. Beef on skewers (like shish kebab) but was very bloody and rare - not to my liking and pork served the same way which i ate as i was hungry but was also terrible salty and quite dry. for this reason I dod not eat very much meat at all and i only had 2 helpings of sides - rice and salad with a bit of beans. When we paid for our drinks on leaving I was asked how i enjoyed the food i did mention that I was looking forward to chicken no such luck - I was then told by a waitor that chicken was not being served as it was busy earlier and they had run out of the days supply! why they didnt tell us this on arrival i do not know dread to think how long i wpuld have sat waiting if I was only going to eat chiecken that night and how annoyed I would have been! The staff were very friendly and nice to us talking with us after our meal. However I started to feel ill on the car journey home and as I type this review i sit at my desk feeling under the weather very ropey stomach I also woke up in the middle of the night with a temperature and hot sweats whch i put down to teh food as all i ate the same day was toasts besides the meal out!

This place is great. Food is lovely, staff are very friendly and entertainment is perfect. Also the meat is sooooo soft! Softest thing I've had in my mouth for a long time!

I found the staff friendly and eager to introduce us to all things Brazilian. This is a family friendly restaurant where no eyebrows were raised when my daughter circumnavigated the tables with a new found friend from another party. Indeed, she was rewarded with a treat by the bar person. Food was simple Brazilian fare. Generous portions of manioc, rice, polenta, various meats. I would choose the meats over the fish which I suspect was frozen (a disappointing prawn stew). The grilled meats and sides for four was an excellent introductory starter which really sums up what to expect next. Feijoada was a rich heavy stew with all the right cuts of pork and salted beef. Deserts were fair. In all - this is not haute cuisine! This is everyday Brazilian food at good value.

I'm brazilian and I couldn't agree more with Time Out on this one. To me it's terribly frustrating to eat my national favorites so badly prepared and shameful that this might come across to other nationalities as 'proper tasting' brazilian food. The service was absurdly slow too.