London's best Brazilian restaurants

What is it? A traditional boteco on a Kilburn back street.

Why we love it: Rio de Janeiro is full of botecos, little bars serving icy beer in small glasses and an array of dishes to keep punters thirsty. Kaipiras is the closest facsimile in London. Close your eyes and imagine you’re on sunny Ipanema beach rather than an unremarkable thoroughfare off the Kilburn High Road. Grab a Brazilian beer – Antarctica is your best bet – and order a selection of starters, from cassava fries (Brazil’s answer to chips and, when done right, a true rival) to acarajé, Bahian black eyed pea fritters stuffed with vatapá, a paste made with coconut and dried prawns. If you have space, the beef rib stew, tender as anything and shimmering with fat, is a must. 

Time Out tip: Bring a group and eat as much as you can. 

Address: 10 Kingsgate Place, Kilburn, NW6 4TA.

Opening times: Tue-Thu 4-10pm, Fri 4-11pm, Sat 12-11pm, Sun 12-10pm. 

Expect to pay: Around £10 for a starter, £15-20 for a main.

What is it? A rowdy steakhouse in Elephant & Castle.  

Why we love it: Fine Cut is a bit nuts – on one recent visit, a magician had been hired to entertain guests. But don’t let that put you off, as their unyielding commitment to the bit extends to the food. Unsurprisingly for a restaurant that started off as a butcher in Bermondsey, that revolves around meat. A range of steaks are available, including a chunky T-bone that stands up against those at trendy steakhouses in the city, but the all-you-can-eat skewer offering is arguably the best order. Brazilians love barbecued things on sticks, and there’s a huge range here, from several types of sausage to chicken hearts and wings to beef of various cuts, accompanied by rice, beans, fried cassava and salad. 

Time Out tip: The all-you-can-eat skewer menu is well worth a go. 

Address: 3 London Road, Elephant and Castle, SE1 6JZ.

Opening times: Mon, Wed-Thu 5-10pm, Fri 5-11.30pm, Sat 12-11.30pm, Sun 12-10pm. 

Expect to pay: Around £50 for a full meal with drinks.

What is it? A lively bar with a cheffy take on Brazilian classics

Why we love it: Run by former MasterChef contestant Aline Quina, the food at Filó is a cut above. Filó has become a hub for live Brazilian music, with raucous performances on weekends. On Arsenal matchdays, it fills up with Gooners who want a caipirinha rather than a pint. Whether you’re here for a drink, a snack or a full-blown meal, you won’t be disappointed. Dadinhos de tapioca, moreish bites of cheddar and mozzarella tapioca cake served with guava purée, is the perfect drinking accompaniment, and you’ll find lesser-spotted Brazilian dishes, at least in London, like cuscus, a corn-based dish similar to couscous, which is found in the northeast of Brazil. The feijoada, however, is the star. Here, Brazil’s national dish – a hearty stew of beans and various often identifiable cuts of pork – is as rich and complex as you’re likely to find. 

Time Out tip: Try the outlandish cheeseburger, with pão de queijo replacing regular buns. 

Address: 81 Holloway Road, N7 8LT. 

Opening times: Mon-Thu 3-10pm, Fri-Sat 12-10pm, Sun 12-9pm. 

Expect to pay: £7-11 for starters, £16-25 for mains.

What is it? Two-Michelin-star cooking with a Brazilian touch. 

Why we love it: Da Terra isn’t just one of London’s best Brazilian restaurants, it’s one of its best restaurants full stop. São Paulo-born chef Rafael Cagali cooked under Simon Rogan before launching his own spot in east London. Playing on his Italian and Brazilian roots, Cagali pays homage to those countries as well as his adopted homeland, using the finest local and seasonal produce blended with more unusual Brazilian ingredients. Tucupí, a tart sauce made of fermented cassava, regularly makes an appearance, as does moqueca, Bahia’s famous seafood stew, here rendered into a frothy version both contemporary and delightful. While the menu changes frequently, you’ll always find a Brazilian accent at Da Terra. 

Time Out tip: Don’t hold back on the wine, there are some excellent and unusual bottles. 

Address: 8 Patriot Square, Bethnal Green, E2 9NF.

Opening times: Wed-Thu 6-8pm, Fri-Sat 12-1.30pm and 6-8pm. 

Expect to pay: Tasting menus from £185.

What is it? Unlimited Brazilian barbecue in the heart of finance-land. 

Why we love it: Rodizios are all the rage in Brazil. Whether pizza, sushi or, most commonly, barbecue, they are restaurants where waiters theatrically glide across the floor dishing out unlimited food for a set price. If you’re a big eater, it is great value. Many of London’s Brazilian churrascarias aren’t up to snuff, but Fazenda, the plushest example, certainly is. With roots up north, it has taken London by storm, and is perennially packed with expense-account finance bros. Don’t let that put you off. The meat here is excellent, particularly the picanha, ribeye and sirloin, all carved expertly at your table. Grab a few dishes from the salad bar, on the pretense of health, but come prepared to focus on the meat. 

Time Out tip: Skip the pricier premium cuts and extra dishes and get stuck into the buffet. 

Address: 100 Bishopsgate, City of London, EC2M 1GT.

Opening times: Mon-Fri 12-3pm & 5-9pm, Sat 12-3pm & 4.30-9pm, Sun 12-3pm & 4.30-8.30pm 

Expect to pay: £65 for all you can eat.

What is it? A Bahian street food pop-up at the Bedford Tavern in Finsbury Park.

Why we love it: The effervescent Camila Vargas has a strong claim to being London’s most joyous cook. Though her permanent restaurant is in Manchester, roughly once a month she schleps down to run the kitchen at the Bedford Tavern in Finsbury Park. Brashly colourful in traditional Bahian garb, Vargas cheerfully dishes out the food of her home state, from acarajé to bobó de camarão, a thick, creamy stew of shrimp, cassava, coconut milk and palm oil. Also worth trying is her moqueca (Bahia’s most famous dish), a thinner stew made with similar ingredients that’s up there with Brazil’s best culinary creations. 

Time Out tip: Try the delicious moqueca.

Address: The Bedford Tavern, 160 Seven Sisters Road, London N7 7PT 

Opening times: One weekend a month. Check socials for more info. 

What is it? A steakhouse that doesn’t focus on all you can eat 

Why we love it: Brazilians swear by picanha, a cut of beef known in the UK as rump cap, and it’s arguably as important to national identity as football and samba. At Frigideira (which means frying pan in Portuguese) it is the thing to order – even the ‘individual’ portion contains two steaks. Other beefy dishes are available, like bife acebolada, beef fried with onions, and bife a cavalo, steak with a fried egg on top. At least eight different types of parmegiana are available, which is impressive. Frigideira displays a monumental commitment to emphasising its Brazilian-ness, from pictures of Pelé and Ronaldo (the Brazilian one, of course) on the walls to Brazilian pop playing on huge screens. A popular spot with Brazilian Premier League footballers, as well as the country’s vast diaspora in London, Frigideira is a hit. 

Time out tip: Eat steak, any which way you like it. 

Address: 37 Chamberlayne Road, Kensal Rise, NW10 3NB.

Opening times: Daily 12-11pm. 

Expect to pay: £62 for steak and traditional sides (for two).

What is it? Brazilian classics in a fast-casual Brixton setting.

Why we love it: Of late, Brazilian migration to London has centred on blue collar arrivals, many working as delivery drivers and cleaners. In search of affordable, filling fare that reminds them of home, many flock to places like Cantinho Mineiro, a tiny restaurant in Brixton Village Market which puts out classics like feijoada or various types of meat served with rice, beans, chips and fried egg (essentially the Brazilian version of a fry-up), as well as snacks like pão de queijo and pastel. For those pressed for time there are takeaway boxes – Brazilians prefer a filling cooked meal to a sandwich for lunch. Brixton has emerged as a key location for Brazilian food, and Cantinho Mineiro is one of your best bets in the area. 

Time Out tip: Score a cheap, takeaway lunch box.

Address: Granville Arcade, Coldharbour Lane, Brixton, SW9 8PS.

Opening times: Sun-Fri 10am-10.30pm, Sat 10am-10pm. 

Expect to pay: Around £10 for a decent lunch.

What is it: A rare Bahian spot in London.

Why we love it: For most of the week, Delicathe serves the kind of standard fare found across Brazil. On Fridays, however, it specialises in the food of Bahia, the vast northeastern state whose cuisine is rooted in west Africa. More enslaved Africans were sent to Brazil than any other country, and most were sent to Bahia. So it’s no surprise that its culture, from music and art to religion and food, is infused with African influences. Dishes like acarajé (black-eyed pea fritters stuffed with various pastes made from the likes of dried shrimp, okra and nuts) and ximxim, a peanut-based stew, are familiar to those from West Africa. Delicathe is one of few spots in London that excels in Bahia’s spicy specialties.

Time Out tip: Try the acarajé, black-eyed-pea fritters which can be traced back to west Africa. 

Address: Unit 15A, 416 Brixton Road, Brixton, SW9 7AY.

Opening times: Tue-Thu 9am-8pm, Fri-Sat 9am-11pm, Sun 11am-7pm.

Expect to pay: £10-20 for a main.

What is it? A diminutive bakery on the Seven Sisters Road

Why we love it: In a neighbourhood home to a sizeable South American population, Angel’s Bakery is a home away from home for streams of delivery drivers and builders who pop by for an array of baked goods. Padarias, or bakeries, are a staple on almost every Brazilian street, serving the likes of pão francês, small, airy rolls loosely related to the baguette, and an assortment of savoury snacks, like pão de queijo and coxinha, a street food classic of shredded chicken encased in dough and deep fried. It’s rare to find a London spot that bakes in house, but Angel’s does them all exactly as you’d find in São Paulo. Come for a snack or pick up a toastie (in those crunchy French rolls), with cheese and mortadella a particular standout. 

Time Out tip: For an authentic Brazilian breakfast, ask for pão na chapa with butter – literally toasted bread and butter. 

Address: 353 Seven Sisters Road, Manor House, N15 6RD. 

Opening hours: Mon-Sat 7am-7pm, Sun 8am-2pm.

Expect to pay: Around £5, less if just picking up a snack.

What is it? Good, cheap baked goods in Harlesden.

Why we love it: With two sites, the other in Kensal Rise, Mineiro Cafe has emerged as a stalwart over the past 20 years. This branch, in the heart of one of London’s most Brazilian neighbourhoods, is more a grab-and-go affair, the place to pick up a sandwich and an espresso before catching the Mildmay Line. But despite its diminutive stature it is supremely well-stocked. Whether you’re after pão de quejo, coxinha, or kibe (fried meat and bulgar wheat croquetes) or esfiha (stuffed pastries), two dishes influenced by Brazil’s significant Lebanese and Syrian communities, you’re certain to leave content (and full).  

Time Out tip: Try the kibe, a spicy Middle Eastern-inspired treat. 

Address: 63 Station Road, Harlesden, NW10 4UX.

Opening times: Mon-Fri 6am-9pm, Sat 7am-8pm, Sun 8am-7pm. 

Expect to pay: No more than £5-10. 

What is it? A Brazilian pub in Vauxhall.

Why we love it: Tia Maria occupies an old corner boozer and retains a pub-like atmosphere. With its old wooden bar, draught beer and live music, it’s known as much for lively parties as the food. But don’t let that fool you, the grub here is great. Brazil excels in drinking food – mostly fried snacks served in healthy portions to help keep the beer flowing. Here, the petisco menu includes salt cod fritters which are crisp on the outside, soft and pleasingly fishy within. Chicken hearts, a Brazilian barbecue staple, arrived on a sizzling cast iron dish with a supporting cast of just-caramelised onions. An assortment of pastel, filled, deep-fried pastries inexplicably labelled on the menu as ‘ravioli’, are also stellar. The bigger plates are less interesting, although the feijoada is excellent here, too. 

Time Out tip: Come during a Brazilian World Cup game, if you can. 

Address: 126 South Lambeth Road, Vauxhall, SW8 1RB.

Opening times: Tue-Thu 4-11.30pm, Fri 4pm-1.30am, Sat 1pm-1.30am, Sun 12pm-12.30am. 

Expect to pay: £4.50-£10.95 for petiscos, the Brazilian version of tapas. 

What is it? A cosy, casual restaurant in Harlesden. 

Why we love it: Pastel is one of Brazil’s most popular street food snacks. Brought to the country by Chinese and Japanese immigrants, rectangles of pastry are filled with all manner of fillings and scalded in oil until covered in blisters. O Brasileirão has perhaps London’s most extensive pastel menu, from simple options like cheese or sausage to chicken, palm hearts and cream cheese, or pizza (cheese, tomato and oregano). Elsewhere the menu spans standard Brazilian classics, but their stroganoff, a dish that fell out of fashion here but is ubiquitous in Brazil, is worth a special mention.  

Time Out tip: Come for the pastel, a Brazilian street food snack with the potential to take London by storm.  

Address: 236 High Street Harlesden, NW10 4TD. 

Opening times: Wed-Thu 10am-10pm, Fri-Sat 10am-11pm, Sun-Mon 10am-10pm. 

Expect to pay: Around £4 for a pastel, £15 for a main.

What is it? A butchers and steakhouse on London’s northeastern edge.

Why we love it: Sometimes it’s important to fight the stereotype that Brazilians only eat meat – veganism is soaring in Brazil, after all, and there's a fascinating and varied array of non-flesh-based dishes. At other times, it’s better to lean into it. At Enfield’s Primitive Steakhouse, which has its own butchers shop, almost everything on the menu is meaty. Starters like chicken hearts and smoked Brazilian sausage are served by the half kilo; chunky torresmo, Brazilian pork scratchings, are excellent. Mains include a 4.5kg meat platter for eight, making this a great spot for hungry groups of carnivores. Cheaper set lunches are also available, from £11-15. 

Address: 69 Lancaster Road, Enfield, EN2 0DW. 

Opening times: Mon-Sat 9am-8pm, Sun 9am-5pm. 

Time Out tip: Come with a large group. 

Expect to pay: £50-ish a head for a meaty blowout.

What is it? A Brazilian caff in Leyton. 

Why we love it: It’s well known that immigrants perfected the greasy spoon. Generations of Italians, Turkish and Cypriot café owners turned to the English breakfast as a way to make ends meet and, naturally, made some of the best fry-ups in the city. That trend continues, with newer arrivals from across the globe turning to this age-old tradition. Brazilians are no different, and at this Leyton caff you’ll find excellent cooked breakfasts alongside Brazilian dishes like feijoada and frango à passarinho, crispy chicken wings served with pasta – which, if you think about it, is not too dissimilar to that Anglo-Italian classic, chicken escalope with spaghetti.

Address: 216 High Road Leyton, E10 5PS. 

Opening times: Mon-Wed 6am-10pm, Thu-Sat 6am-midnight, Sun 7am-10pm.

Time Out tip: A fry-up then a feijoada? Why not.

Expect to pay: Under a tenner for a fry-up, over a tenner for a Brazilian lunch.

What is it: A weekend stall on Portobello Road Market 

Why we love it: Notting Hill might not be quite as Brazilian as it once was (areas further north, like Kensal Rise, Kilburn, Willesden and Harlesden are now the epicentre), but this weekend stall on Portobello Road Market proudly flies the green, yellow and blue flag. Understandably, the menu is small: a heated cabinet with coxinha and pão de queijo, vast cauldrons of feijoada including, relatively rarely for a Brazilian restaurant, a vegan option. There are also regular jam sessions outside the stall, including chorinho, a Brazilian genre that predates samba and is characterised by syncopated rhythms, improvisation and fast strumming on the cavaquinho, a small, ukulele-like Brazilian guitar. 

Time Out tip: Come for the food, stay for the music.

Address: Portobello Road, Notting Hill, W10 5XL. 

Opening times: Sat-Sun 9am-5pm 

Expect to pay: Around £10 for a filling feijoada.

What is it? A meat-forward Kensal Green restaurant with highly competitive prices. 

Why we love it: Brazilians love two things: big portions and good value. Across Brazil, at lunchtime you’ll find restaurants packed with workers of all types, from doctors to binmen, filling up on hearty plates. These vary regionally, but usually consist of some form of meat, rice and beans, farofa (cassava flour), salad, perhaps chips and a fried egg. At Imperio do Sabor, just like in Rio or Sao Paulo, the dish of the day, for under a tenner, is just that. Elsewhere you’ll find a small-ish menu featuring classics (feijoadaa, of course) and snacks including pastel and risoles. 

Time Out tip: The dish of the day, which varies, is a steal at under £10. 

Address: 1024 Harrow Road, Kensal Green, NW10 5NN. 

Opening times: Mon-Thu 12-10pm, Fri-Sat 12-12am, Sun 12-8pm. 

Expect to pay: £10-20 for a hearty main. 

What is it? A monthly samba party in a Notting Hill social club. 

Why we love it: Brazilians love to party and, without wishing to sound too sentimental, seeing this joyous monthly party take place in a working man’s club under the Westway is one of those ‘only in London’ moments. Unlike most live music, where the audience stands opposite the band, samba is circular: an inner circle of musicians, with crowds expanding outwards in concentric rings. The music is constant, the beer flows, and everyone, from octogenarians to tiny tots, dances. Of course, you’ll need fuel, and thankfully at Maxilla Social Club the feijoada flows, cooked on-site by a Brazilian chef who works for Jamie Oliver. A vegan option is also available. 

Time Out tip: Come ready to party. 

Address: Maxilla Hall Social Club, 2 Maxilla Walk, Notting Hill, W10 6SW.

Opening times: One Sunday a month, during the day.

Expect to pay: £12 for a feijoada (plus £15 entry). 

What is it? French crepes with a Brazilian twist in Brixton. 

Why we love it: Brazilians love to experiment, often leading to garish, gluttonous creations – think excessively topped pizza, huge steaks with molten cheese, and sandwiches filled with half a kilo of mortadella. Sarava is not that place, but what it does offer are French crepes and galettes, and very good ones at that. Many are firmly of the Gallic oeuvre – cheese and ham, goat’s cheese and caramelised onion. But elsewhere their imagination takes hold. Beans, plantain and Brazilian chillies? Sure. Steak? Of course. A favourite since 2010, French crepes ‘with Brazilian flare’ is the lunch you never knew you needed. 

Time Out tip: Have a crepe, obviously. 

Address: 41-42 Brixton Village Market, Coldharbour Lane, Brixton, SW9 8PS.

Opening times: Mon 10.30am-5pm, Tue-Fri 10am-10pm, Sat 10am-11pm, Sun 10am-8pm. 

Expect to pay: Under £10 for a crepe. 

What is it? A Brazilian takeaway pizza joint in Brockley.

Why we love it: Neapolitan. Romana. New York. New Haven. Detroit. Grandma. London’s pizza explosion shows no signs of slowing down, and you can now find practically every global style here. Thankfully, that includes Brazil. Millions of Italians emigrated to Brazil from the 19th century onwards, with cities like São Paulo retaining a heavy Italian influence. Unsurprisingly, pizza is huge, and even less surprisingly, it’s of a maximalist disposition: lots of cheese, an overload of toppings. At Dominic’s, you’ll find the regular London fast-food pizza menu, but their second, Brazilian menu is where to look. These include three pizzas that are about as Brazilian as it gets: calabresea, which features Brazilian sausage and onion; chicken and catupiry, a thick Brazilian cream cheese; and Portuguesa, with palm hearts, olives, ham, onion and egg. 

Time Out tip: Get the Portuguesa pizza. 

Address: 303 Brockley Road, Brockley, SE4 2QZ.

Opening times: Mon-Thu 11am-12am, Fri-Sun 11am-1am.

Expect to pay: £10.95 for a large pizza for collection.