The Grill from Ipanema, Seattle, WA

I stumbled on a $60 groupon while researching places to eat on our Seattle vacation. This place is a little different in which you can order just the salad bar (no grilled meats) for $28, or with the grilled meats for $45, or entrees a la carte, so its not all you can eat.

Being it was our last night in Seattle, we splurged and got the Rodizio, the AYCE: All You Can Eat buffet with the grilled meats, basically making the groupon a buy one/ get one free offer.

Supposedly there’s 17 different types of meats, but I was able to sample 10 meats, ranging from Sirloin, tri tip, filet mignon, lamb, pork, turkey, 2 things wrapped in bacon, garlic steak, pepper steak, and a pineapple grilled with cinnamon. My favorite was the garlic steak, which wasn’t too overpowering, but very flavorful.

Their salad bar was above average. I wish the restaurant labeled the food items better, as many items we had to eat blindly and guessed what it was. Stephen was a little disappointed that they didn’t offer farofa, and made a comment to the hostess.

Little did we know that it WAS offered, but you had to ask, and a fresh batch was brought to our table. Stephen said it was the best farofa he’s had out of all the Brazilian restaurants. It was toasted just right, with great garlicky seasoning.

I was quite impressed at the range of fruit Ipanema’s salad bar offered. Most salad bars offer the typical black beans (with or without pork), the rice, the soups, the hot foods, and the Mediterranean style salads. Rarely have I found a big selection of fresh fruits to help digest the heavy meats. The poached pear in the red wine reduction was a wonderful dessert, and made the meal perfect.

Reservations are highly recommended, and they offer valet parking in the front. I wish I knew about the valet parking, as I circled the downtown area and parked 3 blocks away.