Every now and then, Michelle as in Greedy Gourmet organises a restaurant review meet up. It is the equivalent of a pajama party for food bloggers. Loads of smiles and giggles, stories told, food paparazzi effects whenever a plate turns up and a no-non sense appreciation of every single dish.
Sarah of Maison Cupcake, Jeanne of Cook Sister!, Margot of Coffee and Vanilla, Michelle and I met at Cabana Westfield shopping center in Stratford. This is one of the two Cabanas, the other is in St Giles Piazza Covent Garden. Cabana is Brazilian Cafeteria with Poster-lined walls, planked floor, apparent aluminium pipes and a barbecue stall near the entrance which produce brightly color- coded, humongous, skewers, the lot deftly handled by Passadores who circulate in this open-space.
The concept is breezy: you pick a street food, sort of snack, then you turn the green disk like so, choose skewers from the barbecue list sides and salads. Skewers will get to your table until you slap the red disk on. Be aware it is not "eat as much as you like". You pay for each dish ordered so choose wisely.
This is very much a hit or miss affair. Look around before ordering. For example from the Street Food Selection or starters, the crispy Pastels (£4.65) which is a deep-fried fast food promised to be "stuffed with four cheeses" but on that day there were disappointingly near-hollow with hardly any cheese. My Salmon Ceviche was OK but nowhere near that of a Brazilian friend of mine on the other end the Sweetcorn Pamohas (£3.35), Grated sweetcorn steamed in coconut milk, spiced with cinnamon and wrap in a corn husk were a delight.
Now for the piece the resistance the colour coded skewers which are priced between £3.95 and £5.95 for roughly 3 portions. We, collectively, took this very seriously and ordered most things. The winner was the Chimichurri Black Gold Rump which looked and tasted succulent. All the meat from chicken to pork is tender but don't expect much in term of flavours, everything rests on the sauces.
Salads (from £6.95) are enormous but would beneficiate from much much more seasonings, sides (£3.45): cassava chips were dry but sweet potato fries "olĂ©, come again" these were good.
I had to wait until the end, to really get excited about something and that was the desserts, Frozen Yogurts (£2.95) were marvellous. I should have started there and forgotten all about the Cool Colada (£3.95 + topping) which was a thumb down
Overall, Cabana is not without worth, it is a fun concept, staff is enthusiastic and energetic, but the food is uneven and it might be a little expensive for a barbecue.
Westfield Stratford City, E20 1GL E: westfieldstrat@cabana-brasil.com
T: 0208 536 2650
O:12.00am - 11pm, Mon - Sat
12.00am - 10.30pm, Sun
Cabana Westfield Stratford City
5 Chestnut Plaza, Montfitchet WayWestfield Stratford City, E20 1GL E: westfieldstrat@cabana-brasil.com
T: 0208 536 2650
O:12.00am - 11pm, Mon - Sat
12.00am - 10.30pm, Sun
Our thanks to Cabana for having us on a complimentary basis.
Click on the following links for more reviews:
Coffee and Vanilla
Cook Sister!
Greedy Gourmet
Maison Cupcake
2 comments:
Always lovely to see you, it was a fun restaurant to try out. I went back yesterday lured by the fro yo!
Great and honest review. I did really enjoy that afternoon and it was nice to meet you. Till next time...
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