Zetland has Brazilian Flame Bbq, and Caringbah has Barbicrew. Both are standout Brazilian eateries perched on the edge of industrial estates. At the heart of each business are flame-grilled meats rotisserie roasted over natural charcoal on site—saturating your senses with the heady aroma of roasted meat. Both outlets support the local Brazilian community with a range of Brazilian products from farofa to specialist cuts of meat, like picanha, to purchase for at-home use. Both businesses produce and sell their own special smoked mayonnaise.
Barbicrew’s smoked mayo ($6/container) is tangier than the one I regularly revisit at Brazilian Flame. It eats beautifully over lamb, and (as I found out later) over their take-home packs of plump and juicy marinated chicken thigh ($13). It eats well on rump cap, on pork, and on potato chips… are you starting to sense a theme? The Barbicrew Pack 2 ($29) gives you your choice of two meats, three sides and a house-made sauce for dipping. For something more traditional, the Brazilian Pack ($27) lets you pick your two meats but sorts out sides for you: rice, beans, tomato salsa, farofa, chips and your favourite sauce. Both are big enough to share if you’re an average sort of eater. We grazed across the two huge boxes and still took home a tonne of meat.
We marvelled at the quality of the sides, from a souped up tabouli rippled with corn, beans and fresh tomatoes, to vividly yellow Moroccan cous cous dotted with chickpeas, fresh herbs and sultanas. Hot sides, like tiny mushrooms, were perfectly sautéed. Beyond the picanha or rump cap that we both had to have, lamb dipped in fresh chimmichurri was the standout, with the pork coming up a bit dry. Nothing some smoked mayo. couldn’t fix, but that goes without saying.
