gaijingirl
Well-Known Member
Brazas restaurant by Brockwell Park/Brailsford Road btm of Tulse Hill
Well it's finally opened. The former Two Woodcocks pub is now a Portugese grill named Brazas. Gaijinboy and I went there tonight and had a thoroughly pleasant experience. It's run by two brothers, Morillo and Tony who are actually Venezuelan by birth and came to Britain via Madeira! Their home is Harrow on the Hill (which is apparently quite smart!), so despite silly commuting times and negative reactions from friends, colleagues etc, they've opened up their first ever business in Brixton, if they're successful they hope to move here to live. At the moment they're having to contend with some issues outside on the street, which may not help with business - but they definitely deserve to be supported.
Their menu is really broad, and also really good value. After a shocking day of overall shiteness I dragged gaijinboy down there today - we spent £26.95 and gaiinboy had a 3 course meal, I had a main course, we shared a bottle of wine and both had after dinner tea/coffee. Gaijinboy's starter of fishcakes almost caused an argument as he was unable to concentrate on the much-more important matter of how my day had been, due to the fact that apparently, they were absolutely delicious.
He followed this with piri piri chicken with patatas al murros with the choice of either breast or thigh. The patats al murros, basically roasted new potatoes with rosemary, were incredible (ok I may have liberated one or two off his plate) and he says that his chicken was also delicious.
Dessert, for him (ok I had a bit of that too
) was a caramelized pineapple sponge with a caramel and vanilla icecream - which was frankly, bloody gorgeous - he washed it down with espresso and I with camomile tea.
As for me, well I'm vegetarian and so was not actually expecting to be able to eat at all - given it's a Portuguese grill an' all! But, in fact, there is a vegetarian selection of 5 items. Admittedly 3 of them are salads - a salad tricolore, a lentil salad and some other salad (forget what it is now). The remaining two choices are quesadillas - one with fresh salsa and the other with spicy coriander. I had the former - and it was delicious, but compared what gaijinboy had it, despite being incredibly fresh, it was a little average - more lunchtime sandwich-type fare - although it did come with an incredible guacamole!!! There are a few starters - such as the bread basket with cheese and even more side dishes that could be combined to make a greater veggy selection - so I will be experimenting more next time! I also plan to go back enough to be able to suggest some ways in which they could adapt their regular menu (there are some lovely meaty beany dishes on there) for veggies.
We washed it down with a bottle of really very nice wine - the cheapest (natch) at £11 a bottle - but much nicer than most bottom of the list wines I've had before.
They're also going to be opening for breakfasts and lunches and their ciabatta menu looked good priced between £1.90 and £2.20.
But the best thing of all was just how friendly they were. Whilst managing to be unobtrusive enough so we could spout rubbish to each other throughout our meal, both brothers made enough time to come and chat during our evening. They have a few other waiting/cooking staff who also made a point of greeting us as they passed by.
They have a few teething problems at the moment - credit card machine not working, some problems with noisy ventilation etc.. but I really urge anyone in the area to go along and support them - they're lovely guys who, I think, are really brave, working silly hours to try and get their business up and running. Based on our experience tonight, their prices are incredibly reasonable and their food and service is great.
I really hope they make a success of it.
Well it's finally opened. The former Two Woodcocks pub is now a Portugese grill named Brazas. Gaijinboy and I went there tonight and had a thoroughly pleasant experience. It's run by two brothers, Morillo and Tony who are actually Venezuelan by birth and came to Britain via Madeira! Their home is Harrow on the Hill (which is apparently quite smart!), so despite silly commuting times and negative reactions from friends, colleagues etc, they've opened up their first ever business in Brixton, if they're successful they hope to move here to live. At the moment they're having to contend with some issues outside on the street, which may not help with business - but they definitely deserve to be supported.
Their menu is really broad, and also really good value. After a shocking day of overall shiteness I dragged gaijinboy down there today - we spent £26.95 and gaiinboy had a 3 course meal, I had a main course, we shared a bottle of wine and both had after dinner tea/coffee. Gaijinboy's starter of fishcakes almost caused an argument as he was unable to concentrate on the much-more important matter of how my day had been, due to the fact that apparently, they were absolutely delicious.
He followed this with piri piri chicken with patatas al murros with the choice of either breast or thigh. The patats al murros, basically roasted new potatoes with rosemary, were incredible (ok I may have liberated one or two off his plate) and he says that his chicken was also delicious.
Dessert, for him (ok I had a bit of that too
) was a caramelized pineapple sponge with a caramel and vanilla icecream - which was frankly, bloody gorgeous - he washed it down with espresso and I with camomile tea.As for me, well I'm vegetarian and so was not actually expecting to be able to eat at all - given it's a Portuguese grill an' all! But, in fact, there is a vegetarian selection of 5 items. Admittedly 3 of them are salads - a salad tricolore, a lentil salad and some other salad (forget what it is now). The remaining two choices are quesadillas - one with fresh salsa and the other with spicy coriander. I had the former - and it was delicious, but compared what gaijinboy had it, despite being incredibly fresh, it was a little average - more lunchtime sandwich-type fare - although it did come with an incredible guacamole!!! There are a few starters - such as the bread basket with cheese and even more side dishes that could be combined to make a greater veggy selection - so I will be experimenting more next time! I also plan to go back enough to be able to suggest some ways in which they could adapt their regular menu (there are some lovely meaty beany dishes on there) for veggies.
We washed it down with a bottle of really very nice wine - the cheapest (natch) at £11 a bottle - but much nicer than most bottom of the list wines I've had before.
They're also going to be opening for breakfasts and lunches and their ciabatta menu looked good priced between £1.90 and £2.20.
But the best thing of all was just how friendly they were. Whilst managing to be unobtrusive enough so we could spout rubbish to each other throughout our meal, both brothers made enough time to come and chat during our evening. They have a few other waiting/cooking staff who also made a point of greeting us as they passed by.
They have a few teething problems at the moment - credit card machine not working, some problems with noisy ventilation etc.. but I really urge anyone in the area to go along and support them - they're lovely guys who, I think, are really brave, working silly hours to try and get their business up and running. Based on our experience tonight, their prices are incredibly reasonable and their food and service is great.
I really hope they make a success of it.
- saying that I reckon I'm some kind of restaurant critic... I'm just a bit overexcited maybe, it's a big deal for us out this way!.... 
