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What‘s the deal?
The dining room is sleek and sexy
A rare thing has happened: a Brazilian restaurant has opened in central London. On the border of Mayfair and Marylebone, Bossa is one of just a handful of Brazilian restaurants within Zone 1. It’s also notable for not being a churrascaria (barbecue restaurant) nor steakhouse – rather, it takes a more modern approach to Brazilian cuisine, serving deconstructive dishes that riff on Brazilian flavours and pair thoughtfully with an excellent wine list. It is, probably, the only restaurant of its kind in the city.
In London, Brazilian food is elusive. The city’s best Brazilian restaurants are located in suburban areas, and mostly remain a secret to anyone who isn’t an expat looking for the nostalgic, fatty comfort of feijoada (black bean stew with pork). So Bossa plugs a gap by raising the profile of Brazilian food in central London, and gives the city’s Brazilian community a new take on the flavours they crave. It’s from chef Nilson Chaves, a Brazil native who cut his teeth at NYC’s Le Bernardin and then Oteque in Rio. Though he’s become synonymous with two-Michelin-starred Oteque in his home country, he doesn’t yet have much of a profile in the UK – though Bossa has a good chance of changing that.
The menu is split into three sections (“The Beginning”, “The Middle”, and “The End” – essentially, first courses, mains, and dessert). You’ll find Brazilian classics like moquena (a coconut-based seafood stew) and grilled prawns with pirão sauce on there, but things get really interesting when Chaves gets to use Brazilian flavours as a starting point and riffs – an open fire-cooked bone marrow is paired with cashew cream and that ubiquitous Brazilian ingredient, tapioca, for example; the black pork secreto is flanked by apple puree and black pudding. Head sommelier Lais Aoki helms the wine list – a wonderfully diverse screed made up of continental classics, a tidy selection of natural/skin contact bottles, and some rarer South American varietals. Wine is very much a part of the fun here, so ask your sommelier which pairings they suggest. It feels like there is a genuine space in London’s dining scene being filled by Bossa, and that, rather than avariciously trying to plug a market gap, they are instead doing something heartfelt and considered – which becomes especially obvious once you interact with the eminently helpful wait staff. Put it on your list.
What should I eat?
Don't miss a pre-dinner cocktail
The mussels ecabeche are a nice first-course introduction to Chaves’ cooking style – a Brazilian standby made brighter and more beautiful by swapping out the limpid, acidic vinaigrette for a deep orange carrot juice sauce, infused with mussel stock and vinegar then finished with almost-black blobs of parsley oil.
Of course, the menu would be glaringly incomplete without that Brazilian cookout obsession, grilled prawns. Bossa’s are flamed on the restaurant’s open-fire grill, then come blanketed in a herby vinaigrette and alongside classic pirão sauce for dipping.
It would be easy to go for the chocolate tart over the cupuaçú cheesecake for dessert. You might even be warned by your waiter that the cupuaçú, a fruit native to the Brazilian rainforest, is an acquired taste. But don’t miss it – a tropical fruit with subtle chocolate notes, it’s well suited to a cheesecake served with a brazil nut crumble base and a cocoa nib top layer.
Why should I go?
Don't miss either of the prawn dishes
For a unique take on Brazilian food – and a unique addition to London’s dining scene.