Found A Gaucho, Ended Up In A Meat Coma
As a child, I was lucky because my Mom raised me to eat food that I enjoyed, never forcing me to eat something just because someone put it down in front of me. For example, Mom wasn't the one who forced me to eat brussel sprouts for the first and last time, that was my Grandma. Gosh, they were so awful that even the dog Fritz wouldn't eat them!
Forced to get creative, I found the easiest thing to do was to cut them up into small pieces, pop one into my mouth, pretend to chew and then spit them back into my milk glass (I know, totally gross). This I could get away with because as kids, we were the ones who cleaned up after dinner, so I could hide what I did and just flush it down the garbage disposal. Thank God I never got caught! I swear, Grandma would have made me drink that milk and chew up the brussel sprouts. She was a "clean your plate" kind of Grandma but gave good hugs, for those of you who might be thinking she deserved to wear a witches cap.
But onto adult-hood. For my friends who know me, you are all well aware that I love good food and I am so happy that Nashville is moving into an international restaurant thought process which brings many of my favorites as available options when dining out around town. So with that in mind, the last time I was over in Hillsboro Village, I noticed that a new restaurant opened and it was a Brazilian Steakhouse called Bombasha. Located right next to Cabana, and down the street from the Pancake Pantry, it's got a great location.
I was curious to check out the menu and the pricing as most Brazilian Steakhouses can be over-priced. If you've never been to one of these types of restaurants, this is typically what happens. Once seated, the waiter comes to explain the menu and take a drink order. From there you are welcome to go to the buffet display for your salads and side dishes and then the Gaucho's glide by with skewers stacked with freshly grilled meats, offering you anything from chicken, to sausage, to filet mignon, to the House Special grilled meats. With a little color-coded sign, you can control how often the Gaucho's stop at your table.
At Bombasha, it's red for stop and green for go. My favorite place in Rio de Janeiro has three, like a traffic light ... they add yellow for slow down but don't stop. This would be one of my suggestions for Bombasha, and it could be a little top you turn, which would be easier to see and also more sanitary.
With Bombasha, the per person price is $36.00 (very reasonable for a Brazilian Steakhouse as most in the US run $55-$70 per person). They do not limit you to how many times you visit the salad buffet which included blanched asparagus, roasted red peppers, smoked salmon, salads, olives and cheese amongst other things. Everything was fresh and I noticed throughout dinner, the chef checked on the display about every 30 minutes. This was impressive with the frequency. I was happy with the variety of the grilled meats and the ability to explain what cut you wanted - rare, medium rare, well done. My favorites were the roasted chicken legs, the House Special and the filet mignon. All were cooked to perfection, had great flavor, and were served hot. Yes, I was in a Meat Coma by the time I was done.
For drinks I chose to have the Caipirinha, the Brazilian national drink. I love the combination of the raw rum, sugar, and lime. Drinking them brings back hilarious memories from the years I worked in South America. Refreshing but in vast quantities, can kick your butt and encourage you to paint bulls-eyes on the butts of the engineers wearing white cover-alls and then take turns using them as a target with your blow gun. As you can see, we were forced to get creative with our entertainment with some of the ports of call we were in.
Bombasha's wine list is nice and priced fairly. For desert, I chose the Passionfruit Mousse, which was exquisite! More like a Passionfruit Creme and less like a Mousse, the flavor was intense. The owner/manager stopped by the table to tell me that they were altering the recipe in the future and adding a chocolate float as a base. Nice!
All in all, I would go back to Bombasha but next time would request a table away from any large parties. There was a birthday party behind us that consisted of 8 women and 2 men (poor suckers couldn't get a word in edgewise the entire night) and the more they drank, the louder they got (imagine that and I know, those in glass houses ... blah, blah, blah). Conversation was a challenge at my little table for two and made us not want to linger once we were done. I don't like to eat and run, but was encouraged to because of the sheer volume behind me. The floors are wooden, which adds to the charm but does not absorb noise.
Also, if you plan on going on a Friday or Saturday night, I would definitely suggest reservations: 615.463.0021 or you can email them at bombasha@att.net
Forced to get creative, I found the easiest thing to do was to cut them up into small pieces, pop one into my mouth, pretend to chew and then spit them back into my milk glass (I know, totally gross). This I could get away with because as kids, we were the ones who cleaned up after dinner, so I could hide what I did and just flush it down the garbage disposal. Thank God I never got caught! I swear, Grandma would have made me drink that milk and chew up the brussel sprouts. She was a "clean your plate" kind of Grandma but gave good hugs, for those of you who might be thinking she deserved to wear a witches cap.
But onto adult-hood. For my friends who know me, you are all well aware that I love good food and I am so happy that Nashville is moving into an international restaurant thought process which brings many of my favorites as available options when dining out around town. So with that in mind, the last time I was over in Hillsboro Village, I noticed that a new restaurant opened and it was a Brazilian Steakhouse called Bombasha. Located right next to Cabana, and down the street from the Pancake Pantry, it's got a great location.
I was curious to check out the menu and the pricing as most Brazilian Steakhouses can be over-priced. If you've never been to one of these types of restaurants, this is typically what happens. Once seated, the waiter comes to explain the menu and take a drink order. From there you are welcome to go to the buffet display for your salads and side dishes and then the Gaucho's glide by with skewers stacked with freshly grilled meats, offering you anything from chicken, to sausage, to filet mignon, to the House Special grilled meats. With a little color-coded sign, you can control how often the Gaucho's stop at your table.
At Bombasha, it's red for stop and green for go. My favorite place in Rio de Janeiro has three, like a traffic light ... they add yellow for slow down but don't stop. This would be one of my suggestions for Bombasha, and it could be a little top you turn, which would be easier to see and also more sanitary.
With Bombasha, the per person price is $36.00 (very reasonable for a Brazilian Steakhouse as most in the US run $55-$70 per person). They do not limit you to how many times you visit the salad buffet which included blanched asparagus, roasted red peppers, smoked salmon, salads, olives and cheese amongst other things. Everything was fresh and I noticed throughout dinner, the chef checked on the display about every 30 minutes. This was impressive with the frequency. I was happy with the variety of the grilled meats and the ability to explain what cut you wanted - rare, medium rare, well done. My favorites were the roasted chicken legs, the House Special and the filet mignon. All were cooked to perfection, had great flavor, and were served hot. Yes, I was in a Meat Coma by the time I was done.
For drinks I chose to have the Caipirinha, the Brazilian national drink. I love the combination of the raw rum, sugar, and lime. Drinking them brings back hilarious memories from the years I worked in South America. Refreshing but in vast quantities, can kick your butt and encourage you to paint bulls-eyes on the butts of the engineers wearing white cover-alls and then take turns using them as a target with your blow gun. As you can see, we were forced to get creative with our entertainment with some of the ports of call we were in.
Bombasha's wine list is nice and priced fairly. For desert, I chose the Passionfruit Mousse, which was exquisite! More like a Passionfruit Creme and less like a Mousse, the flavor was intense. The owner/manager stopped by the table to tell me that they were altering the recipe in the future and adding a chocolate float as a base. Nice!
All in all, I would go back to Bombasha but next time would request a table away from any large parties. There was a birthday party behind us that consisted of 8 women and 2 men (poor suckers couldn't get a word in edgewise the entire night) and the more they drank, the louder they got (imagine that and I know, those in glass houses ... blah, blah, blah). Conversation was a challenge at my little table for two and made us not want to linger once we were done. I don't like to eat and run, but was encouraged to because of the sheer volume behind me. The floors are wooden, which adds to the charm but does not absorb noise.
Also, if you plan on going on a Friday or Saturday night, I would definitely suggest reservations: 615.463.0021 or you can email them at bombasha@att.net
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