Mocotó - Bar e Restaurante

Super big fan of this place. Caipirinhas, pork cracklings, tapioca and bean stews in one of the poorest areas of town. Mocoto. You see it from the street, the colorful, cheerful building on the street corner in one of São Paulo's poorest neighborhoods, people drinking caju passion fruit caipirinhas outside before the Brazilian feast inside. You start with cassava chips and then the wonderful fried tapioca cubes, dipped in molasses and pepper, the appetizer so iconic they've copied it around Brazil, turning it into almost a national dish. The pork cracklings are really big chunks of fatty delicious pork meat, drizzled with clove lime. In comes more and more caipirinhas, all juicy and strong, with tart meaty cashew fruit i want to marry, it's that good. Mocoto's signature dish is a thick bean stew with bone marrow, the kind of feijoada to bring back the dead. And then a spread of perfectly cooked pirarucu Amazon fish, farofa, the creamiest mash with cheese that rivals the one of Joel Robuchon, the beef with fermented chilies, beautiful chunks of baked squash, tripes and sausages and cashew stews. More caipirinhas. Plus side - close to the airport! Perhaps you won't remember the ride though if you do it right and have the cachaça tasting in the end! Super big fan of Mocoto!