Review: Samba Brazilian Steakhouse

Kelly Lamrock reviews Samba Brazilian Steakhouse at the Mirage…

Let’s be honest, in Vegas we are always a little disappointed if our day doesn’t involve some kind of experience we can’t get at home. Drinking Bud Light all afternoon? Relaxing, but not something we can’t do on a day off. Drinking 100oz of frozen concoction from a plastic guitar? Very Vegas! Eating ice cream? Makes me happy at home. Eating a flight of beer ice cream at Blvd. Creamery? That’s a conversation starter! And don’t get me started on how many shows are only-in-Vegas affairs.

So often, when we have dinner out, we want a little…more. A funky dining room. A transcendent, Robuchonesque menu. Even a smart ass waiter at Dick’s Last Resort.

To this, I add the Brazilian Rodizio experience. Many cities don’t have this at all, and few do it as well as Samba Brazilian Steakhouse at the Mirage. Wanting the Vegas newbies on our last trip to have an experience, I led our party of four there to see if the experience was still as satisfying as always.

Rodizio is basically huge chunks of meat, skewered on a sword or long skewer, and fire roasted. You sit at a table and you are given a wooden talisman with a green end and a red end. As long as you place the green side up, you are giving the go-ahead for a bunch of servers to arrive at your table with a skewer full of meat to be sliced onto your plate. If you turn the red end upward, that means you are warding off a meat coma and need a few minutes. Spoiler alert: you will reach this point sooner than you think.

We arrived for our reservation, and the greeting was friendly and efficient. We had an M Life reward for some 2-for-1 Rodizio, and this was handled quickly by the maître d’. In a matter of minutes, we were being asked if we wanted a drink.

The beer and wine menus are solid, offering all the standards with a couple of fun wrinkles to make it interesting. But for an opening cocktail, there are really two choices here. The caipirinha is the official drink of Brazil, serving the same role as Cuba’s mojito. It is, in fact, much like a mojito without the mint, but if the rum is high quality and the lime juice freshly squeezed, it is a fine drink.

Samba does it right. However, the real treat here is the Brazilian punch. Served in a martini glass so big I struggled to lift it; this drink combines two kinds of rum, the Brazilian sugar cane spirit cachaca, two liqueurs and three kinds of fruit juice to make a pretty (and pretty potent) cocktail to start your meal.

From there, I could tell you about the arrival of the side dishes, but you’ll probably be waiting for the meat. I could tell you that their house salad, with olives, beets, Palm hearts, feta and a red-wine-based vinaigrette is bland in its taste and unique in its texture, but you’ll probably be waiting for the meat. I could mention that they bring you a side plate with black beans, rice, veggies, and fried plantains, but you’ll probably be waiting for the meat. I could even tell you that those plantains are nicely fried to the point of caramelizing on the outside and that they are the one part of the opening festivities that should demand your attention, but you’ll be focused on the meat. (Seriously, though, do indulge in a couple of plantains. They are perfectly cooked and hearty.)

There are 11 things you can eat from a skewer, and in doing so, you will discover one nice part of the Rodizio experience. You get all of the variety and all-you-can-eat hedonism of the buffet, without any heat lamp dryness. Plus, they actually help you concentrate on eating meat, and don’t distract you with tummy space wasters like pizza.

On that note, the garlic bread (basically a skewer of dinner rolls toasted over a fire) is not worth the investment in the space. However, almost everything else is. There are three varieties of steak. The filet minion has the pedigree, but the ancho-rubbed sirloin, cooked to a perfect medium-rare, is still the one I look for. There is a tamarind-glazed lamb that is also cooked to perfection, still tender and pink and almost melting in your mouth. The pork loin with roasted pineapple next to it is a solid combination, and the lime chicken thighs wisely choose more tender dark meat and are black outside yet just right inside. Only the slightly dry turkey breast disappoints, unable to be uplifted by its bacon wrap into anything but a competent blandness. The Brazilian sausage is like its Polish counterpart, inoffensive but probably unremarkable compared to the temptations around it.

There’s no shame in pausing part way so your plate doesn’t get overloaded, as the meat arrives at a brisk pace and you should enjoy a meal at this price and quality point. Turn your red light over and grab a beer to enjoy your cavalcade of meat. I found the staff very helpful as we wound down – when I said I was waiting for one extra helping of lamb to call it a night, they found the server holding the lamb skewer and made sure I got what I wanted without going through the whole rotation again.

There are desserts on the menu. I have no idea what they taste like, because meat. Be ready to have a walk after Samba, because if you stop moving, you may fall asleep. If you do, it will be a happy one, fuelled by rum and beef. With drinks, tax and tip we paid a bit more than $50 each, but we had a casual and memorable meal and would recommend it to anyone visiting Vegas.

[Images: Kelly Lamrock, Cover: Vital Vegas]

Kelly Lamrock

Kelly Lamrock didn’t see Vegas until he was 40. Now, he goes several times a year. When home in Atlantic Canada, he’s a lawyer, international consultant, and former Attorney-General. When in Vegas, he is consumed by the search for the best craft beer, the perfect sportsbook, and a post-show cigar. He loves Vegas because, as Jerry Seinfeld says, “wherever you’re from, Vegas is pretty much the opposite of that.”