Brasa, Hull: 'I tried out Hull's first Portugese restaurant - and it needs more variety'
I can’t help wonder if I should, perhaps, feel rather more shame regarding my lack of knowledge about Portugal.
I know where it is, obviously, and a few other things (the capital city, what the flag looks like, they once colonised Brazil) but considering the country is right next to Spain – about which I know absolutely loads – my Portuguese fact file is pathetically pauce.
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Hide AdRonaldo. He’s Portuguese, isn’t he? And I have vague memories regarding Columbus and the king. Or something. Anyway…


One thing I do know is that when Brasa (the new restaurant on Newland Ave) opened its doors a few weeks back, it became the first ever Portuguese eatery in Hull.
Apart from the one on Spring Bank in the nineties, apparently, but I couldn’t find a single person who could remember where it was or what it was called, so I’m unilaterally discounting it as unevidenced.
This Portuguese has opened where Uno was, which residents of Hull will fondly remember as it operated very successfully for many years before closing suddenly last year.
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Hide AdThere has since seen been a lick of paint applied and the feel and imagery have moved from Italy, west along the Med, to Iberia.


Brasa is the Portuguese word describing the glowing coals of a barbecue. The ones that aren’t too hot or too cold, but perfect warm red for cooking over. Appropriate, as the (overlong) menu mainly consists of variants of one thing – grilled food.
Grilled fish, grilled meat, grilled vegetables. When we find the occasional option that isn’t grilled, a little cheer rises from our table.
It’s the debut restaurant of Spaniard Maria Sanchez – who arrived in Hull from Madrid to study sports science at the Uni – and Brazilian Paula Amorim, who met Maria while both worked as kitchen or waiting staff at various places around Hull.
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Hide AdAdd Joe - the Brazilian chef who has also worked in Portugal - and you have all the authenticity you could wish for.


There seems to have been an influx of Brazilian and Portuguese caterers in the East Riding recently, many drawn by the opportunity to work in the handful of rodizio restaurants that suddenly became inexplicably trendy a few years back.
They proved momentarily popular with those diners who consider the meat-sweats a sure-fire sign that you’re dining in a good restaurant. I’m maybe being a touch harsh as a couple of the rodizios actually put on a decent show.
A real shame, then, that we went for the tuga platter to share for starters. We mainly plumped for it because it read like it included several genuine Portuguese nibbles as well as more familiar-sounding meats, which we assumed would be presented à la Portuguese.
They weren’t.
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Hide AdMost of the board consisted the sort of slices of chorizo and salami you’d get in your average supermarket deli selection. There were some generic olives and a bit of bread as well. So far, so dull.
Thankfully, there were a couple of cheesy balls and some wedges of cheese with jelly on. So that livened up proceedings slightly. But the truth is we chose badly and were rewarded with a distinct shrug of an opener.
For mains, frango grelhado - a half grilled chicken - was nice enough. That’s half a grilled chicken, by the way; not a whole chicken that’s only been half cooked. It comes with a choice of sides and sauce and will be familiar to anyone who’s dined at Nando’s.
Rice or chips or salad or coleslaw or mixed (you’ve guessed it) grilled veg. The sauces range from spicy to mushroom to mint or herbs. The usual selection, I suppose. All distinctly oily.
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Hide AdBetter from the mains was costeleta de borrego, which was three grilled lamb chops served with minty sauce and the same choice of sides. I went with rice and the mixed grilled veg. The lamb was suitably juicy and flavoursome, so I had no complaints. Neither, though, was I blown away.
This seemed to be the overarching theme of the mains; a grilled piece of something with a couple of sides and a sauce.
As I outlined in the opening para, my knowledge of Portugal precludes me from claiming to be expert enough in their cuisine to say if this isn’t entirely typical. If it is, though, they must be responsible for the use of most of the charcoal briquettes in the EU.
Puds, as far as I could tell, aren’t grilled.
There’s a very good lemon cheesecake, churros and, best of all, doce de casa which, on this evening, was a light mousse affair, layered with biscuit crumb and topped with a few nuggets of chocolate.
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Hide AdI could have done with it being twice the size, so moreish was it. The other options are, sadly, rather more anglicised – brownies and whatnot.
Prices are passable. Starters around seven pound, mains from £15 to £22 and desserts all £6.50. And you get a decent feed for your money, just nothing that’s going to have me running back for another go.
I’d need less choice and more variety, if that makes sense. And please, stop grilling everything.
It goes without saying that the owners of Brasa have my best wishes with their new endeavour. They’re lovely people and clearly hard working. To open a restaurant in this day and age is to risk everything.
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Hide AdThey deserve to succeed simply for the determination and vigour on display. I don’t know if their new venture, though, might benefit from offering fewer, more varied dishes.
I appreciate that variety can be found in the sides and sauces but, personally, I can only find the word ‘grilled’ enticing so many times before I long for dishes that are baked or braised or sautéed or fried or even boiled. How soon will folk have had their fill of the grill?
Welcome 4/5
Atmosphere 3/5
Food 3/5
Prices 4/5
Brasa, 153 Newland Ave, Hull, HU5 2ER
www.brasa-restaurant.co.uk
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