Tasty Brazilian take on Spanish classic

Tapas; it’s as Spanish as paella, bull-fighting and tiki-taka. But Made in Brazil Boteco, cousin of the successful Inverness Street eatery, have given the snacks a south American flavour.

It’s down the Chalk Farm Road, in premises formerly occupied BY Jamaican joint Coco Bamboo, and it seems to have retained quite a lot of its garish decor, and the lovely roof garden.

“This is not really a wine place” the waiter assured us, but the cocktails list is awesome, particularly the caipirinhas, of which there are about 20 different types, including chilli, lychee and banana, for about £7.

Thus libated, we had a look at the menu and, as ever with tapas, didn’t really know how much to order.

Four small and one big seemed to be the consensus, and we asked for it to all come out at once, basking in our gluttony.

The casquinha de siri (crab meat baked on a scallop shell) was tender with a firey hint, while the huge garlic prawns were OK, but frankly didn’t have enough chilli and garlic on them.

Our first couple of Frango a passarinho (crispy chicken with lime mayo) were very nice, but after a while began to resemble takeway nuggets.

The best two dishes by far were the final couple.

Beringela “a parmegiana’’ (a vegetarian, pasta-less lasagna) was fantastic; delicate slivers of aubergine smothered in luxurious melted cheese on top of a rich vegetable medley.

Meanwhile the Picanha na chapa (rump steak) was truly epic.

Chopped into neat slices and cooked good and rare, it came served on a magnificent sizzling platter.

The famous Brazilian cut was tender to the touch and livened up with blistering onions, garlic and peppers.

So a bit of a mixed bag foodwise – but the good stuff was very good indeed, and it’s hard to get 100 per cent winners with tapas.

As the sun starts to climb in the sky this summer, I imagine some light bites and cocktails on the roof will be very popular indeed.