Before you go to naBrasa you should understand a couple of things. First, if meat’s not your thing you’ll probably be happier elsewhere. Next: Go hungry. naBrasa isn’t a place where you go for something light.
naBrasa is a “rodizio,” a Brazilian- and Portugese-style barbecue where a variety of meats are brought directly from the rotisserie to your table. Once you’re settled, a horde of servers, each bearing a skewer holding one type of meat, arrive in turn – and keep arriving until you ask them to stop. Throughout the night they’ll bring up to twelve different kinds of meat including flank steak, sirloin, filet mignon (with or without bacon), pork tenderloin (in a garlic-parmesan crust), chicken, pork sausage and, every once in a while, grilled salmon. It’s accompanied by a high quality salad bar – the term doesn’t really do it justice – with three kinds of soups, cheese, sliced meats, mixed salads and bread. It’s easily a meal in and of itself. (See their Web site for a full description of the meats and salad bar.)
Of course, you’re completely in control of how much you eat, but I always find it hard to say “no.” First of all, the staff presents each dish with a certain flourish and pride. More important, the food is good, fresh and not overly seasoned. (Of course, the pork with garlic-parmesan has a bit of a kick, but you’d expect that.) Waiters rotate through to make sure you have the drinks and water you want, and a pleasant collection of side dishes – fried bananas, creamy whipped potatoes, fried polenta and a light, cheesy bread made with smoked mozzarella – provide counterpoints to the protein.
As would be expected, the attention paid to the grilling of the meat is intense. The rotisserie chef came around to each table and – sincerely – wanted to know how the meat was. At this point, we were done, and stuffed. “Great!” “Fine! we both chimed in. But he was insistent. Then, Lynne made a mistake. “Well…the filet was a little dry.” After confirming how she liked her steak (medium-rare), he thanked us and disappeared. A minute later, a waiter appeared at the table with a skewer of filet mignon, accompanied by the chef. A beautiful, medium-rare piece of steak was selected and laid on Lynne’s plate. It was not dry.
Troy, our waiter, told us naBrasa’s popularity has been steadily growing since the restaurant opened in March. On the night Lynne and I went, the dining room was crowded though we were seated right away without a reservation. Troy said we were lucky. On most weekends, he counts reservations in the hundreds and getting a table without one requires some combination of luck and patience.
It’s worth it, though. At $34.95 per person on weekends, $29.95 on weekdays (plus drinks and dessert), the price is fair for the generous and good meal you get. Plus, making a reservation means you’ll have to plan ahead, which is a good thing. It also means you can plan on a light lunch that afternoon.
naBrasa
680 N. Easton Rd. (Route 611) [across from the Naval Air Base]
Horsham, PA 19044
215.956.0600
Monday – Thursday: 5 – 9:30 pm
Friday – Saturday: 4:30 – 10 pm
Sunday: 3 – 9 pm
