Mocotó is a big open air restaurant with a large bar area attached. There is also seating on an enclosed patio-like room in the back. The orange walls are decorated with colorful murals and mirrors and the staff is super friendly but speaks limited English. The large menu is available in English as well as Portuguese and that helps a lot. They take no reservations and people line up and wait to get seated. The small tables are closely set or combined to accommodate larger groups. Windows to the street are open and the ceiling is covered with sound panels to keep the noise level down. Fans are mounted on the walls to keep the air moving. The bar offered a number of variations on the traditional Caipirinha cocktail and we tried a couple variations.
We started with snack of Classic pork rinds and Coalho cheese with molasses. The pork was totally crisp on the top and tender underneath. It was rich and succulent. The cheese was a bit rubbery and turned quite solid when dipped in the molasses. It was an interesting mix but not one I’d order again.
The Atolados – prime meats – is slowly cooked with cherry tomatoes, green onion, and pickled pumpkin served in the pan. We had it with chicken. This was 2 leg quarter with yucca and plantains. The chicken was tender and the sauce quite good. It came with several other dishes including a bowl of white stuff, the consistency of a thick cream gravy and it was a combination of marrow and rootmash to mix with potatoes and other ingredients. A bowl of what looked like cornmeal was a tapioca condiment and it was also on the table. Baião-de-dois is a Brazilian rice and beans mixed with coalho cheese, sausage, bacon, jerked beef, tomato and onion and was good. We ordered a mini of this one. We added in a mini bowl of Feijão-De-Corda which is new beans prepared with gherkin, chuchu, pumpkin and okra. It was very good.
For dessert we tried the Pudim De Tapioca with coconut and condensed milk, served with toasted coconut topping. It was a deep pie-like slice. The tapioca was solid as the filling but custardy on the bottom all topped with crispy coconut shreds and a burnt caramel sauce. I’d call it semi-sweet and okay. It sounded better than it came off for me.
