The Danivore

Seven servings of topside beef, Four pieces of char-grilled chicken, Three pork sausages, Two slabs of honey-glazed ham, Two slices of grilled pineapple, One chunk of salmon later, I emerged from the Carnivore - A Brazilian meat buffet place at Vivo - $50 poorer and a whole lot happier.

Carnivore: Can you handle it?

Yeah, I most certainly can.

I went for their lunch buffet, which is definitely worth the $19+++ per person. But I wouldn't pay any more, because other than the grilled meat (which is really the only reason to visit), the salad bar really isn't up to standard. No effort, lah. Just put all the chapalang dishes onto one table spread makes it a salad bar meh? No theme, no creativity, no point. Might as well just advertise it as a meat buffet and spare us the tummy-space.

Anyway, the food, the food.

Far and away the best of the afternoon: topside beef.

Awesomeness.

That's a green olive stuck on my fork.
I didn't realise how different black and green olives taste. Hmm.

I was told that there were different cuts of beef, but then turns out the full range is only available for the dinner buffet. Darn. And I was looking forward to beef rump.

No worries, topside is pretty decent already. It is an incredibly decadent feeling to have carvers hover around your table with chunks of glistening topside beef, and other tasty morsels. The surface cuts were certainly tastier than those closer to the centre of the roast, owing to the generous amount of marinade each roast receives.

Oh, and beef fat is certainly much better tasting (in my opinion) than other types of animal fat, especially when roasted on a spit. The strong, rich flavour that bursts in your mouth with each bite leaves you wanting more, while knowing your growing tummy can hardly afford it. You succumb anyway.

Yep. The missus likes her Capirinha just fine.

The chicken also deserves a mention, though. The texture is fantastic, the flavour locked in due to the slow-cooking method employed by the owners. The chicken skin is crisp and flavourful, and is well basted in marinade for that extra oomph.

And, and, the roasted pineapple was damn good! I know you're probably going "Huh, pineapple also can roast one meh?" The answer is a big, fat, YES. Succulent and sweet, you know that it's not your average pineapple when the carver's knife slides effortlessly from top to bottom of the juicy fruit.

Honey glazed ham and pork sausages were decent, but nothing to blog about.

Now, one thing you should note if you're planning to go to Carnivore is that while they have a bunch of waiters, they only have two designated "carvers". For a restaurant that seats about 60 - 80 (I estimate), it's certainly insufficient. As a result, you have to wait about 5-7 mins for each serving of meat.

Also, you should try to grab a seat on either extreme of the kitchen. We sat somewhere in the middle, and ended up mostly getting third or fourth cuts of the meat, which usually resulted in some medium rare cuts. Not that I'm complaining, as the texture of medium rare beef is exquisite to say the least, but to miss out on the roasted beef fat (only found on the surface) is cardinal.

To clear up any doubts about the cost of lunch, I paid $58 all in, including a $12 Capirinha. $19 per person for a weekend lunch is pretty decent if you ask me, even though they reserve the prime cuts for dinner.

Carnivore VivoCity
1 Harbour Front Walk, #01-161/162, Singapore 098585
Tel: 63769939

Taste: 4/5
Value: 4/5
Ambience: 4/5

Yeah. I like it. I'll be back.