• Attempting vegetarian eating in Brazil: New Natural

My first night in Rio, I found myself at New Natural with a group of vegetarian dancers from Melbourne.  It is funny when you have to be in a foreign country to meet people with whom you should have always been friends.

New Natural is a per-kilo restaurant where you serve what you want from a buffet style set-up and then pay for it in weight.  Most of the others loved this place, but I just found it reminding me of boarding school food and having the same things on offer day and night.  After eating there twice, I was sick of it.

There are some interesting cheese based pies and kofta as well as lots of salads.



Despite the clever (and in Brazil prolific) concept, a plate would tend to be about R$20 each time I ate there.  This is quite expensive for pre-cooked food.  Nevertheless, New Natural offers a quiet eating space and lots of vegetarian options (although it is difficult to tell whether somethings are vegetarian friendly without being able to read Portugese).

New Natural

Rua Barão da Torre 167
Ipanema, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil
(21) 2287 0301