We ate at McDonald's on the top floor. Since it is Mothers Day in Brazil I gave in to P's unhealthy craving. The fries were not just regular McD salty but Brazilian McD salty, or as a documentary maker might put it, Super-Salt Me ! It made me think again about how in English we talk of "savoury and sweet" but in other languages it is simply divided into "salty and sweet." Sadly, Brazil is this latter par excellence. I have eaten some wonderful food here, no question, but the general, default diet is depressingly, dangerously over-salted and over-sweetened.
Where is the subtlety of spices and the delight of tasting the authentic flavour of food without it being drowned in salt or sugar ? The price of our McD grub, my first in Brazil and also my first in many moons anywhere, was higher than in the UK of course. Dessert was a yoghurt from a local chain, freshly made and with real fruits, but once again at an exorbitant price of over £8 for the one, shared cup.
Other, non-food items in this shopping mall are crazy, insane expensive, especially anything related to babies. Fisher Price and co. are widely available here but costing multiples of their price in the UK or US. A sales assistant told us, not for the first time, that Brazilians returning from living aroad are also horrified at the domestic prices. To me, with a baby just starting to require extra stimulation, this is what really gets me down. A government wishing not to punish the next generation could end this unfairness in an instant.
Location:R. Afonso Pena,Sao Paulo,Brazil
Yuk, I really dislike McD. Recently my teenage cousin and her friend wanted to eat there so we took them, I had a sandwich there that made me sick for three days. A sandwich at a padaria would have been so much better and cheaper...
ReplyDeleteYes I don't intend to return anytime soon just have a weakness for trying such things once to tick them off the list ! Otoh have found Habib's not bad, especially the ice cream sundae.
ReplyDeleteI agree, Habib's isn't so bad but I prefer to stay away from the chains! There are quite a few Lebanese and Syrian small places around Bom Retiro with good and cheap snacks like esfihas, kibes and so on...
ReplyDeleteYes we have often been to the Turkish-run kibbe place.
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