Planeta Grill: Seems really authentically Brazilian, but is it?

Area:  about 200m west of Marunouchi Station 丸の内駅, Exit 7
Restaurant:  Planeta Grill プラネタ　グリル
Map and info: http://tabelog.com/aichi/A2301/A230102/23038801/dtlmap/

Hours:  10am-10pm


It seems like a small store and restaurant , selling a few selected imported goods from Brazil.  However when I was told to take a seat in the back, the space opens up quite a bit.  It's bright, and the tables are covered with lace making it reminiscent of an old American gas station cafe, if you know what I mean.  Only this is not America...although it didn't seem like Japan either.  With the big screen TV playing a pop music concert from Brazil and the tables filling up at 3pm with only Brazilians, could this be what an eatery in Brazil feels like?

I ordered the mixed grill plate (980円) after it had been recommended.  When I think of Brazilian food, I think of meat meat meat, and this is what the plate consisted of.  There was a small shredded cabbage salad (in Japan style) with white French dressing.  A thin slice of pork was grilled nicely with the flavors of it's own fat and juices taking over.  The sausage was cut in half and grilled so there was a crispy layer.  It had flavor other than just sodium, and as such was way better than the small sausages you find in the grocery stores here.   The beef was a bit salty but was really tender.  It went well with the sour store made sauce consisting of vinegar, tomato, olives and onion. The chicken was probably the most plain, seasoned with salt and pepper, the breast meat was a little tough.  The rice, and bean soup are all you can eat, but Brazilian food is quite filling, so there was no need for extra.  The bean soup was meaty in flavor, as it was stewed with pork and Brazilian sausage.  Although salty itself, it somehow went well to clean the palette of the meat's high sodium level.  The rice looks like regular Japanese rice, but it has salt added to it and maybe some garlic essence. 

On the side, I ordered a Brazilian version of a croquette, only it's much different in both flavor and texture than the Japanese one. Although it's potato, it so smooth and sticks to the roof of your mouth like cheese does.  The outside is crisp and the chicken filling's flavor melds with the potato.  

I came back on a separate occasion to try the Brazilian salgado or savory mid-afternoon snacks (often meat filled buns). I had the caseirhino カゼイリーニョ which is a soft bun with a chicken and cream cheese filling.  The chicken is grilled and a bit dry, but somehow when it's a filling, that's ok, since it reminds me of a leftover white meat turkey sandwich.  The bread is soft and pulls apart in strands and has a nice chewiness to it. It's plain, but that's preferable when there's a filling with mild flavoring.  I also ordered a beef filled bun to go.  It was even more delicious than the chicken bun. The juicy shredded beef was seasoned with only a bit of salt and mainly the flavours of it's own fat shone through. 

The coffee lives up to the Brazilian high standards, with a good roundness and toastiness.  Overall, a friendly restaurant, and with the customers being mainly Brazilian, I can feel content that I ate some authentic fare.