There are so many pop-ups springing up in London that it’s getting hard to keep up with them all! But when the Crummbs crew heard of a space comprising an art-house repertory cinema, vinyl record store (run by record label Barely Breaking Even), restaurant and bar; coffee shop and bookshop (Pages of Hackney), we couldn’t wait to check it out!
The Institute of Light, a new collaborative space in London Fields under the arches are teaming up with events company MargoCamilo, to launch Rio Boteco, a new Pop Up opening just in time to celebrate Rio 2016! They will be re-creating a Brazilian ‘’corner shop pub” offering a mix of traditional tapas and street food you can enjoy whilst viewing a movie or have a proper sit down and fill up on comfort food style dishes. The kitchen is run by renowned chefs Roberta Ciasca from Rio’s restaurants Miam Miam, Oui Oui and Petit in Rio; Leon Borja from Harley-Dogs; Felipe Froes, Carmo Brusadin as well as recipes from guest chefs.
So, what’s on the menu…. Starter highlights included; rump tail skewers, bacalhau (salted cod fish cakes), and pasteis de siri (crispy crab pastry parcels). Mains featured authentic dishes such as Moqueca de peixe e camarao, a wonderful fish stew in coconut milk, Panqueca de tapioca, a traditional tapioca pancake with chicken and watercress and a Bobo vegetariana, a deliciously creamy veggie stew with spinach, sweet potato, chickpeas, coconut and palm hearts.
The star of the meal for us was a heavenly slow cooked beef rib which came straight of the bone with a melt in your month cassava gratin. We definitely were in foodie paradise after that one! We ended with an ever so sweet, ‘’omg how do you make this’’ caramelised banana delight with a cinnamon ice cream topped with a dulce de lece type sauce…one amazing little desert. Those Brazilian natives sure know how to please our bellies!
Drinks-wise, there are super fresh cachaça cocktails designed by Yaguara. We tried the Summer Caipirinha with raspberries and blackberries as well as the Tropical with pineapple and coconut and we couldn’t decide which was tastier! There’s a number of other tasty Brazilian concoctions on offer and a good selection of beers and ciders from local breweries you can choose from.
Pop in for a drink or meal (inside or on the spacious terrace), browse through the books and vinyl’s or grab a cine-dining experience where they’ll be showing some sport classics in celebration of the Olympics! Think gems such as Blades of Glory and Cool Runnings as well as some lesser-known movies which will appeal to the East end crowd!
