Eaternet went to Green Forest last Friday for our May dinner. It was a very interesting experience, however I was not very impressed with the food. Here's how it works. It's a prix fixe with a buffet and Brazilian-style barbecue with the meats brought to your table. There is a salad bar and a buffet of hot dishes. These you get yourself. The salad bar was similar to American salad bars but with some items that were a little different, such as the shrimp and green peas in some sort of creamy dressing (very good!). There were numerous prepared salads of that sort plus various greens and stuff for composing your own "tossed" salad. There was also slice cheese and what appeared to be sliced salami. And fruit. The fresh pineapple was ripe and sweet and juicy. Yum. The hot buffet had things like lemon chicken, baked fish, black beans, some other kind of dried beans, rice, mussels (blecch!), fried bananas, ziti with marinara sauce, etc. This stuff was okay, but not great. The black beans were good, the chicken was okay, the fish was decent. Oh, and there were roasted potatoes. They were my favorite. Now we come to the barbeque. Roving bbq servers come to your table with a big sword or two on which various meats are skewered. They slice off portions onto your plate. At dinner there are supposedly 16 different meats, about half of which are various cuts of beef. There's prime rib, skirt steak, flank steak, and a couple of others. There's also chicken in the form of drumsticks (these were pretty good), poin tenderloin, pork ribs (apparently marinated in something tart and coated with manioc meal, cut in short sections through the bone), turkey (ground I think and formed into small cylinders and wrapped in bacon), duck (supposedly - they claimed to be out if it that night - damn!), sausage (didn't see that either), lamb, beef shishkabob. That all I can remember offhand. I was trying to keep track of how many different ones we had but it got to be very confusing. Unfortunately all the meat was too salty, some of it was *way* too salty. Maybe this is the way everyone likes it in Brazil but I was not too thrilled. Most meats I eat, except maybe chicken need very little if any salt. I was never big on salt. So I found it most unpleasant. Also, most of the cuts were *way* too well done and dry and tough as a result. The lamb was just plain tough and stringy in addition to being overcooked and dry and too salty. Some of the cuts were done rare and they would have been great except for the salt factor - the prime rib, flank steak, and I think the skirt steak. Oh, I almost forget the shrimp. They were way overdone as well and you couldn't get the shells off - they stuck to the meat. I don't know if I'll go back. It might be okay if you find a couple of the meats that you like and just eat them. But at $20 a pop I prefer my food to be better prepared. When I first heard about it I had visions of succulent grilled meats. The reality is far from succulent. And probably due to the excess salt the meats all taste the same. You can't distinguish beef from lamb without knowing ahead that it's one or the other. There is a lunch version with fewer meats for about $13, I believe. Still that's a lot for a buffet where you can't take your leftovers home. :-) In any case, it was very interesting and we had the cutest waiter who is from Brazil and is a graduate student at Pitt. Too bad he's married. He was an adorable hunk. I might go back just to see him. Kate
Pittsburgh, PA
Green Forest Brazilian Churrascaria - Review
Dan G. wrote: > Thanks -- great review. > Where is this place? The only Green Forest in the phone book is on E. > Carson. Is that the place? > -dan > > Kate C. wrote: > > Eaternet went to Green Forest last Friday for our May dinner. > > It was a very interesting experience, however I was not very > > impressed with the food. > > I guess you're one of those salt lovers, eh? It's at 655 Rodi Rd. in Penn Hills. Turn right at the first light on Rodi after you get off the Parkway. Kate
I'm not a big fan of salt -- nor particularly looking for handsome waiters -- but I do love a buffet and this one sounds a bit different than the usual pgh fare. I'm open to any good buffet and/or salad bar recommendations. Some of my local favorites include: Lunch: India Garden in Oakland -- discussed here previously at length, but very good food and variety IMO. Salad bar at the Wyndham in Oakland (pasta bar as well for extra $2) -- very fresh and good quality salad ingredients (though somewhat limited variety) Dinner: Evergreen Chinese Buffet in Monroeville - fresh, good food at very reasonable price. Peel & eat shrimp are a bonus. -dan Kate C. wrote: > Dan G. wrote: > > > Thanks -- great review. > > Where is this place? The only Green Forest in the phone book is on E. > > Carson. Is that the place? > > -dan > > > > Kate C. wrote: > > > Eaternet went to Green Forest last Friday for our May dinner. > > > It was a very interesting experience, however I was not very > > > impressed with the food. > > > > > I guess you're one of those salt lovers, eh? It's at > 655 Rodi Rd. in Penn Hills. Turn right at the first light on Rodi > after you get off the Parkway. > Kate > >
I ate there about a month ago and thought it was quite delicious. Personally I never use salt on anything I cook myself, so I'm definitely not a salt lover. However, there were only really one or 2 selections that I'd say were heavily salted - and those really didn't bother me they were still quite good. As another poster pointed out, they come by several times with the same selections, usually cooked to different grades. If on one pass it is too under or overcooked you can wait till they come around again with something done more to your liking. The hot buffet had a lot of good items also, nothing to complain about there. The salad bar part of it was a bit lacking for my preferences, but when I go to buffets I rarely tackle the salad bar anyways, save my appetite for the good stuff instead of the salad filler. Overall I was very pleased with it. It is a bit pricey at $20 for the full buffet, but compared to other expensive restaurants it is well worth the price for the quality, quantity, and variety of the food. Just wanted to chime in with my opinion. Don't want to see a great restaurant overlooked by others because of 1 bad review. On Tue, 23 May 2000 12:19:14 -0400, Kate Connally Someone wrote: >Eaternet went to Green Forest last Friday for our May dinner. >It was a very interesting experience, however I was not very >impressed with the food. > >Here's how it works. It's a prix fixe with a buffet and >Brazilian-style barbecue with the meats brought to your >table. There is a salad bar and a buffet of hot dishes. >These you get yourself. The salad bar was similar to >American salad bars but with some items that were a >little different, such as the shrimp and green peas in some >sort of creamy dressing (very good!). There were numerous >prepared salads of that sort plus various greens and stuff >for composing your own "tossed" salad. There was also >slice cheese and what appeared to be sliced salami. And >fruit. The fresh pineapple was ripe and sweet and juicy. >Yum. > >The hot buffet had things like lemon chicken, baked fish, >black beans, some other kind of dried beans, rice, mussels >(blecch!), fried bananas, ziti with marinara sauce, etc. >This stuff was okay, but not great. The black beans were >good, the chicken was okay, the fish was decent. Oh, and >there were roasted potatoes. They were my favorite. > >Now we come to the barbeque. Roving bbq servers come to >your table with a big sword or two on which various meats >are skewered. They slice off portions onto your plate. At >dinner there are supposedly 16 different meats, about half >of which are various cuts of beef. There's prime rib, skirt steak, >flank steak, and a couple of others. There's also chicken in >the form of drumsticks (these were pretty good), poin tenderloin, >pork ribs (apparently marinated in something tart and coated with >manioc meal, cut in short sections through the bone), turkey >(ground I think and formed into small cylinders and wrapped >in bacon), duck (supposedly - they claimed to be out if it that night - >damn!), sausage (didn't see that either), lamb, beef shishkabob. >That all I can remember offhand. I was trying to keep track of >how many different ones we had but it got to be very confusing. >Unfortunately all the meat was too salty, some of it was *way* too >salty. Maybe this is the way everyone likes it in Brazil but I was >not too thrilled. Most meats I eat, except maybe chicken need >very little if any salt. I was never big on salt. So I found it most >unpleasant. Also, most of the cuts were *way* too well done >and dry and tough as a result. The lamb was just plain tough >and stringy in addition to being overcooked and dry and too >salty. Some of the cuts were done rare and they would have >been great except for the salt factor - the prime rib, flank steak, >and I think the skirt steak. Oh, I almost forget the shrimp. They >were way overdone as well and you couldn't get the shells off - >they stuck to the meat. > >I don't know if I'll go back. It might be okay if you find a couple >of the meats that you like and just eat them. But at $20 a pop I >prefer my food to be better prepared. When I first heard about it >I had visions of succulent grilled meats. The reality is far from >succulent. And probably due to the excess salt the meats all taste >the same. You can't distinguish beef from lamb without knowing >ahead that it's one or the other. There is a lunch version with >fewer meats for about $13, I believe. Still that's a lot for a buffet >where you can't take your leftovers home. :-) In any case, it >was very interesting and we had the cutest waiter who is >from Brazil and is a graduate student at Pitt. Too bad he's married. >He was an adorable hunk. I might go back just to see him. >Kate