TOURO CHURRASCARIA

My first experience with a  Brazilian steakhouse that offered “Rodizio” service was while on vacation in Cancun at the resort restaurant. I really am a carnivore so the idea of AYCE grilled meat is pretty enticing, mixed in with the variety of cuts and meats offered and I was sold on the idea. When I heard about Touro opening in Richmond Hill with a special opening price of $40 a reservation was made the day of.

Atmosphere: Both the exterior and interior of Touro had lots of clean lines and gave off a masculine feel. The decor consisted of dark woods, leather and red accents. The wall of wine racks and the sphere chandeliers by the salad bar was pretty and gave the dining area a focal point. There is a lot of seating available and tables for large groups. A dress code is in place, no caps, hoodies or tracksuits and valet parking is provided. The venue is aiming for a more fine dining experience and I think it does achieve that goal.

Service: When you’re ordering food from circulating servers (akin to dim sum carts), service is kind of key. Our waitress was really friendly, a lot of smiles and explained how the Rodizio worked. Green side of the card means go, red side means stop; pretty straight forward. She left us with the wine menu, which was an ipad where you could search by region and type. I really liked the visual and hands on approach. I had fun just playing around with the app after we made our choice.

The servers walking the room with the meat selections were a bit stoic. When we asked about what cut one of them was serving, the reply was cow. The BF and I both laughed and took a serving, it was endearing but more informed servers would be helpful. Most of the time we were able to guess what was on the stake, other times there was no harm is giving it a try. This feels like just opening wrinkles that will be ironed out with more time. We definitely made friends with the server and he was great with making sure he stopped by our table every time he came out with anything new, and always the grilled pineapple.

Food: On top of the grilled meat selection, there was a salad bar with a wide variety of vegetarian options including an eggplant lasagna. I loved the antipasto selection and fresh carved cheese. I wanted to try a bit of everything and had to be careful not to fill up before we even started on the BBQ.

And  BBQ there was ribs, sirloin, chicken drumsticks, rump roast, pork sausages, lamb shank, lamb chops, meatballs, bacon wrapped filet mignon, etc etc. I don’t remember everything we tried and I didn’t get a picture of every cut of meat because there was just a lot and at times they came quickly.

My favourites of the meal was by far the lamb. Both the shank and chop was gamey and flavourful. The chop was cooked to medium and juicy while the shank was spiced well and tender. Next for me was the chicken and pork sausage, again well-flavoured and moist. The meat fell off the bone on the ribs.

I didn’t love the bacon wrapped filet mignon, but the BF enjoyed it. Overall, the beef cuts were cooked to well done and was a little dry like the rump roast and especially the  sirloin. The sirloin was such a disappointment, it was really chewy and hard to eat.

The grilled pineapple was amazing. The whole pineapple was grilled and then rolled in cinnamon and brown sugar. We had multiple servings of this and the BF ate pretty much an entire pineapple by the time we got the bill. We did order one of their dessert “shots”, the orange and chocolate mousse. It was just ok, pre-prepared and refrigerated, I would pass on it in the future.

For a special occasion, with a large group of meat-lovers in the area, I can see a return visit easily.