Michael Hepworth
Los Angeles, CA(Spiritsman)9/30/13/–M Grill in Koreatown is actually a Brazilian Steakhouse that serves the traditional Churrascaria style food that is popular in a handful of spots in Los Angeles including the iconic Fogo De Chao in Beverly Hills. The second floor restaurant has now expanded to about 80 seats, taking over a former bridal wear space next to them and it seems to be working. There is a large backlit onyx bar that stocks over 130 wines by the bottle and about 14 that are served by the glass.
Traditionally a nice red pinot goes well with this kind of food, although if you prefer sprits, then they have a selection of moderately priced caipirinhas that they claim are the best in the city.
This is a style of food and eating that started in South Brazil in Rio Grande do Sul close to the borders of Argentine and Uruguay, and turned into a family and friends feast with meats cooking on the open fire.
As far as I could tell, the only difference between the M-Grill and Fogo is the fact that at a fixed meal price of $46.99 for food only, they are about $20 cheaper for the experience. Also the vegetable and cheese buffet seemed very similar, although the M-Grill does include rice, black beans, collard greens, fried yucca and plantains. In fact the black beans are actually called ‘Feijoada’ and are a staple in Brazil and consist of beef, pork and dried cured beef which is prepared in house.
The entrepreneurial owner is the Korean Manny Kim, who spent much of his early years in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and who clearly has never fallen out of love with the country. Although he lives in Orange County he is at the restaurant almost every night to see that everything runs smoothly, and that means keeping a close eye on the meat servers as they float from table to table with their skewers of meat and extremely sharp knives served rodizio style. And yes they keep on coming until you tell them if you have had enough, so traditionally big eaters love this kind of place.
About 19 different freshly charcoal grill premium meats are served, lamb, beef, pork and chicken, and they have been using the same supplier for quite some time so quality and consistency remains high. There is a house special called “picanha” which is very tender cut of beef from the Top Sirloin. Cut against the grain, and there are only two top sirloins for every animal.
In Brazil, meats are seasoned with rock salt, but at M-Grill for example the lamb is seasoned with herbs, garlic and white wine. Garlic Chicken and the Chicken Hearts uses garlic, spices and lemon juice and onion, and the garlic chicken marinates for eight hours.
The restaurant is also open for lunch when the cost is $28.99, and there is live Brazilian music on Friday and Saturday nights. There is also a Happy Hour special of 50% off all drinks from 5.30 to 10 pm Tuesday-Sunday.
-M Grill-3832 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90010
Tel – 213-389-2770
Parking in adjacent lot
Michael Hepworth
287 S.Robertson Blvd, Beverly Hills, CA 90211
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