47 replies to this topic

[Summit Lover]

Fogos
Brazilian Restaurant - 35 Westow Street, Crystal Palace, London SE19 3RW.

Had a quick peek at this new restaurant this evening. Decor-wise, nothing has changed since Los Torreros (bit odd, as I thought they might have wanted a new, brazilian feel - but a cheap option I suppose). A handful of people in the bar and in the restaurant area - and a buffet type area with large containers of hot and cold dishes.

There were other VN'ers in there aiming to eat so hopefully a review will follow

[OurPippin]

We ate there on opening night. I have been to these kinds of places before and the general idea is that you serve yourself from the hot and cold dishes whilst waiters appear with a dizzying array of sizzling meats on skewers. Our experience was mixed, but we came away feeling that Fogos definitely has potential. It felt like the staff were still getting used to the place and for a first night it really was ok.

The service was a bit random to begin with. Our waitress brought a bottle of house red (Piat d'or!) to the table and put it down, unopened. Water was asked for but never materialised. We loaded our plates with the various hot and cold dishes (salads, cooked beans, a cheesy baked thing and various warm vegetable mixes) and went back to our table to await the main event - 15 different kinds of meat!

This was where things became a bit disappointing. There was only one waiter on skewer-duty and it took about 25 minutes for the first offering to arrive. However. when the meat (beef) eventually came, we both agreed that it was worth the wait! It had a fantastic flavour and was cooked to perfection. Following this, we hoped that there would be a chance to try the other 14 varieties, but the next serving was also beef, as was the one after that. Each time it was delicious, but I was left hankering after chicken, pork and whatever else was implied by the menu. Eventually there was some pork and a sausage, also delicious. We had some more of the salads and called it a day.

We wish the place well and are very glad that the venue has been put to good use - it is one of our favourite spaces in the triangle (we had our wedding reception there back in the day!)

In summary:

- Meat was great but it needs to be brought to the tables faster, in greater quantity and with more variety
- service needs tweaking (although staff were friendly)
- hot and cold dishes could do with some labels or explanation
- put on some sauces / condiments to go with the meat
- change the house wine!

We enjoyed an opening offer of half price, which was advertised as lasting until the 26th of December. Having recommended the place to friends, we were disappointed to hear that this offer seemed to have been withdrawn rather quickly. Not a good marketing strategy for developing loyal customers!

We will try Fogo again for sure and hope that things develop in the right direction.

[ChewderOde]

hey Pip! That was a very thorough and well thought out review! I wonder if Fogos will read the postings on here and take note of the comments / suggestions? time will tell - shame you didnt let us all know on here about the half price deal!

[OurPippin]

Cheers Chewder! The deal was over so fast you would have missed it. Let's hope they read VN...

[Palacegirl]

I tried this place today - well, met a couple of friends for lunch/dinner and told them to meet me at the Brazilian restaurant. They arrived before me but texted to ask if I meant the 'Lebanese' place...... When I arrived I knew what they meant - a restaurant wth an idendity crisis....

Starters are mainly falafel, houmus, baba ganoush etc. - nice flat bread served with it. Not bad but also not something to judge a restaurant on....
Main course; between the three of us we had :

Mixed grill (nice meat and well cooked)
Grilled chicken (perhaps a little on the dry side)
Grilled sea bass (really nice)

All of the dishes came with rice and salad - however served on ice cold plates (and I mean ICE cold) which was a shame as the food cooled down far too quickly.

The service was really nice and friendly but then to be expected as at 4pm we were the only customers in there.

I really wish them well, but with the tough competition here in the Palace, I can't see this working - my suggestions perhaps would be :

* decide which cuisine you want to offer (and do it well)
* sort out the heating as it was really chilly in there
* get a few ambient cd's rather than Celine Dion and friends .....
* investe a little bit of money and turn the front into a good cocktail bar - it's got great potential !!!!
* have more than 1 type of wine stocked

All in all - as I said it was really friendly service and the food was ok but really nothing special, but the huge space really needs to be filled to give it atmosphere !

...palacegirl

[Curzon]

sorry to Mods etc for (slightly) hijacking this topic but i wondered if there was scope for creating a slighty more detailed poll based on marks out of ten for food, service, value (say) and then creating a league table of restaurants based on people's marks?

It's the sort of thing you get on quite a few of the restaurant websites.

That said, it may be a) too much work a bit too involved for the forum (i'm still a newbie!)

C

[Summit Lover]

sorry to Mods etc for (slightly) hijacking this topic but i wondered if there was scope for creating a slighty more detailed poll based on marks out of ten for food, service, value (say) and then creating a league table of restaurants based on people's marks?

It's the sort of thing you get on quite a few of the restaurant websites.

That said, it may be a) too much work a bit too involved for the forum (i'm still a newbie!)

C

Hi Curzon,

It sounds like a great idea which could work really well, although I am not to sure the current website could support it (I am no techie). Will run it past the site owner

[Ziwa]

.... Will run it past the site owner

{muttering from the peanut gallery about the bungled edit function and other signs of decay like Paxton in a Santa hat when its nearly springtime....}

[St. Lukes Railings]

Has MattVN done a runner? He never posts anymore and like Ziwa said Paxton's looking a bit strange.

[andreas]

We could become a ghost forum, like the Marie Celeste. And gradually all the functionality disappears, until we are reduced to grunts and gestures.

[Summit Lover]

He is still there, he just doesn't visit often. Us remaining mods will continue to do what we can to assist.

[andreas]

He is still there, he just doesn't visit often.

I can see the beginnings of a cargo cult emerging. Which is the Pacific Island where the natives worship the Duke of Edinburgh as a God? Well done to the Mods for keeping us going on the remaining rations.

And is that a seagull that has flown into SL's profile? Land ahoy?

[gekko]

I did try and nudge Matt last week re the Santa Hat issue - I think it reflects terribly on the site and leaves us looking very unloved .

[rennie]

Fogo has gone Lebanese! I was there on Saturday night and the place was empty. I think it's only just recently changed hands. I hope the new owners can make a success of it. The shawarma we tried was lovely.

[Summit Lover]

I normally am keen to try new venues, but I can't drum up any enthusiasm to try out Fogos. I think that it was a mistake to just move in to the premises and do absolutely nothing to it decoratively. They have even left the old tapas boards on the exterior of the building..... bizarre. I know that they are probably trying to do things on the cheap, but a lick of paint wouldn't have cost much here and there inside in order to go a small way to stamping their own identity on the place.

Mind you, talking of identity, they seem to be having a bit of a crisis in that respect - what with starting out with a rotisserie type venture and then altering course to middle eastern.

I hope to be tempted eventually to go there, but I have no inclination at the moment. They will need to do a fair bit more to get people flooding through the doors.