The Road to Rio Day #12 “In Rio At Last”

We started our day with another wonderful breakfast at our hotel, then our tour guide took us to the Iguazu Falls airport.  There are 2 international airports in Iguazu Falls, one in Argentina (where we arrived) and the other in Brazil (from where we departed). We went through security and boarded the plan without anyone asking us to show our passports or any form of identification.

The flight left on time (I guess not checking ID will speed up departure times) and we arrived in Rio a few minutes early.  Not sure if I mentioned it but my luggage did not make it to Iguazu Falls with our flight (they brought it the next day) so I was a bit nervous waiting in baggage claim. Both bags arrived and we were on our way.  The hotel was about a 30 minute drive from the airport during which we talked with our Rio guide (Edson) a little about the city and the plans for tomorrow and Monday.

We are staying at the Copacabana Palace which is across the street from the beach.  The hotel is amazing (a recurrent theme for this trip).  Unfortunately we don’t have a view of the beach or the pool.  After arriving we took a walk around the area and the hotel.  There is a wedding taking place here and apparently they are having two separate ceremonies due to religious differences.  We are told that the average Brazilian household income is about $25,000 (USD) but many make as little as $12,000 per year.  Tonight’s wedding families clearly don’t belong in either of these socioeconomic groups.

Dinner was in the hotel at a restaurant called Mee.  It is an Asian style restaurant and has Michelin One Star rating.  Does it make sense to trust a tire company to rate a restaurant? The answer is YES.  We had a fantastic meal.  We didn’t just have a meal, we had an experience.  We sat at the sushi bar and ordered the prix fixe menu that won them the Michelin Star Rating.  We watched the first 3 courses being made.  They were sushi dishes (yes, I ate sushi) and they tasted spectacular.  We spoke with Chef Kazuo Harada who explained that the restaurant is new and they recently received their Michelin One Star of which he is justifiably very proud.

Tomorrow is our tour of the city but tonight we devoted our attention to food (see below).

Sealed Salmon with spicy miso sauce

Scallops Truffle (that is tuna sashimi in the front).

Dim Sum: both pork, the one on the left is green due to spinach.

Sorry too busy eating, I forgot to take a picture of the Sushi Set (1. Tuna with foie gras 2. Chilean King Crab)

Duck.  The duck was then taken off the bone by the waiters and we ate it wrapped in pancakes and Hoisin sauce (like moo shu pork)

Wagyu beef ribs cooked in low temperature with kabocha squash.

Tofu Cheesecake and Raspberry Sherbet for dessert.

Patrice (“Miss Patricia” according to the waitress); Chef Kazuo Harada; and Robert (¨Mr. Richard”)

Hasta mañana,

Roberto