Cais, São Paulo: A comfortable restaurant with a lively vibe and good food so it’s not surprising to see it’s always packed. On a quaint little house in the Vila Madalena neighborhood of the city, Cais offers tables outside by the window, counter seats by the kitchen, as well as more traditional tables. Operated in the kitchen by Adriano de Laurentiis and his business partner Guilherme Giraldi, sommelier and front of house manager, its fare is focused around fresh seafood and fish. This wonderful place was visited by Mr. Neelesh Dalal with an appetite for trying something new.
What We Had:
Cais’s short menu changes regularly according to the availability and freshness of ingredients in season. Having enjoyed the tasty appetisers and other delicacies available here, we especially advise that you have the week’s fish and seafood offering, topped off by the rich and soft cheesecake presented with a milk sorbet. Chef Adriano believes in supporting the local fisherman, which makes your dish so fresh and earthy. Also, Sea Bass is not the only delicious fish available; if you are at the Michelin Star Cais, you are in for a surprise. All dishes were done finely and the degustation process was done at its best level.
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Appetisers:
Blinis, Ikura Roe, Fraiche:
This one was an amazing combination of small pancakes with salmon roe, curd, and dry onions. As you take the first bite, you get pancake with a sharp taste of beaten curd and dry bits of onions, and then comes the salted salmon roe, which is a burst of flavours in your mouth. It was teamed with Drink with Olive, also known as a mini dry martini.
Sake – liciroso:
The fresh Brazilian coast oysters were served to us, which were with fermented peppers. The oysters were the freshest delicacies we had and they were topped up with Tabasco and lemon.
Yellow Tail Fish Dish:
The yellowtail fish was served with some aioli and tomato carpaccio. The blend of the two was absolutely fresh with a fine blending of tomato skin.
Hamatashi fish:
Hamatashi fish was also recommended as it was also a fresh catch in the wonderful place. The fish was served with tomato water. It was an excellent fishy meat with flavoured water—and it was so far the best dish we tasted.
Octopus Chorizo Romesco:
The octopus was cooked to the right consistency to eat. It also had a burnt chilli hint of garlic. Also accompanied with toasted bread and Sauvignon wine to pair with.
Grilled Sea Bass:
After everything, we were having a perfect Sea Bass that was grilled just at the right amount on a charcoal and served beautifully with perfect taste.
Carrot Steak:
Carrot steak is a dish that is a unique way of cooking—an amazing taste with the essence of eating steak—and it was served with some kale leaves.
Asparagus in Spanish Sauce:
We also had asparagus, which was served to us, dipped in Spanish sauce with sardines and tomatoes served with fresh herbs. It was tasted with bread and almonds.
Raising A Toast For The Chef:
Chef Adriano is a very creative and yet thoughtful chef of São Paulo. He believes in sustainable cooking and upbringing the survival of the local fisherman. The menu changes according to the type of fish picked out, which was initially taken up to the customers when they only wanted sea bass. Chef Adriano made it his personal mission to teach people that sea bass isn’t the only fish to be tasted. There is so much more in that category. That’s what makes this restaurant very different from other ones and Chef Adriano stands out in his culinary expertise very well. Time spent at Cais was delightful and very delicious throughout. A place you must visit if you are a fish lover.
