Cabana Brazilian Barbecue: Tudo Bem

Cabana was a real surprise. I must admit I was a bit suspicious – after all, it is a big Brazilian restaurant slap bang in the heart of London, just a few minutes from Tottenham Court Road – how authentic could it be? Yet, within minutes of settling myself in the lovingly designed restaurant, David, one of the founders, showed me how to make a caipirinha. After numerous research trips to Brazil (I have written more guide books to Brazil than any other country), which must have involved drinking hundreds of this national cocktail, I have to admit, I have never learned how to make one.

 It is just one example of the care that has gone into Cabana. All my favourite Brazilian street food (which I tend to call bus food as it has sustained me on many long journeys through the country) is on the menu and done really well. As I tucked into delicious chicken croquettes, cheese balls and cassava chips, David told me how he was born in Rio the day the tanks rolled into the city as part of the 1964 Brazilian coup d'état, declaring: 'My poor mother'.

There is a palpable love of Brazil in the place, from the decor inspired by Rio's favelas to the support the restaurant shows for the inspirational ABC Trust which works with street children and the most vulnerable young people in Brazil. As I dined on a foot long skewer of tender meat washed down with a very good Brazilian red wine from Miolo I felt a bit of real Brazil that I have rarely experienced in London.

I loved the 'Tudo Bem tales' on Cabana's website – feel good stories that demonstrate the Brazilian spirit. Here we are told a story about a bicycle customised into a mobile library which gives books to the poor and homeless in Brazil which they pass on. 'Tudo Bem' means 'everything is wonderful', and in Cabana it pretty much is.

7 Central St Giles Piazza

London, WC2H 8AD

T: 020 7632 9630

Chestnut Plaza, Montfitchet Way

Westfield Stratford City, E20 1GL

T: 0208 536 2650

www.cabana-brasil.com