• Rio de Janeiro | Dinner at the “Mee” | Copacabana Palace •

Back in Germany, it’s not only time to unpack the suitcases (check!) but also to remember the good times and incredible experiences we had in Rio de Janeiro. The city doesn’t only offer beautiful places but also great food (don’t miss the chance to eat your way through ALL of the fruits, and of course, if you love meat, you have to try a “churrasco”, for example at “Carretão” in Ipanema).
Since I was little, one of my biggest dreams has been to visit the hotel “Copacabana Palace”, THE legend of Rio and the place where all the rich and famous stay. The building is on Avenida Atlântica, the street running along the beach of Copacabana, and is definitely a gem – one of the most beautiful buildings I’ve ever seen. Of course, I was very curious to see how it looked inside! So as we were on vacation, plus the exchange rate from euros to reais was pretty nice, we took our chance and booked a table at their Asian (actually Pan-Asian) restaurant “Mee”. There’s also a great Italian restaurant at the Copacabana Palace, the “Cipriani”, but as we already had dinner at the FASANO in Ipanema the night before (blog post coming!), we went for this exotic dinner. And we were pretty lucky that night – not only was the dinner extremely good, but we also had some famous company: thanks to “Rock in Rio”, there were some celebrities dining next to us – Johnny Depp, Alice Cooper, Tommy Lee, Guns N’ Roses,… (we probably just didn’t recognize the rest of them!). Pretty exciting, huh? :)

Crispy Salmon Carpaccio * & Ussuzukuri

Dim Sum Degustation Menu & Moriawase Tempura

Sashi Mee *

Special Duo “Unagi” & Sushi Takê

Matcha Pudding

Mango Yuzu Ravioli *

* my favorites

So… we were kind of overwhelmed by the menu – too many good things to choose from. ;) Fortunately, I had had a look at the menu before at home, so I had already picked what I wanted to try. Instead of going for a normal main course, we went for sushi. And it was a good idea, as the quality of the fish was absolutely perfect.
We chose the Sashi Mee, which is a selection of 10 pieces of fish from the chef – it included tuna, salmon belly and scallops with black truffle – please forgive me that I totally forgot the names of the other two fishes, but trust me when I say: they were all utterly delicious. My favorite was the truffled scallops – and I can’t believe I’m saying this as I actually hate truffle, I can’t even stand the smell of it. But they were way too good, especially with a little bit of soy sauce. Good news: you can order them solo. ;)

Also, the nigiri selection was great. I ordered a special duo of unagi (eel) extra, my favorite fish, and I can say: it was great. Unagi is only available upon request. So if you want some, make sure to ask if it’s available before you’re coming.

As starters, we had two different types of fishy carpaccio – the “Ussuzukuri” with ponzu sauce and the “Crispy Salmon Carpaccio”. Both were delicious but the crispy one – let me say: perfect. I loved it and can highly recommend trying it!
Also, we went for the small Dim Sum Degustation Menu, with all five Dim Sums from the menu – not that easy to share but we somehow managed not to fight over them. :) Actually, they were nothing very special, more of a little filler, but still very good and if you love Dim Sum, you should definitely go for them!
The Tempura, well, was good but for me the less interesting part about our dinner – for me, they should have served it with a different sauce, something more spicy or just with a different taste. It was good but definitely a little bit boring.

Of course, let’s not forget the dessert. We went for the Matcha Pudding and the Mango Yuzu Ravioli. The latter was something very special – they cut the mango like ravioli (at first I didn’t even notice!) and they’re filled with Yuzu. The citrus sorbet is refreshing and delicious and complements the ravioli very well.
The pudding was good – you definitely have to like matcha and if you do, you’ll totally like it. It comes with a red berry sauce and fresh fruits, also with the citrus sorbet (I loved it!) and nuts.
Nothing to complain about the dessert – just a little bit more would have been great, the servings were so small. :)

As you might have noticed, I also added some pictures of the view. You’ll find the restaurants and bars of the hotel around the pool and it was a pleasure to switch tables for a little cocktail after dinner (margharita for me, caipirinha for my husband) and just enjoy being there, satisfied with delicious food and just feeling blessed. I really hope to repeat this one day! Maybe even with a stay in one of their rooms…
Until then, all I can say is: best night ever. Great food, great location and atmosphere and an absolutely reasonable price for our perfect dinner.
And of course, another plus goes out to the service, which was absolutely flawless. ;)

♥