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It's Carnage
If there was a circle of hell reserved for vegetarians, Cowley Road's newest addition to world cuisine, Carne, would be it.
While the name - which means meat in Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, and probably a few other languages I'm less familiar with - does tend to suggest it is likely to cater largely for the carnivore, it's hard to imagine somewhere less friendly to veggies.
The new Brazilian barbecue and bar, which opened on March 31, is decked out in vibrant black and orange with canteen-style plastic swivel chairs, along with a few comfier seats in the bar area.
On the day we visited - the night after opening - it was relatively quiet and the staff were keen to tend to our every need.
WHAT DID YOU HAVE?
Carne had just one option for your evening meal - all you can eat meat, hot dishes, salads, soft drinks and ice cream for £17.
The hot options included some kind of seafood spaghetti, a rather delicious chicken stew, rice and chips. Salads of the crispy pepper, cucumber and tomato variety made a welcome addition.
But the fun part started when the team of 'gaucho chefs' produced sizzling fire-roasted meats to be carved at each table.
We had everything from sausages, chorizo, various cuts of beautifully succulent, rare, beef, pork, lamb and - er - chicken hearts.
We sampled everything else, but couldn't quite face the chicken hearts. Most of the meat was cooked to perfection, if a little bland.
AND THE 'AMBIENCE'?
It is quite disconcerting to be constantly interrupted by men wielding steaming lumps of meat, and sharp knives, making the setting perhaps not the best for a romantic meal or an in-depth chat.
It is also hard, as in all buffet situations, to judge just how much of each slice of roasted meat to sample.
The juicy beef was far and away king at our table, with a slightly dry pork being classed as the least successful of the cuts.
The menu promised traditional side dishes including warm cheese, fried bananas, hot polenta and mash which would be brought to our table - but we didn't see anything like that during our stint.
Nothing if not thorough, we decided to try some of the ice cream too, but alas it was of very strange consistency and rather insipid.
The waiting staff appeared to be hoping they could sell us Brazilian cocktails to round off the experience, but we decided to leave that for another day.
THE VERDICT: It's an unusual concept and a lot of fun. But £17 is a lot to spend and if your meat limit is a couple of slices of beef with your Sunday roast, it's not going to be worth your while.
At lunchtime you can just pay for what you eat and there are bar snacks too.
However, it's early days and I suspect the place will come into its own when the place is buzzing and the meat-wielding carvers have a wider circle to roam, meaning interruptions are slightly less frequent.
CARNE, 212 COWLEY ROAD, OXFORD 01865 246222
1:01pm Thursday 10th April 2008
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CommentPosted by: Lopez, Summertown on 10:32am Fri 11 Apr 08
Food is never so good at places where you pay a high price then eat as much as you like,you may have quantity but not quality!
Food is never so good at places where you pay a high price then eat as much as you like,you may have quantity but not quality!
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