Parraxaxá Boa Viagem

Possibly the ultimate restaurant for Northeast regional cuisine. This is as authentic as it gets: goat, jerked beef, 'carne de sol', fried cassava, green beans, 'pamonha', 'munguzá' and a host of other plates that are the best examples of Pernambuco's rich and original cuisine. The hearty hot dishes are accompanied by a variety of salads, regional desserts and juices made out of fruits of the season.

This restaurant does not attempt to recreate the most 'Nordestino' environment on the menu alone: the decoration is also a carefully crafted encyclopedia of the countryside folklore. The very name of the place, 'Parraxaxá', is the battle cry of the 'cangaceiros', mythical outlaws that roamed the drylands in the first decades of the 20th century. The restaurant's fence is decorated with egg shells, due to a popular belief that they keep evil spirits away. On the walls, colourful 'xita' cloths, paintings of saints and other samples of local handicraft depicting the arid Sertão, all made to resemble the actual look of a typical dwelling in the State's drylands.

Fortunately, this is a kilo buffet restaurant, which means that tourists can try a bit of everything that regional cuisine has to offer. There is another sister restaurant in Casa Forte in North-West of Recife.

The restaurant also offers parking space, playground for children and Wi-Fi.