Eating The World

Guido’s Restaurante
Praia Cueira, Ilha de Boipeba, Bahia, Brazil

While in Boipeba, we struck up a conversation with one of the residents. He asked about our day, and in the course of swooning over the perfect beaches and coconut palms that we had stopped for a beachside moqueca at Guido’s, the only restaurant around for miles. “Guido’s!” he exclaimed. “The tourist trap!”

The Tourist Trap!

Certainly, there are many other restaurants on Boipeba island. And many of them are much more frequented by locals, and may even have very good moqeucas (though not lobster) for as low as 30 or 40 reais, less than half of what we paid at Guido’s. But our thought: if eating at a tourist trap means a beachfront cabana with tables and chairs haphazardly pushed into the sand; spending R$ 85 (About $42 US) for an excellent lobster moqueca for two plus drinks, made fresh front of you;  and where you then get to sit and relax for hours because there are all of 2 other people at the restaurant, all while discussing how lucky you are to even be in such a place, then yes, you should eat at this particular tourist trap.

We’ve never seen a tourist trap where they make the kitchen is visible to all diners. Except Benihana.

Guido’s is the only thing around for miles, smack dab in the middle of Cueira beach, located midway between Boipeba’s largest town of Velha Boipeba (Old Boipeba) and the smaller town of Moreré. You can walk there from either town, or take a speedboat with other travelers that drop you right by the restaurant. It is from this that Guido’s may get its reputation, but if you are there, it is a great option. Its location is appealing, as the beach curves out in both directions to make a very small bay.

Moqueca de lagosta and accompaniments, including an ocean view.

Guido’s specialty is lobster, pulled fresh from traps around the island, and prepared at a small outdoor kitchen, seen above. The menu has a range of options, but most go with either fresh lobsters which can be purchased by unit, or as we did, with a moqueca de lagosta – lobster moqueca (R$ 80). Our moqueca was flavorful and fresh, and the lobster cooked very well. Neither of us had eatern lobster in some time, and this moqueca left us wondering why we had neglected it for so long. The moqueca, as always, was accompanied by the standard Bahian fixings: rice, fresh veggies (tomatoes, onions, carrot slices, etc), farofa, a pot of beans, and pimenta, the spicy sauce of malagueta peppers that is not for the faint of heart.

Tourist traps usually have bad food, or are overpriced. Guido’s has neither.

Guido’s did not blow our minds. It was not even the best place to eat on the island – we’re saving that for our next review. But if you want to eat great lobster, on the beach with a great view, while relaxing the day away, there can be no better option. We’ll be back.