Eating The World

Bibi Sucos
Avenida Ataulfo de Paiva, 591A – Leblon
Rio de Janeiro

Bibi Sucos, located just past the Leblon/Ipanema border in Rio’s south zone, is an inviting place for sucos in an area of the city full of choices (Bibi has a few other locations in the city, including Barra). With an extensive menu of juices, sandwiches, and other options, it seems to be as great of a meal spot as an açaí destination. L&M, spending the day in Leblon, felt Bibi Sucos was worth a stop – our second in our quest to find the best açaí bowl in Rio! After some initial confusion over the menu – which does not denote mL sizes for the bowls – we settled on a pequena, whose size, as seen below, does not really fit with the name.

Value: 1/5 Our pequena (by the look of it, about 500 mL, or more) was R$12.50, with a R$2 extra charge for granola. The extra granola charge put us off a bit, and raised the price. Total: R$ 14.50.

Taste: 12/15. Very good. Our açaí had a tasty açaí flavor with a few added fruits, but had the tendency to be slightly bitter in places.

Texture: 8/10. Overall smooth, but had hints of graininess that could have been worked out. Sometimes the graininess can be a good thing, but if it gets hints of gritty, we find it to be a turnoff.

Granola: 5/5. In a separate cup with cashew bits? Five points!

Extras: 5/5. Great other factors at Bibi. Extensive outdoor seating for a sucos places, along with refreshingly prompt service. The menu, in addition to an impressive range of açaí add-ons and sizing options, had a wide range of sandwiches, burgers, omelets, and salads available (all of which looked delicious). Best part: this was the first place to give us two spoons without us asking for them! 

TOTAL: 31/40 – Good enough for the smallest of leads over Vero Suco, our go-to place in Centro.

It’s no secret that we love ranking our food finds, from the best macarons in Paris, to the best Pasteis de Nata in Lisbon. Now that we are in Brazil, our attentions have turned to Açaí – the delightful slushy-like creations made from frozen Açaí berry and topped with fresh fruit and granola. We rated our favorite Açaí bowls in  Salvador previously, but we have many more options in Rio de Janiero, so figured we would  try to standardize our ratings. After a little consideration, we decided to rate the Açaí bowls on the following parameters:

Açaí from Vero Suco with a cup of granola – a nice extra!

Value: Out of 5. The typical price for an Açaí na Tigela ranges from 6 to 10 Reais for a bowl (typically 500 mL). You get points based on your cost: Below R$8 = 5/5; 8-9.99 = 4; 10-11.99 = 3; 12-13.99 = 2; 14-15.99 = 1; 16 and above = 0.

Taste: Out of 15. It has to taste good – and taste like Açaí rather than a random fruit blend.

Texture: Out of 10. Açaí should be smooth, and not grainy, watery or icy (and we have had all of these)

Granola: Out of 5. Quantity and quality of granola, a very underrated aspect of the Açaí bowl!

Extras: Out of 5. This is a somewhat more intangible category. For example – do they give you spoons (sometimes this doesn’t happen)? Is the setting decent? Can you sit or do you have to stand?

So here we go – hopefully by the end of our stay here we will have some definitive results for the best Açaí in Rio. Anyone have any recommendations for us to try?

Vero Suco
R. Sen. Dantas, 76 – Centro
Rio de Janeiro

Vero Suco is a typical Brazilian juice bar – fresh fruit piled on the counter, a somewhat dated 1980s look and a giant menu (and conveniently located just steps from our apartment!) There were also a variety of sandwiches also for sale for less than R$ 10 apiece. They were passable, but the juices and açaí were definitely the stars of the show.

We got an açaí bowl for 8.90, which had 500 mL of açaí . We went two times: the first time the bowl had an excellent taste and texture, but was a little disappointing the second time. Regardless, Vero Suco was the first place in which we were served granola in a side dish. We are used to a small sprinkling of granola or a small granola packet. However, the bowl of granola was a revelation! This way, we can add granola as we see fit, bit by bit. A standard granola package has too little for an entire bowl, and getting it batida (mixed in), while tasty, denies you the visual appeal of fresh granola on top of the purple açaí. This was one of our favorite açaí bowls in Rio so far, and we enjoyed the price and the copious amount of granola.

Value: 4/5. A 500 mL bowl, with free granola, was R$ 8.90.

Taste: 10.5/15. Very good. Tasty, but could have brought out more of the fruitiness in the açaí and other accompanying fruits.

Texture: 7/10. Good. Our first visit was easily 9/10, but our second visit it was too grainy. We worked out an average score here.

Granola: 5/5. Excellent. Served in a separate cup, including two full cashews.

Extras: 4/5. Seating is provided (always a plus), but like all places in Centro, is inside and a little crowded/stifling. This is made up for by the brightly painted walled and extensive fruit decorations. Service is prompt and efficient, but they lose a point for not bringing us two spoons!

TOTAL: 30.5/40

While there, we also decided to try some of Vero Suco’s actual juice offerings. Beyond the more typical juices of abacaxi (pineapple) and maracuja (Passion fruit) we were excited to see  beterraba (beet), acerola, graviola and cacau juices. The one that intrigued us the most was cacau, which means “cocoa” in Portuguese. M, of course, upon seeing this on the menu ran up to the counter to order one. We soon found out, however, this is not a chocolate juice. Much like another popular Brazilian juice, Caju (cashew), this juice is from the flesh of a fruit usually harvested for nuts. So cashew juice is from the fruit of the cashew, cocoa juice is from the fruit of the cocoa.  The fruit is particularly mild, and doesn’t really taste at all like chocolate.