Today I wanted to share some recent Southern Brazilian travel foodie knowledge and deliciousness with all of you. I´m not one of the regular contributors to the Class Adventure Travel blog, but will do my very best to share more travel insider knowledge & finds during the next couple of months.
After spending several years in Buenos Aires, my boyfriend and I decided that it was time to find a new place which we could call home elsewhere in South America. We’ll be in Florianopolis, Southern Brazil for the next couple of weeks.
The Easter weekend already started last Thursday for all of us down here in South America and we decided to head out to the southwestern part of the Santa Catarina island (yes, that´s the island where Florianopolis can be found) for some oysters! It had been almost a year ago since I had eaten oysters and I was craving to have some, even more when the owners of the place we’re staying in told us that the best oyster restaurants can be found in the place we were headed to.
Unfortunately the weather wasn’t great that day, lots of rain. After all Brazil has a tropical climate! After a quick bus ride we arrived to Ribeirao da Ilha, one of the island´s small villages along the Ribeirao coast. Be careful when bussing or driving there as that part of the coast has the same name for about 15 kilometers. Just be patient, the cute small village with several oyster restaurants will show up! And that´s where you need to be. Get off the bus or find a quiet place to park your car and be ready for all the good oysters that you are about to eat! In Ribeirao da Ilha is where most of the oyster cultivation occurs.
After a short walk through the village we decided to give Ostradamus – Floripa´s best oyster bar – a try. I’ve never seen a restaurant with that many oyster options on the menu! The regular portions come as a dozen, but you can opt for several half portions in order to try more varieties.
We opted for (make sure you’re not hungry! Or you might want to stop reading now!)
– Gratinada (with béchamel sauce)
– Das Antigas (with tomatoes, onions, parsley and parmesan cheese)
– With apple and mango
And then the greatest of all with caramelized ginger, balsamic oil and bread with nuts, which were served last and the perfect desert!
Oysters are the restaurant’s specialty, but there are also other seafood dishes on the menu. We stayed with the oysters. Ostradamus has a great glass covered deck, so try to make reservations to assure a seat on the deck with a great view.
Make sure to head to the Ribeirao da Ilha to try some of Brazil´s most famous oysters when visiting Florianopolis during your Brazil tour with Class Adventure Travel. And please share more, good oyster restaurants in the area in the comments section, I’m not done with those oysters yet!
