Juice bars: where food R&D folks must come to do research!
So far, I think my favorite thing about Rio de Janeiro are its juice bars. Here, you can try out all of those exotic flavors that sometimes make their way to the US (like acai), only here it's not just a pinch of acai concentrate in grape or pear juice, they actually blend the entire fruit into a pure juice. And occasionally you need to eat it with a spoon since it's so thick!
The juice bars all tend to look alike - they're often on street corners, and consist of a counter, behind which is a semi-wall lined with fruit, behind which is where the staff blend your juices. There are sometimes tables on the sidewalk; otherwise you stand up and eat at the counter.
So far, I've tried mango (manga), cashew fruit (caja - yellow, milky, slightly sour, needs sugar), avocado (abacate - very thick and creamy, not refreshing at all), guava (goiaba - better than any guava juice I've had before), and soursop (graviola - very milky). Here's acerola from Polis Sucos in Ipanema, which so far is my favorite juice bar, partly because of the variety, but also because the staff understand poor attempts at pronouncing the fruit. The acerola juice was very thick and pulpy.
This is my first encounter with a juice bar, in Copacabana. It's actually a chain called Mega Matte (they also serve mate tea; here it's iced). I had acai blended with strawberries - definitely needed to use a spoon! The things in the bag are pao de queijo, basically cheese puffs. It was a set deal for BRL$5 (US$2.20).
The juice bars always serve snack food, which if you're like me you can turn into dinner! Here I am having a filet mignon sandwich with my guava juice at Big Polis Fucos in Leblon (I don't think it's related to Polis Fucos). Altogether, it was only BRL$12.90, or US$5.70! I also think it's great that filet mignon here is almost as common as a regular burger.
Reading in one of my guidebooks, these fruit have really interesting properties. Like acai is "very caloric yet rich in proteins,...and a natural cholesterol controller." Acerola is "the king of vitamin C (each has more vitamin C than 40 lemons)." And I've also read that people here have these juices sometimes as meal replacements, which makes sense because the whole fruit is in your cup.
