There are restaurants where you go for dinner, and then there are restaurants where dinner becomes the evening. Fogo de Chão, sitting right in the heart of Manchester’s Spinningfields, falls firmly into the latter. The original Brazilian steakhouse and internationally renowned restaurant group has recently unveiled a major transformation of its Manchester restaurant – its first full UK remodel since Fazenda became part of the global Fogo de Chão brand.

Designed by international design firm Harrison, the reimagined restaurant takes a darker, richer approach to Brazilian gaúcho heritage, with statement lighting, natural materials, sepia-toned photography and an open-view grill at the heart of the  dining experience. A new light-filled dining room has also expanded the restaurant, which now accommodates around 200 guests across the main dining room, Bar Fogo and three private dining spaces.

Bringing the traditional Brazilian churrasco experience to one of the city’s smartest dining districts, Fogo de Chão combines seriously good meat, generous hospitality and a rather glamorous setting with the kind of relaxed, sociable dining that makes you want to settle in for the night.

We were invited along to experience the Churrasco menu, and if you haven’t tried rodizio-style dining before, come hungry. At the heart of the experience are Fogo de Chão’s gaúchos, who butcher, season and grill each cut before bringing skewers of freshly cooked meat directly to your table, carving slices onto your plate as you go. It’s wonderfully interactive and, more importantly, means you can try a little of everything rather than committing to one steak.

The Full Churrasco includes a continuous selection of prime beef, including signature Picanha, Fillet and Ribeye, alongside lamb, chicken and pork. Fries, Feijoada, rice and seasonal sides are included, as is unlimited access to the Market Table.

Calling it a salad bar really doesn’t do it justice. The Market Table is vast, colourful and beautifully presented, packed with fresh salads, vegetables and Brazilian-inspired dishes. The temptation is to pile your plate high, but our advice is to exercise a little restraint – there is a lot more food to come.

We opted for the Indulgent Churrasco, which takes the experience another step further with a choice of Butter-Bathed Lobster Tail, Snow Crab Cluster, Queen Scallops or Baerii Caviar, plus dessert.

We began by sharing a seafood platter of four jumbo king prawns, snow crab cluster and two queen scallops. While that was being prepared, we made our first trip to the Market Table before the main event began – and then the meat just kept coming.

Beautifully cooked, juicy and full of flavour, each cut arrived with that distinctive salty, caramelised exterior from the grill. The Picanha was a particular favourite, although part of the fun is discovering your own as the gaúchos make their way around the restaurant offering different cuts.

As though the Churrasco wasn’t quite enough, we added Wagyu empanadas, roasted bone marrow canoes with sourdough and chimichurri, and lobster mac & cheese. Completely unnecessary? Probably. Would we order them again? Absolutely.

By this point, sensible people might have called it a night. We are not those people. Dessert was a shared portion of mini churros, filled with doce de leite and served with chocolate dipping sauce – warm, sweet, indulgent and exactly the way a meal like this should end. What really impressed us, though, was that despite the constant flow of food, nothing felt rushed. Service was excellent throughout: warm, attentive and polished, with the team making sure everything arrived at the pace we wanted.

Fogo de Chão isn’t an inexpensive night out, particularly once you start adding seafood and extra sides, but neither is it trying to be an everyday steak restaurant. This is somewhere to come when you want dinner to feel like an event. Considering the quality and variety of the meat, unlimited Market Table and continuous tableside service, there is plenty included in the Churrasco experience.

And you don’t necessarily need to book the full experience. Bar Fogo and the terrace offer cocktails, wines and more casual dishes, with Happy Hour running daily from 3pm-7pm. Drinks start from £5.80 for beer, wines from £8 and Brazilian-inspired cocktails from £9.50, while small plates start at £8 and sandwiches and burgers at £10.

With its striking new look, Brazilian tradition, Manchester glamour and wonderfully generous approach to dining, Fogo de Chão has brought something a little different to Spinningfields. Come with friends, come for a celebration and, most importantly, come with an appetite.

Full Churrasco: Lunch £40 | Dinner £57  //  Indulgent Churrasco: Lunch £60 | Dinner £77  //  Happy Hour: Daily, 3pm–7pm

Fogo de Chão Manchester
The Avenue // Spinningfields // Manchester M3 3AP // www.fogodechao.uk

By Beverley Uddin-Khandakar