On a hot late-summer Saturday morning, six of us descended on Malagueta from all our different parts of the city. A somewhat fancy Brazilian restaurant in Astoria, Queens, Malagueta remains a down-to-Earth establishment with a very friendly and helpful owner. The prices are similar to establishments in Midtown's ""Little Brasil"" but this type of care would be unheard of. We arrived 5 minutes before opening, but were welcomed to take a seat nonetheless.\r
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Before everyone arrived (including the Brazilian among us, so typical!), we delightedly ordered the Linguica Grelhada com Mandioca (not pictured), a simple but delicious grilled sausage plate with spicy mayonnaise. It did not come close to satisfying the hunger of multiple people, but did serve to get the taste buds watering on our tongues. Once everyone had arrived, we took a deeper swing into the menu, testing the typical dish of Feijoada (below), and taking advantage of its availability only on Saturdays. The national dish arrived in generous proportion, a stew of salted beef, pork, sausage, and black turtle beans served in a heavy claypot. On the side comes a plate of rice, collard greens, and farofa.\r
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Our other choices were the Lombo de Porco (below, left), sauteed pork tenderloin in a tasty dill sauce, accompanied by the best mashed potatoes this side of Grandma's Thanksgiving, and the popular Moqueca de Camar?o (below, right), a stew of shrimp in coconut milk and too many spices to quantify.\r
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After the meal, despite having absolutely no room left, I was excited to order the fried banana, which actually was not on the menu. The proprietor must have liked us enough to do something special to end our meal. By this time, the place was starting to fill with others, and we could all pick our stomachs up and roll home.
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