Surubim – Oh, Sweet Seafood!!

Okay, it is official, I am sick of red meat. I tried to be a good sport for about 8 months. I tried to enjoy the limitless amount of picanha and filet mignon that exists here. Time to be honest. If I didn’t have any more red meat during my time in Brazil, I really don’t think I would miss it.

The truth is I’ve never been a red meat fan. I am not a vegetarian (although I can certainly understand why some people are), but definitely health conscious when it comes to my protein sources. Before moving here I had the occasional hamburger and if a steak was the only option I would not turn my nose up, but try to make the best of it. From a nutritionist's perspective I think limited amounts are needed for the iron content, but beyond that give me chicken, salmon or a meatless meal any day.

When we first moved here we were told seafood wasn’t really too great this far inland. There is the famous bacalhau, dried codfish, which I have had. It is okay, but when you walk into the fish section of the supermarket and smell that overwhelming stench it kind of makes you want to avoid that too. It is really, really bad.

It has been a long time since our trip to the coast and the wonderful shrimp and crab. With red meat at the turn of every menu page in Maringá I was definitely ready to try some more seafood here, good or bad.
Last week we finally got around to trying Surubim for my husband’s birthday. It is probably the only restaurant in Maringá that specializes in seafood, or frutos do mar (fruit of the sea). We had heard that they had my favorite dish from the coast, Camarão na Moranga , so I was excited to try it.

It turns out that you have to order the Camarão na Moranga ahead of time. I’m not sure if this is because of cooking time or prep of ingredients, but I’ve heard ordering it ahead is common at the small amount of restaurants in this area that do make it.

I was disappointed for only a moment due to the huge amount of shrimp dishes on the menu. It was the type of change I was looking for. I don’t even think there was any red meat on the menu. Finally!!

I’ll be honest. The atmosphere is a bit uninviting with the bright florescent lights. They also can’t make fried calamari (lula crocante) worth a darn. It was tougher than rubber bands, but everything else was great.

Next time we are going to figure out how to order the Moranga and see how it compares to the dish we had in Floripa. I was so happy to get away from salty beef that I think Surubim might become a regular dinner spot. Personally, I can also feel good about a restaurant having this on the back of their business card.