Cabana, Westfield Stratford, Brazilian barbecue restaurant REVIEW

Brazilian barbecue restaurant with cocktails

Interior showing printed Portuguese words on posters and various types of lighting as seen at Cabana Brazilian barbecue restaurant at Westfield Stratford branch East London.

At Cabana, like Brazil, restaurants have red STOP and green GO signs at tables. These indicate to servers whether you want meat, meat, and yet more meat, to be served. We visited Cabana at Westfield Stratford when it first opened in 2011. Cabana have three Brazilian style barbecue restaurants in London with further branches at Covent Garden and North Greenwich. This review has been updated in 2024 to remove out-of-date content; menu items and prices may have changed.

Pale yellow pineapple colada cocktail with black plastic straw, strawberry and mint garnish, as served at Cabana Brazilian barbecue restaurant at Westfield Stratford branch East London. A red drink is shown in soft focus behind.

Cocktails are recommended to start; there are mocktails too. This is Cool Colada; fresh pineapple blended with coconut cream, coconut water and citrus. It’s not the most photogenic drink, but enjoyable even without the optional spiking of cachaca.

A trio of golden rectangular cheese pastries served on brown paper on an oval white dish with a smaller dish of red dip in soft focus behind. The pastry dish is upon the menu with colourful typography shown underneath; as served at Cabana Brazilian barbecue restaurant at Westfield Stratford branch East London.

We chose appetisers from the “Street Food” menu followed by barbecued meats and a side order each. Crispy Pastels were three tasty deep fried pastry pockets served with organic smoked peppers. Sadly, the promise of being “stuffed with four cheeses” was broken: the insides of one was hollow and smeared with droplets of cheese on the sides and the other two were not exactly bursting. Nevertheless, they were moreish and one of our favourite starters. Imagine how great they’d be with more cheese!

Salmon ceviche, chopped pink fish in white sauce with herb, lettuce and lime wedge garnish on oval white plate as served at Cabana Brazilian barbecue restaurant at Westfield Stratford branch East London.

Two of my dining companions had chopped salmon ceviche. To see what everyone else thought of their dishes visit my friends’ reviews at Greedy Gourmet, Cook Sister, Pebble Soup and Coffee & Vanilla.

Thick golden Cassava chips in a white round dish, as served at Cabana Brazilian barbecue restaurant at Westfield Stratford branch East London. The menu, in soft focus is shown under the dish.

Above top right: Cassava Chips promised much on sight but the texture wasn’t to my taste. They look like big fat chips, but cassava has a drier texture, similar to chestnut, making them hard work to eat. Far better were the Sweet Potato Fries (not shown). Sweetcorn Pamonhas, grated sweetcorn steamed in coconut milk with a hint of cinnamon served wrapped in a corn husk, were an intriguing dish but sweet enough to have as a dessert.

Butternut and feta salad, in a white ceramic bowl, as served at Cabana Brazilian barbecue restaurant at Westfield Stratford branch East London. In the background of the shot, a steel cylindrical tin with brown paper (containing chips) and two black wooden knife handles are shown.

Roasted pumpkin and avocado salad made a satisfying accompaniment, generous quantities of pumpkin and feta cheese. Relishes and pesto were served in side dishes.

A metal skewer of eight barbecued king prawns on skewers as served at Cabana Brazilian barbecue restaurant at Westfield Stratford branch East London. The server is partly in shot with a turquoise t-shirt. In soft focus, a woman in patterned jumper is seated behind with colourful posters on the wall.

And on with the skewers! With a theatrical arrival came Spicy Malagueta Tiger Prawns (spicy indeed), Chilli and Cumin Lamb, and Honey and Date Chicken on colour coded skewers. Portobello Mushrooms with Halloumi or Corn-on-the-Cob are vegetarian options. Skewer choices are served at the table and a card stamped with how many you’ve had from which colour skewers. As in Brazil, you have a STOP and GO beer mat to flip over depending how hungry or full you are.

Vertical metal skewers of blackened barbecued chicken as served at Cabana Brazilian barbecue restaurant at Westfield Stratford branch East London. The server is partly seen in shot with a bright blue Cabana branded short-sleeved t-shirt. A man in a scarf is partly seen in soft focus behind with a wall displaying posters with large block letters of Portuguese words. The meat is red suggesting it is marinaded in spices.

The interior and branding of Cabana is a similar style to neighbouring Mexican chain Wahaca, although here you get scaffolding and posters over the walls attempting to mimic the vibe of a Rio de Janeiro favela. Even the toilets are done out like a corrugated-iron shack. It feels fun, but to my husband, who has been to Brazil, it’s a Hollywood version of the real thing.

As an alternative to the pizza/pasta dominance of the UK chain-restaurant scene, Cabana, like its Latin-American cousins, Wahaca or Las Iguanas, is a joyful change. The tender, juicy, barbecued meats were a strength of Cabana, the side dishes and street-food choices were hit and miss. Meat being the centre stage ingredient, you may rack up a steep bill.

Clear plastic dishes of swirls of frozen yogurt with vertical pink plastic spoons sticking out of them, as served at Cabana Brazilian barbecue restaurant at Westfield Stratford branch East London. The server is partly in view holding the dishes on a black tray, their hands visible and flat under the tray. They are wearing a green short-sleeved Cabana t-shirt with a long-sleeved black t-shirt underneath. Poster signage from the restaurant interior is shown in soft focus to the side.

However, do, do, do, save room for dessert. The frozen yogurts available in natural, peanut butter or caramel flavours, with a dozen toppings to pick from, were awesome. I hope in the summer they start selling frozen yogurt from a kiosk outside. I’d go back for the Peanut Butter Fro-Yo alone.

Meal hosted by Cabana

Cabana Stratford
Unit 5, Chestnut Plaza
Montfichet Way
London E20 1GL