Top 10 restaurants in Belo Horizonte, Brazil — theguardian.com

No trip to Belo Horizonte would be complete without a proper immersion in the local comida mineira – the much-loved rustic cuisine of Minas Gerais. For that, the farmhouse restaurant Xapuri is hard to beat. Slide on to a bench at one of the long wooden tables under thatched, open-sided buildings, and keep an eye out for the sparky chef-proprietor, 75-year-old Dona Nelsa. She was one of a group of local chefs invited to Madrid Fusión last year, when the high-end food festival paid special homage to the Minas culinary heritage. While not the cheapest option in town, Xapuri's portions offer value for money: fried pork ribs with rice, feijão tropeiro (a bean, egg and sausage hash) and kale (R$89, around £24) or the shredded dried beef, baked and served inside a pumpkin (£30) easily feed two, three or even four. A plate smattered with sweet dollops from the dessert buffet (£2 per 100gm) and a cachaça chaser will finish things off nicely. Hammocks are on hand should a few minutes of shut-eye be in order. • Rua Mandacaru 260, Pampulha + 55 31 3496 6198, restaurantexapuri.com.br

Read More