Restaurant in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Rio's best-value plant-based sharing plates.
Brota is Rio de Janeiro's most compelling plant-based booking at the $$ price point, backed by consecutive Michelin Bib Gourmand awards in 2024 and 2025. The kitchen works with local Brazilian produce, serving sharing plates that combine simplicity with occasional surprise. Easy to book and genuinely good value compared to Rio's $$$$ tasting-menu circuit.
Imagine sitting down in Botafogo and working through a sequence of sharing plates where the vegetables are doing things you did not expect — combinations that surprise without trying too hard, cooking that tastes local because it is. That is the Brota experience. Two consecutive Michelin Bib Gourmand awards (2024 and 2025) confirm what its regulars already know: this is one of the few places in Rio where plant-based cooking earns its reputation through flavour rather than novelty. At the $$ price point, it is one of the city's most defensible bookings for anyone who wants serious food without the four-figure bill that comes with Oteque or Lasai.
Brota sits on Rua Conde de Irajá in Botafogo, a neighbourhood that has become one of Rio's more interesting dining pockets. The room is not designed to intimidate. The spatial register here is intimate rather than grand — a setting that suits the sharing format well, where dishes come to the table to be passed around rather than plated as individual monuments. If you have been once and felt the room was low-key, that is by design. The scale keeps the focus on what is on the plate rather than on spectacle.
Chef Raphaël Fumio Kudaka leads the kitchen, building a menu around pure plant ingredients sourced with a clear local bias. The editorial angle here matters: Brota's identity is built on what it chooses to source, not on theatrical technique. The kitchen works with Brazilian produce, treating local vegetables, legumes, and seasonings as the primary argument, not as supporting cast. That sourcing logic is what separates Brota from plant-based restaurants that import the category's language without grounding it in local geography. The Michelin inspectors noted the cooking as simple and local, with sometimes surprising combinations , and that framing is accurate. The ambition is not to reinvent fine dining through plants; it is to cook them well, using what is available and what belongs to the region.
The sharing format rewards returning diners. If you have been once, you know the rhythm: dishes arrive to be split, the meal moves at a pace set by the kitchen, and the combinations that seemed unexpected on a first visit start to reveal a consistent logic on a second. For a regular, the question is less about what the menu is and more about whether the seasonal rotation has brought in something worth discovering. Given the kitchen's approach to local sourcing, the menu shifts with what is available, which gives repeat visits genuine reason to exist beyond familiarity.
The Google rating sits at 4.5 from 227 reviews, which, for a restaurant with this level of recognition, points to consistent execution rather than occasional brilliance. Bib Gourmand status is awarded to restaurants that Michelin considers to offer good cooking at a moderate price , it is a quality signal without the full-star weight, but it is a meaningful one. For context, it places Brota in the same recognition tier as some of Brazil's most reliable neighbourhood restaurants. Vegetarian-focused restaurants at this price and award level are not common in Rio. If you are comparing across Brazil, venues like D.O.M. in São Paulo or Origem in Salvador operate at different price tiers and with different formats. For a global reference point on serious plant-based cooking, Fu He Hui in Shanghai and Lamdre in Beijing operate in the same category but at higher price brackets.
Booking at Brota is rated Easy. The Bib Gourmand recognition has raised the restaurant's profile, and the room's intimate scale means availability can tighten on weekends. That said, this is not a reservation that requires weeks of planning under normal conditions. Mid-week bookings should be direct. If your visit falls on a Friday or Saturday evening, a week's notice is sensible. The temporal logic here: book earlier than you think you need to on weekends, but do not treat this as a hard-to-get table in the way that Rio's $$$$ tasting-menu restaurants are. Brota's accessibility is part of its appeal.
Reservations: Easy to book; allow a week for weekend tables. Dress: No formal dress code; the room is relaxed and the neighbourhood is casual. Budget: $$ , this is a mid-range price point for Rio, making it one of the most accessible Michelin-recognised meals in the city. Format: Sharing plates, plant-based. Location: Rua Conde de Irajá, 98, Botafogo, Rio de Janeiro.
For more dining options across the city, see our full Rio de Janeiro restaurants guide. If you are planning a broader trip, our Rio de Janeiro hotels guide and bars guide cover the rest of the city's options. For plant-forward cooking at different price tiers elsewhere in Brazil, Birosca S2 in Belo Horizonte and Mina in Campos do Jordão are worth considering on a broader itinerary.
Reservations: Easy; book 1 week ahead for weekends. Dress: Casual. Budget: $$ per head. Address: Rua Conde de Irajá, 98 - Botafogo, Rio de Janeiro - RJ, 22271-020, Brazil. Cuisine: Plant-based, sharing plates, local sourcing.
For weekday dinners, a few days' notice is usually enough. Weekend evenings are busier , aim for at least a week out. The Bib Gourmand recognition has increased demand, but Brota is not in the same hard-to-book tier as Rio's $$$$ tasting-menu restaurants like Oteque or Lasai.
The menu is entirely plant-based and arrives as sharing dishes, so the experience works leading if you are open to that format from the start. At $$, it is one of Rio's most accessible Michelin-recognised meals. The room is relaxed and the cooking is locally grounded , do not come expecting a theatrical tasting menu. Come expecting food that surprises you quietly.
The menu rotates with local sourcing, so specific dishes shift. The kitchen's strength is in combinations that seem simple but read differently on the palate , trust the format and order across the menu rather than selecting a few items. Chef Raphaël Fumio Kudaka's approach is to let the produce lead, so whatever is in season is likely the leading bet.
Entire menu is plant-based, so it is a strong default for diners avoiding meat and fish. For specific allergen requirements , gluten, nuts, soy , contact the restaurant directly before booking, as the database does not confirm detailed allergen protocols.
Casual. Botafogo is a neighbourhood restaurant area, not a formal dining district. The Bib Gourmand recognition does not bring a dress code with it at the $$ price point. Smart casual is more than adequate.
The sharing-plate format is genuinely well-suited to groups, as dishes are designed to be passed around. The room's intimate scale means large groups should check availability directly. For group bookings, contact the restaurant in advance , the database does not confirm a private dining room or maximum group size.
Yes, though the sharing format is less intuitive for a solo diner than for pairs or small groups. At $$, the cost of sampling broadly across the menu is manageable. If you are dining alone, the intimate room works in your favour , this is not a cavernous space where solo diners feel exposed.
Bar seating availability is not confirmed in the database. Given the room's scale and neighbourhood restaurant character, counter or bar options may exist , but verify directly when booking rather than assuming.
| Venue | Awards | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brota | Chef Roberta Ciasca opts for pure plant and sharing dishes. The cooking is simple and local, with sometimes surprising combinations. Meanwhile, the Brota restaurant has a strong reputation in the pure plant field and can count on a range of regular guests. Proof that vegetables and co have a future when cooked with flavour and creativity.; Michelin Bib Gourmand (2025); Michelin Bib Gourmand (2024) | $$ | — |
| Oteque | Michelin 2 Star, World's 50 Best | $$$$ | — |
| Lasai | Michelin 2 Star, World's 50 Best | $$$$ | — |
| Oro | Michelin 2 Star | $$$$ | — |
| Lilia | $$ | — | |
| Mee | Michelin 1 Star | $$$$ | — |
Side-by-side comparison to help you decide where to book.
The entire menu is plant-based, so vegans and vegetarians are the core audience, not an afterthought. For gluten or allergy concerns, check the venue's official channels before booking — the kitchen's focus on local and seasonal ingredients means the menu shifts, so it's worth checking what's current.
Book about one week ahead for weekend tables. Brota holds a Michelin Bib Gourmand (2024 and 2025), which keeps it consistently busy — don't show up unannounced on a Friday or Saturday and expect a seat.
The format is sharing plates, so come with at least one other person to get the full picture of the menu. Chef Raphaël Fumio Kudaka and the team behind it have built a reputation around plant-based cooking that surprises — expect combinations that aren't obvious but work. At $$ per head with back-to-back Michelin Bib Gourmand recognition, it's one of the stronger value propositions in Rio's dining scene.
The sharing-plate format suits groups well — more people at the table means more dishes you can cycle through. For larger parties (six or more), call ahead to confirm capacity and whether a set menu applies, as the kitchen's approach is collaborative by design.
Casual is the standard in Botafogo, and Brota fits that neighbourhood register. This is not a white-tablecloth room — dress comfortably, not formally.
The menu is built around sharing plates using local, seasonal produce, so order broadly rather than anchoring on one dish. The kitchen's reputation rests on combinations that read as simple but land as considered — lean into whatever the kitchen is running that week rather than looking for signature anchors.
Possible, but not ideal. The sharing-plate format means a solo diner gets a narrower cross-section of the menu. If you're dining alone, ask the kitchen for guidance on portion count — two or three plates is likely the right call.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
