Restaurant in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Mediterranean precision in Ipanema — book it.
A Michelin Plate Mediterranean restaurant in Ipanema led by chefs Tõnis Siigur and Roman Sidorov, Nôa earns consecutive OAD rankings and a 4.6 Google score at a $$$ price point — making it Rio's most accessible award-level tasting menu option. Book for special occasions or when you want a structured, chef-driven alternative to the city's Brazilian fine-dining circuit.
Nôa is the case for booking a Mediterranean restaurant in Ipanema rather than defaulting to Rio's Brazilian fine-dining circuit. Holding a Michelin Plate in 2025 and ranked #537 on Opinionated About Dining's European list (up from #481 in 2024), it has earned recognition that places it in credible company across both continents. At a $$$ price point, it sits a tier below the $$$$ competition — Oteque, Lasai, and Oro — making it the most accessible of Rio's award-level dining options. If you want a structured, chef-driven meal in a considered setting without the full financial commitment of the city's leading tasting-menu rooms, book Nôa.
Picture Rua Garcia d'Avila on a weekday evening: Ipanema's main retail strip has quieted, the beach crowd has dispersed, and the restaurant's facade offers a composed entry point into something quite different from the neighborhood's casual majority. The room at Nôa is the first signal that you are somewhere deliberate. The spatial design reads as intimate without being cramped , the kind of layout that suits a date, an anniversary dinner, or a business meal where the conversation matters as much as the food. It rewards occasion dining precisely because the environment does not compete with the event you are there to celebrate.
The kitchen is led by chefs Tõnis Siigur and Roman Sidorov, whose Baltic and Eastern European backgrounds are an unusual pairing for a Mediterranean program in Brazil. That combination shapes a menu that approaches the Mediterranean canon from an outside perspective , technically rigorous, not nostalgic. For a restaurant ranked consecutively on the OAD European list despite being physically located in South America, that positioning makes sense: this is Mediterranean cuisine argued on culinary terms, not geography.
The tasting menu architecture here is the main reason to come. Rather than a loose collection of plates, the progression at Nôa has the kind of internal logic that defines chef-driven tasting rooms: courses build on each other in weight and intensity, with lighter, more acidic preparations giving way to richer, more structural plates before the dessert sequence winds things down. This is the format that makes the most of what Siigur and Sidorov are doing , ordering à la carte, if available, would likely flatten the experience. Commit to the full menu if you are going for a special occasion.
A Google rating of 4.6 across 842 reviews is a meaningful data point here. That volume of feedback at that score suggests consistent execution, not occasional brilliance. For a restaurant operating in a format where individual dishes carry substantial weight in the overall impression, consistency is the harder achievement. The OAD ranking improving year-on-year from #481 in 2024 to a continued presence in 2025, combined with the Michelin Plate, indicates the kitchen is holding its level rather than coasting.
The Ipanema address , Rua Garcia d'Avila, 135 , places Nôa in a neighborhood better known for beachwear boutiques and juice bars than for serious dining. That is not a drawback; Ipanema has enough hotel infrastructure and visitor traffic to make it a practical dinner location for anyone staying in the Zona Sul. If you are coming from Leblon or Copacabana, the logistics are direct. If you are considering Rio's broader fine-dining circuit, Nôa sits usefully alongside Oro in Leblon and Lasai in Botafogo as anchor options that can be spaced across a longer trip.
For context within Brazil's larger dining conversation, Nôa occupies a different register than destination restaurants like D.O.M. in São Paulo or Origem in Salvador, which are rooted in Brazilian ingredient narratives. Nôa's value proposition is the opposite: it is a European culinary framework executed at a high level in a city where that approach is rare. If you have already eaten your way through Rio's Brazilian options and want something structurally different, this is the right next booking.
Within the Mediterranean cuisine category globally, Nôa's OAD ranking puts it in comparison with places like La Brezza in Ascona or Il Buco in Sorrento , restaurants where the food is the clear priority and the setting is clean rather than theatrical. That framing is useful: come for the cooking, not for spectacle.
Booking difficulty is moderate. This is not a restaurant that requires three-month advance planning, but leaving it to the week before a trip is a risk, particularly around Rio's high season (December through Carnival) or during public holidays when demand across the city's dining scene spikes. Two to three weeks' notice is a reliable buffer for most visits.
Two to three weeks is the reliable window for most evenings. During Rio's high season , December through Carnival , and around national holidays, push that to four weeks minimum. Nôa sits at a $$$ price point with Michelin recognition, which means demand is meaningful but not as acute as the $$$$ rooms like Oteque or Lasai. Mid-week slots are generally easier to secure than weekend evenings.
Smart casual is appropriate and expected at a Michelin Plate, $$$-tier restaurant in Ipanema. Think well-cut trousers and a collared shirt for men, or the equivalent evening-out standard for women. Beachwear and flip-flops are not suitable, but a formal suit is more than required. The neighborhood skews relaxed, but the restaurant itself sets a more considered tone.
For Brazilian-rooted tasting menus at a higher price point, Oteque and Lasai are the two clearest benchmarks , both sit at $$$$ and have stronger local narrative. Oro in Leblon bridges Italian and Brazilian influences at $$$$. If you want Mediterranean specifically but at a lower price, Lilia operates at $$ with Italian-Brazilian framing. Nôa's advantage is holding award-level recognition at $$$ , it is the most price-efficient of Rio's credentialed fine-dining options.
Bar seating availability is not confirmed in available data. Contact the restaurant directly to ask , at an intimate, chef-driven Mediterranean restaurant of this format, bar seats are sometimes available for shorter or à la carte visits, but the tasting menu architecture is better experienced at a full table. If flexibility is what you need, call ahead rather than assume.
Yes, for the format. The tasting menu is where Siigur and Sidorov's Mediterranean program reads most coherently , the progression from lighter to richer courses is the structure the kitchen is built around. At $$$, you are paying less than Rio's $$$$ tasting rooms while accessing a Michelin Plate kitchen with a consecutive OAD ranking. The value ratio is strong relative to the city's fine-dining alternatives. If you prefer to order freely, this may not be the right room , the structured menu is the point.
At $$$ with a Michelin Plate and a rising OAD ranking (from #481 in 2024 to #537 on the 2025 European list, reflecting continued standing), Nôa delivers credentialed cooking at a price point one tier below every comparable fine-dining room in Rio. That makes it the clearest value play among the city's award-level options. If your benchmark is Oteque or Lasai, Nôa costs less for a comparable level of seriousness, though the cuisine direction is entirely different , Mediterranean rather than Brazilian.
Yes , it is one of the better fits for a special occasion in Rio's Zona Sul. The spatial layout is intimate, the tasting menu format gives the evening a natural arc, and the Michelin credential provides the kind of assurance that matters when the meal needs to deliver. For an anniversary or significant birthday dinner, the combination of considered setting, chef-driven progression, and $$$-tier pricing (rather than the full $$$$ outlay of Oteque or Lasai) makes it a practical as well as appealing choice. Book a table rather than counter seating if you want the full experience.
| Venue | Awards | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nôa | Opinionated About Dining Top Restaurants in Europe Ranked #537 (2025); Michelin Plate (2025); Opinionated About Dining Top Restaurants in Europe Ranked #481 (2024) | $$$ | — |
| 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 | $$$$ | — |
What to weigh when choosing between Nôa and alternatives.
Book at least two to three weeks out, especially for weekend evenings in Ipanema. Nôa holds a Michelin Plate and an OAD ranking, which keeps demand consistent. For Friday and Saturday nights on Rua Garcia d'Avila, a month in advance is the safer call. Walk-in availability is not confirmed, so treat it as a reservation-required venue.
Dress as you would for a $$$-priced Mediterranean restaurant with Michelin recognition: polished casual is a reasonable baseline. Think neat trousers, a blouse or collared shirt — not beachwear, even given Ipanema's proximity to the shore. Rio's fine-dining culture skews slightly less formal than European equivalents, but Nôa's OAD and Michelin credentials suggest the room respects a degree of effort.
Oteque and Lasai are the natural comparisons if you want Brazil-rooted tasting menus with Michelin and OAD recognition — both sit in a similar price tier but lean into local produce more heavily than Nôa's Mediterranean format. Oro offers a tighter contemporary Brazilian experience in Leblon. If you specifically want Mediterranean cooking and are weighing Rio against São Paulo, the comparison shifts entirely — Nôa is an unusually strong case for staying in Rio.
Bar seating availability is not confirmed in the available venue data. Given Nôa operates at the $$$ price point with Michelin Plate recognition, the format likely centres on full dining-room service. check the venue's official channels via Rua Garcia d'Avila, 135 — Ipanema to confirm counter or bar options before planning around it.
If Mediterranean cuisine is what you want in Rio, yes. Nôa has held an OAD top-restaurant ranking two consecutive years (481 in 2024, 537 in 2025) and a Michelin Plate — that's consistent third-party validation at the $$$ tier. The caveat: if you're after a specifically Brazilian fine-dining experience, Oteque or Lasai are better-aligned alternatives for the same spend.
At $$$, Nôa delivers Michelin Plate-level Mediterranean cooking in one of Rio's most convenient fine-dining neighbourhoods. Peer venues like Oteque and Lasai operate in a similar bracket with different culinary identities — Nôa's value case is strongest if Mediterranean is your preferred format, not just a fallback. The OAD ranking adds independent weight to the price justification.
Yes, with one qualification: know what you're booking. Nôa suits a special occasion where the guest cares about precision cooking and international culinary context rather than a celebration of Rio's own gastronomic identity. For an anniversary or milestone dinner where the setting and Michelin recognition matter as much as the meal, it works. For a birthday where the group wants something culturally rooted in Brazil, Lasai or Oteque will feel more fitting.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
