Barraca do Caranguejo

Rodízio Camarão - Barraca do Caranguejo

Address:Av. Erivan França, 1180 - Ponta Negra - Natal - Rio Grande do Norte
Phone: (84)3219 5069

The name actually means Barraca of Crabs.
The owner used to run a small barraca on the sand beach specialized in crabs. A few years ago, the city government decided to urbanize the beach, and all barracas were forced to move; the owner then rented a small space across the street, maintaining the previous name.
The restaurant became successful, and the owner has made several expansions since. Today, crabs are still in the menu, but the place is known mostly by its shrimp rodizio.

This restaurant by the sea in Ponta Negra serves shrimp by the system of rodizio: for a flat price, customers can eat as much as they like (in September of 2006, price was R$ 19.90 per person; prices can change during high season); waiters go around the restaurant carrying different options of shrimp, and serve small portions to customers.
The options are: shrimps fried with garlic; risotto of shrimp; spaghetti with shrimp; milanese shrimp (wrapped with flour and egg, then fried); grilled shrimp; pizza of shrimp; moqueca of shrimp (shrimp stewed with vegetables and coconut oil); shrimp with milky cream; other variations, all including shrimp. Shrimps come in different sizes, but always ranging from very small to medium (those big shrimps are not available).
The rodizio includes some garnishments, such as white rice and french fries, and there is also a very basic buffet of salads. The restaurant also serves a la carte, with good options (including lobster) at reasonable prices.

Below, some photos of Barraca do Caranguejo.

General view of the restaurant. The owner started with the space in the lower floor (at street level), and later expanded to the upper floor (actually, not much more than a terrace with a roof). The other photos show the lower (smaller) and upper floors. The restaurant has a private parking area, accessed by a very steep ramp.
Some tables of the upper floor afford a very good view of Ponta Negra beach. The toillets are dirty, even by Brazilian standards. Photo to the right shows the salad buffet.
Some photos of waiters carrying and serving shrimp. The shrimp comes in trays, and the waiter serves one or two spoonfuls.

There are several other restaurants serving shrimp and seafood in Natal, at reasonable prices (the State of Rio Grande do Norte is the largest producer of shrimp in Brazil, which drives prices down).
At this Barraca do Caranguejo, there is little comfort, the service is below standard, and the food itself is not particularly tasteful.
This restaurant is recommended only for those hardcore lovers of shrimp, willing to eat a lot for a fixed price.
Notice also that a rodizio of shrimp is different from a rodizio of churrasco, in the sense that the later serves different kinds of meat (chicken, pork, several cuts of beef) whereas the former serves only shrimp (prepared in different ways, but always using shrimp). For a recommended rodizio of churrasco in Natal, read about Terere.

See other fish and seafood restaurants in Natal.

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