Maple Leaf's Samba: home-cooking, Brazilian style

Samba's come-hither tangerine glow illuminates a quiet Maple Leaf corner, promising all comers a welcome respite from waterlogged Seattle.

Despite the name, it's not the razzle-dazzle of Rio that awaits you inside but the low-key hospitality of the Hassan family. One of them will extend a cordial welcome and show you to a glossy wood table that proprietor Sam Hassan built himself.

Brazilian-born Hassan is at the service bar expertly mixing the signature cocktails of his homeland — crisp caipirinhas, fruity batidas and whiskey with guarana, the caffeine-stoked Brazilian soda. His ex-wife oversees the kitchen; three of their four children cater to customers in the dining room.

The atmosphere at Samba is so comfy and casual, you might think you had dropped by the Hassans' house for dinner, an impression reinforced when you nibble on slices of faintly sweet house-made bread and dig into a substantial plate of good, inexpensive food. This is honest home-cooking, Brazilian style.

Brazilian cuisine blends Portuguese, African and native Indian influences, among others. Samba's short menu reflects this, featuring such classic stews as feijoada and the seafood-stocked moqueca Bahiana.

Often called Brazil's national dish, feijoada is a black-bean stew traditionally made with assorted fresh and cured meats, including chorizo. Samba's version, tamer but still satisfying, is certainly an antidote to the wet winter weather. The inky liquid is thick with beans, fork-tender chunks of beef and pork and plenty of sausage (though these links taste closer to kielbasa than chorizo). Alongside are the requisite accompaniments: white rice, ribbons of sautéed collard greens and a pile of farofa, manioc meal fried with bits of egg, bacon, onions and garlic.

Moqueca Bahiana is a specialty of Bahia in northeastern Brazil. Here it's made with tiny bay shrimp and tilapia, the creamy coconut-milk sauce studded with bell pepper and parsley and tinted with dendé oil, a bright orange-yellow palm oil common in Bahian cooking. The fish had a murky taste on one visit, and the shrimp were overcooked and chewy, so perhaps it's better to opt for the vegan version, made with the potatolike root vegetable yucca, one of several vegan options served here.

Bay shrimp tucked into a pair of Brazilian crepes were cooked just right, however, joined by hearts of palm in a gossamer coconut sauce. These thin, light pancakes, which also can be had filled with mushrooms, chicken or smoked ham, are finished with a dab of tomato sauce and some Parmesan cheese. Fresh field greens dressed in herby vinaigrette complete the plate.

Brazilian-style potato salad proves full of delicious surprises — peas, carrots, corn and bits of green apple among them. Available on its own, it also escorts (along with sautéed collard greens) a fine broiled boneless pork chop marinated in honey and lime.

Chicken in Madeira and cream could use some zip, as well as some contrasting textures on the plate. The chunks of breast meat swaddled in wine-spiked cream share a plate with plain-boiled yucca and pumpkin quibebe, a bitter puree studded with onion, garlic and pepper.

If the food here seems mild-mannered for a country with Latin and African roots, it's because Hassan believes heat can always be added but can't be removed. The means to enliven any dish lies within your reach: a little jar of chili peppers steeped in olive oil sits on each table. Use it with restraint; it delivers quite a jolt.

Appetizers are more likely to blunt, rather than whet, the appetite. They include garlic shrimp with coconut sauce (nice to nibble with a cocktail), fried sausage with farofa, buttered yucca with Brazilian salsa, and peppered steak with bacon and onions.

Crepes make a sweet return for dessert. Have one folded and drizzled with honey and lime, wrapped around caramel fudge with pecans, or stuffed with cream cheese and guava. Better yet have all three — it will only set you back $8.50.

Service fluctuates, but all of Hassan's offspring bring genuine warmth and caring to the table, along with knowledge of the food they grew up on. They can be disarmingly candid.

Revealing that the restaurant had been reviewed twice already, one good write-up and one not so great, the waiter said hopefully, "Pretty soon we're going to be reviewed in The Seattle Times."

"I'll look forward to reading that," I replied.

Sample menu

Garlic shrimp with coconut sauce $8

Feijoada Carioca $15

Moqueca Bahiana $13

Pork in honey and lime $13

Chicken in Madeira and cream $12

Providence Cicero: providencecicero@aol.com