It's a surprise to discover excellent Nicaraguan-style churrasco in an out-of-the-way spot in Doral.
Enter the gated community of Costa del Sol and snake down the main boulevard to reach the golf course clubhouse, set on a small lake where Muscovy ducks often waddle onto the patio, looking for a handout.
The clientele is mostly club members, but Oasis Churrasco Steak House is open to the public, and its prices are affordable. No need to get dressed up -- it is casual with plastic sheets covering red tablecloths, a full bar and a flat-screen TV.
Guillermina Perez runs the show with the help of an assistant, greeting customers, waiting tables and cooking, always with a smile or laugh. She left Chinandega, a town in the northeastern corner of Nicaragua, 25 years ago because of political turmoil. The schoolteacher became a cook and U.S. citizen and took over the clubhouse five years ago, adding Nicaraguan fare.
Churrasco, which means ''grilled meat,'' was developed 300 years ago in a cattle ranching region of Brazil. Gauchos (cowboys) put hunks of meat on sword-like skewers and stuck them in the ground near a wood fire, with the fattier cuts on top dripping down on leaner ones. Today, across Latin America, the meat is cooked on a churrasqueira, an oven with supports for spits or skewers.
Nicaraguan food is not all meat. The rustic dishes are similar to Mexican fare, but with thicker corn tortillas. Oasis serves refried beans with sour cream and tortillas, chicken tacos and a combo appetizer of refried beans, fried caujada cheese (similar to queso fresco), a fat pork sausage and tacos.
Or get the delicious squares of fried cheese with shredded cabbage salad and tostones (strips of fried green plantain). Vigoron is boiled chunks of yuca with salad and pork rinds. There's also shrimp and fish ceviche (or get a mix of the two, with tilapia as the fish) in a bracing lemon marinade with lots of chopped cilantro.
The main event is the grilled meat. Nicaraguans prefer tenderloin for churrasco so there are tenderloin tips in a mild, lemony, cream-based jalapeño and onion sauce and grilled tenderloin steak with or without onions. Other meat includes filet mignon, char-broiled carne asada, pork tenderloin and chicken breast and chicken or beef fajitas.
Seafood includes fish fillet in butter lemon sauce and shrimp in jalapeño cream. All come with three sides (choose rice and beans, sweet plantain, tostones, baked potato, fries or salad). End with homemade flan or tres leches -- if you have room after the meat fest.
Linda Bladholm's latest book is Latin and Caribbean Grocery Stores Demystified.
Place: Oasis Churrasco Steak House.
Address: 100 Costa del Sol Blvd., Doral.
Contact: 305-468-3632.
Hours: 11:30 a.m.-7:30 p.m. everyday.
Prices: Appetizers, soups and salads $2.95-$13.95, Steaks $6.95-$12.95.
Grilled tenderloin with rice, beans and plantains at Oasis Churrasco Steak House in Doral.