Sinha Catering Brazilian Lunch Review | Chicago

A rather desolate stretch of West Adams Street a stone's throw from the United Center is likely one of the last places you'd consider spending your lunch break.

Time to reconsider. It's where you'll find Sinhá, a Brazilian catering company that now serves lunch from its tiny headquarters in a Victorian three-flat.

Owner Jorgina Pereira, a native Brazilian, has been catering for nearly a decade. Her Sunday brunch has a loyal following, and her new $12 weekday lunch menu is a bold-flavored deal.

Ring the buzzer and enter the house to find a table laden with all-you-can-eat sides: basmati rice, citrus-dressed hearts of palm with shaved cabbage, black beans stewed with beef and pork or without, and a spread of pickled chiles. Choose from main courses like roupa velha, long-simmered pulled pork; or bobó de camarão, shrimp in a thick tomato-coconut milk sauce, richly scented with ginger and cilantro.

You'll try cheese bread, too, springy cassava-flour rounds served with spiced squash marmalade. Bring a bottle–a Gewürztraminer would do nicely–or sip on Pereira's lightly sweetened iced hibiscus tea.

Another perk: The dining room opens directly into the kitchen, so lunch is perfumed by the cooking for future feasts.

Sinhá, 2018 W. Adams St.; 312-491-8200 or sinhaelegantcuisine.com