Salvador / Pelourinho / Nazare ... Dangerous ?

Hi

I am considering booking a hotel in the Nazare area near Pelourinho. From what I have read the Nazare area is really a dodgy location. Is it really ? I am travelling alone so ... The hotel looks really nice and cozy and first class, but again it is located in Nazare. About 10 minnute walk from the old area Pelourinho.

Also can anyone recomend some eateries / restaurants in Salvador / Pelourinho / Nazare ?

Thanx

I suppose your perception will depend on your frame of reference when it comes to what you consider dodgy.

I wouldn't consider Nazaré dodgy or dubious in a million years. It's a fairly ordinary middle class neighbourhood, with decent amenity. Tourists always seem to get het up about Salvador and personally I think it's the down to the demographics. They won;t admit it but many of them seem uncomfortable around such a large and predominantly black population.

That said, if walking up to the Pelourinho you may wish to exercise a degree of caution and keep to the main streets of an evening. Don't try walking up the ladeiras behind the convento or along Baixa dos Sapateiros at night.

If you want some of the signature dishes of the region try the Senac restaurant in the Pelourinho as an introduction. It's a cookery school and there's a buffet upstairs that will allow you to try a variety of foods. Good if you aren't familiar with local cuisine. O Coliseo in R. Cruzeiro São Francisco is another buffet, reasonably priced and the food is decent quality. You can see half of the local police hierarchy in their at lunchtime.

Best places for lambreta, the real signature dish of the city, are actually in Nazaré, behind the forum. Koissa Nossa on Trav.Engenheiro Allioni is my fave but it's neighbour, Lambreta.com has the same owner. There's a strip of bars along that street and a few more individual further along. It's quite safe, you are behind the Army's regional command headquarters. Great vibe in the evening and quite my favourite place for a beer. You won't find any other gringo tourists though, it's not that sort of place.

It's suffered a little from it's rise to fame but one of the best moquecas and certainly one of the best value for money meals in town is at Boca de Galinha over in Plataforma. You can either take a boat over from Ribeira or take the train there from Calçada. Just get off at Almeida Brandão station and walk up the hill. Great view across the bay into the bargain.

If you are cashed up then Sorriso da Dadá is worth the visit. Dadá is a living legend. IMO not as fun as the old Varal de Dadá in Alto das Pombas. In similar vein Yemenja in Armação is very good but pricey and longish cab ride.

Acarajé sellers all have their fan base, Some like Tania's near the farol, others favour Cira or Dinha in Rio Vermelho.
Personally I favour Dinha in Largo de Santana but largely for nostalgic reasons, it's where my wife and I went on our first date. A trip to Rio Vermelho is always worthwhile but if I'm honest and I've eaten a lot of acarajé through the years, you'll find it just as well cooked and cheaper in Centro and other parts of town. If you wander along Av Sete, you'll find a stall at Praça Barão do Rio Branco that sells great acarajé for a fraction of the price at the more famous outlets.

If you want churrasco then there's a Fogo De Chão outlet in Rio Vermelho but the best meat and value for money is at Rincão Grill in Armação. Go for lunch. h and if you want somewhere romantic, my tip is the restaurant at Solar de União . You can sit on the jetty outside and enjoy being on the bay. For something still fairly local you can always grab a bite at O Cravinho in the Pelourinho. The tourists nervously stand around the front and edge into the bar but most don't seem to realise there's a cheap restaurant in the rear. The food in the warmers at the bar has yet to kill me and you get treats like rabada regularly.

Enjoy, the food in town is excellent.

Excellent advice/opinion from corisco, as usual.
Aside from a couple of neighborhoods of newer apartment towers, Salvador may not look or feel like "home" to some American or other foreign tourists (many of whom also may never have had the experience of being the sole white person in a room, let alone a block). That does not necessarily equate to "dodgy".

Good restaurant suggestions, as always, but doubt any gringo first timer develops a "palate" for one acaraje over another. :-). I often end up at Cira's with friends who live in Itapua, but there's another good one nearby, without the infrastructure of the Praca/tables/chairs around Cira's, that they also like. We stop to eat at Dinha's, and now from her daughters, on the way into town if we can; that and the bamboo tunnel mean we've "arrived". (btw Someone at a Cha do Bebe last night was trying to convince me how easy it is to make acaraje at home, but ...no way.)

OP, enjoy your visit!

Thank you both for Your replies

I have traveled alot and in countries far away from mine. So I can asure you it has nothing to do with coulour of skin. However I have heard that the areas in question and especially Nazare have alot of pickpocketers and drunks and that it can be an uncomfertable Place in the evening / night. . I ofcourse don't know if this is true or not.

Where did you " hear" this? And from whom (what kind of traveler)?

"Uncomfortable" is relative. I'm a non-Brazilian-looking woman who's been pretty much all over Salvador, rich, poor and in between, regularly for a couple of decades, and most often solo, and have yet to feel "uncomfortable". But anytime I walk out my door, anywhere, I am vulnerable as a woman, even in the poshest neighborhood of the wealthiest city; I never quite get why men make such a big deal out of it. If you have such strong doubts, stay home; under the bed can give a pretty secure feeling I'm told.
Where there are tourists anywhere worldwide, there are pickpockets. It's an opportunistic crime. Don't give them the opportunity (by being smart about what you carry and where on your person).
Most of the drunks I've seen in Pelourinho and "the areas in question" are heedless gringo tourists, a threat only to themselves.

btw Someone at a Cha do Bebe last night was trying to convince me how easy it is to make acaraje at home, but ...no way

A few years ago I made them as a one off for a Christmas Day lunch. Unless you have access to the flour, it is hard work. You have to soak the peas overnight and then remove the skins from literally hundreds of them. That is very time consuming and hard on the hands ( yes there's a technique). The rest of it is fairly easy but of course it requires multiple preparation. I've eaten a Senegalese version, which was simpler but very tasty and equally calorific.

@ the OP:

I was not suggesting your perceptions are based on skin colour, after all you haven't been to Salvador. It does strike me that many tourists are influenced by the demographics and that feeds into what you might hear or read on forums or reviews. There is a sizeable homeless population as well.

In terms of Nazaré itself, because it isn't a tourist area, filled with foreign travellers, I suspect that in of itself will breed the perception that it's 'dodgy' or in some way dangerous. It is less well policed than the Pelourinho but then that's true of everywhere in town. I used to live about a fifteen minute walk from the bars I mentioned in my first post and used to walk to and from there regularly of an evening. Where we lived was a lot more 'dodgy' than Nazaré. Whilst security in Salvador has declined in recent years I was there this time last year and saw no change and had an excellent meal. The area is popular with students.

Enjoy your stay!

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