If you’re yet to wrap your mitts around a pastel from Pastel & Bossa, you’re in for a treat. For the uninitiated, a pastel is a South American staple that is essentially a stuffed pastry deep-fried until crispy. Nestled in the unassuming row of shops fronting the Gold Coast Highway in Mermaid Beach, the Brazilian-inspired noshery is the handiwork of Murilo Nogueira and Lucas Nogaroto, who are on a mission to spread the Brazilian flavour and culture far and wide with a sister venue in Surfers Paradise, a food truck rolling around various weekend markets plus a few new pastelarias in the works. Savoury folk can wrap their mitts around the venue’s speciality, the chicken and catupiry, which is a flavour bomb of spices, shredded chicken, corn and gooey housemade cream cheese (catupiry). Those with a sweet tooth can bite into a banana and dulce de leche (housemade caramel) tossed with cinnamon and sugar. Come 5:00 pm, there’s also a tempting array of Brazilian-style pizzas on offer. Keep it simple with a classic Margherita or, if you have an appetite for adventure, try the Portuguesa (housemade sauce, mozzarella, ham, onions, boiled eggs, green olives and oregano) or the carne seca and catupiry (housemade sauce, pulled salty meat, mozzarella and catupiry). Can’t decide? Go half and half. There is one thing you should know about Brazilian-style pizza though. While we’ve come to expect a refined scattering of toppings, Pastel & Bossa is heavy-handed when it comes to toppings and flavour, so you can comfortably share one 35 cm pizza between two people. Rounding out Pastel & Bossa’s offering is a succinct selection of housemade cocktails, beers and wines.