The Roasted Pig - New Bedford, MA

Since we were fans of Café Funchal (which closed), my husband made the suggestion to go to The Roasted Pig (98 Nash Road, New Bedford) since this restaurant was bought by the owners of Café Funchal. I must say, this was a great suggestion!

When we arrived near Nash Road we automatically looked for on-street parking and found a spot on a side street next to what appeared to be the main entrance of the restaurant and proceeded to walk to that entrance. Well, that entrance was closed and had a sign directing us to the side entrance.  While walking to the other side of the building we noticed that The Roasted Pig did have a small parking lot but it was already filled up since it didn’t offer many spaces. Regardless, this is New Bedford, and on-street parking is common.

As soon as we walked in I immediately noticed how clean the restaurant was. The dining area was off to the left of the building and a large bar, with three large wide-screen televisions, was to the right.  The décor was modern with hardwood floors, tiled walls, and shiny tables spanning the length of the dining room.

We arrived at approximately 6:45 p.m. and we were seated immediately in a table at the center of the restaurant.  When I opened my menu I noticed the extensive martini list and thought I might try something a bit different to drink.  After scanning the 39 different martinis (all ranging in price from $5 - $7), the Pink Panther Martini (coconut rum, vodka, peachtree schnapps, triple sec, grapefruit juice and grenadine) sounded delicious.  When Carla, our waitress, arrived to take our drink order I asked if I could have the Pink Panther in a tall glass as a mixed drink instead of a martini.  “Absolutely” was my answer so I was looking forward to trying this.  My husband ordered a Long Island Iced Tea ($6). When our drinks arrived we were also served a basket of bread and a plate of assorted olives.  The bread basket had both Portuguese rolls and hard, crusty bread (they reminded me of oversized croutons).

I took a sip of my drink and it was delicious!  I thought I had made a great choice.  My husband commented that his drink was also very good.  So far we were satisfied.

The menu was very similar to the old Café Funchal menu and truthfully I had been missing Café Funchal’s Pasta and Clams dish ($14.95) so when I saw this I immediately made my decision.  This pasta dish contained fresh littlenecks simmered in white wine, scallions and garlic finished in a garlic butter sauce tossed over a plate of linguini. 

 

My husband chose the Chicken Mozambique ($12.95). This was not the usual pasta dish, but rather a bowl filled with roasted potato cubes and chicken smothered in sauce and topped with spicy banana peppers. I tried a bite of his dish and was actually a bit jealous. I wished that I was eating that entire bowl because his meal was so delicious!  It wasn’t that I didn’t thoroughly enjoy my pasta and clams, but his Chicken Mozambique had such a great flavor to it. 

 

I asked for a received some additional Portuguese rolls to finish out our meals and stole a few more bites of my husband’s meal before he sopped up the rest of the sauce with the last of his bread.

We ran into our neighbor, who arrived just as we were finishing our meals, and bought him and his guest a drink and made a recommendation on the Chicken Mozambique (which he did end up ordering).  With their drinks included, our total bill came to $45.37.  I will definitely be visiting The Roasted Pig again – and probably ordering the Chicken Mozambique!