By Staff Writer Kira Bruce
Opened in 1993 this family-owned Portuguese barbeque spot in New Bedford has many adoring customers. Churrascaria is roughly translated to the Portuguese word, churrasco which is like barbeque, but it’s very different from what North Americans think of the same dish.
Churrasco is the style the meat is cooked in. This usually involves a flame grill and is often cooked in a rotisserie style as well. This makes the meat super tender and flavorful!
The most popular dish at the restaurant is the whole (or half) barbeque chicken. It’s really tender meat with crispy skin it is delicious. Also, it’s an entire chicken which is pretty cool.
We also ordered the Chicken Mozambique. Which was a surprisingly large portion of chicken, brown rice with red peppers, and scalloped potato fries. We were honestly so full by the time we ate half of one of the plates we had to take a lot home with us. The portions are massive, you could probably split one entrée between two people and be stuffed. That is a good value for your dollar.
In addition to the food, they had a great selection of wines, if you’re of legal age of course. When you’re feeling like being bougie because of that A you got on an exam you thought you failed from earlier in the week, order a bottle of the Montaria Tinto. It delicious and won’t break the bank!
When you initially enter the establishment, the first thing you will probably notice is the open kitchen lay-out. It feels slightly out of place, as it is different from a normal restaurant experience. However, because the dining room is so comfortable it feels like you could be at a family members house for dinner.
The open kitchen style is great for watching the chefs in the kitchen prepare everyone’s dishes. Not only does it offer in-meal entertainment, but it’ll let those who like to see their food being made satisfy that itch. If you’re lucky you can see the chefs pull out a huge rack of whole cooked chickens and expertly pull them off and cut them down the middle.
It was a cool experience because it can make guests feel very at home, and all the other diners seemed to feel the same way. It was a very chill atmosphere of comfort food and relaxed conversation.
The Torch was able to talk to the owner of the restaurant Carla and her husband. Carla recalled migrating to New Bedford in 1990 and beginning to work at the restaurant right away.
They haven’t always owned Novo Mundo though. Carla’s husband worked for the old owners for two decades before they took over ownership.
The server was really sweet, she checked in on us throughout the meal and was really helpful in choosing dishes to order. She says she’s worked at the restaurant for four years and was extremely knowledgeable about the food!
They have been featured on Food Network with Ted Allen’s show called “The Best Thing I Ever Ate” in June 2011. And more recently on Insight New England TV. Don’t get discouraged from the outside appearance. At first I was worried it was only a takeout place because the sign just says take-out but it does in fact have a dine-in option as well. All in all I would definitely suggest checking the place out! If you like meat and Portuguese food then you will enjoy Novo Mundo.
