Roast’s New Menu Blends the Comfort of Portuguese Cooking with Rotisserie Technique

Source: Gazeta Rural

Roast, a restaurant located next to the Boavista roundabout, has just launched a new menu, promising roasts and much more. Signed by Chef Carla Oliveira, the proposal reinterprets some of Portugal’s most comforting recipes and introduces new creations cooked in the rotisserie.

If Roast had already won many over with the juicy, crispy touch of its dishes, this menu refresh is sure to win them over with comfort. The space, known as an ideal option for quick, wallet-friendly meals packed with flavor, is now expanding its offering and introducing typical pot dishes, slowly cooked for greater intensity and succulence, bringing a homemade touch to the lunches of those who work nearby, the dinners of those who live in the area, or even setting the tone for family get-togethers on the weekend.

“We felt we were missing a more comprehensive menu, with recipes that take us back to childhood and the flavors of home, but that still kept our identity, bringing in some new items cooked in the rotisserie, with Roast’s characteristic smoky touch,” says Chef Carla Oliveira.

During the week, at lunch, speed and variety take center stage, with an executive menu that caters to all tastes and preferences. In addition to chicken, always available—whether with butter and lemon, piri-piri, or chermoula—Monday through Friday there is a fixed rotisserie dish, with a new meat option on Mondays, pork ribs with barbecue sauce, and a new dish starring monkfish, served on Thursdays.

The revamped menu also brings new vegetarian options, such as open lasagna with arugula pesto and roasted vegetables, tomato stew with a poached “happy hens” egg, chickpea and spinach stew, “our” mushroom rice, and lentil Bolognese—one for each day of the week, sequentially.

Added to that is the option to enjoy a daily pot dish which, unlike the others, is not part of the menu and will be defined each day, spotlighting seasonal ingredients, with options ranging from the classic jardineira or chicken fricassee to seafood rice. To finish the meal, Chef Carla Oliveira, who has a strong connection to the world of pastry, adds the dessert of the day to the sweets list, promising delicious temptations even for the most disciplined diets. Whatever the choice, the lunch menu also includes two sides of your choice, is available Monday through Friday between 12:30 p.m. and 3:00 p.m., with prices starting at €9.50.

Between 3:00 p.m. and 6:30 p.m., Roast also offers a snacks menu for those who choose to keep working or want to gather friends for late-afternoon bites. Options include croquettes with piri-piri mayonnaise, chicken kebabs with yogurt and mint sauce, or a Spanish tortilla with roasted pepper sauce.

There are also new recipes to try at dinner and on weekends. Starters bring to the table suggestions such as chickpea salad with salted cod flakes, padrón peppers with flaky salt, or chicken wings with sweet-and-sour sauce. For main courses, traditional Portuguese cooking stands out in options like confit cod with roasted pepper purée, sea bass fillets with roasted carrots, and, in the realm of meats, a Portuguese-style prego no prato and confit duck leg with celeriac and green apple purée. Carla’s chocolate tart also joins the new menu in the desserts section.

Roast is open from 12:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. on weekdays and, on weekends, from 6:00 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. Starting in March, the restaurant will be open daily from 12:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. and, in addition to dine-in service, also offers takeout.