Village Restaurant — Restaurant in Pawtucket

The Village - specializing in Nigerian food - does a fantastic job of preparing a style of food that can be difficult to come by. With a welcoming atmosphere and a narrow but appealing menu, The Village is a great spot to check out.

It was a rainy Saturday afternoon when I stopped in at the Pawtucket location. Parking nearby wasn't tough to find, which is one of the reasons I decided to visit this location instead of the Providence one: I hate looking for parking nearly as much as I dislike driving in Providence.

I walked in and was greeted by the sight of a cozy little place set up with a handful of tables, some menus on monitors, and a counter behind which lurked all sorts of delicious delights. The fellow manning the counter - who I would later discover was the manager - promptly took my order. I went with Jollof rice with beef, a meat pie, and a Goya brand Ginger Beer.

Eating in, I was provided with a Styrofoam container packed with rice. A half dozen or so plaintain slices sat on top of the rice alongside large chunks of braised (I'm pretty sure it was braised) beef. A red sauce - pepper based - was poured over the beef and rice. In a separate, waxy bag, I was presented with the meat pie.

Upon paying, I took my Styrofoam container and plastic fork to one of the tables and dug in.

The meat pie dough is on the short side - more crumbly than flakey. The meat itself - a blend of ground something - was not particularly stand out. It didn't have any particularly iconic flavour. It wasn't spicy, it wasn't flavourless - it just was a satisfying bite that didn't leave a big impression.

The main dish smelled delightful. I went straight for a plantain and was slightly disappointed. I'm used to eating plantains straight off the frying pan or fresh out of the oven. These slices were tepid in temperature, but tasted fine. I just felt awkward knowing that I make better plantains than this, and I only learned from watching YouTube videos.

This? This is the unexpected price you pay when you cook a lot - you end up comparing what you are eating to what you make, and often find yourself thinking about how good your own cooking is.

That digression aside, on to the rice and beef.

The beef was tender and falling apart. This is how I like my pot roast. This is how I like my stew meat. This was pretty perfect in my good.

The rice was fairly well seasoned, but the entire dish was elevated by the red sauce that was poured upon it. Not super spicy, but rather pleasantly warming, the sauce elevated some pretty good food to a really tasty meal that I would happily recommend.

All of this augmented by the sweet and spicy ginger beer made for a really great meal.

As good as the food was, the thing that really struck me was being among the folks that were coming and going. It seemed to be a popular place with some regulars. It had a very familial vibe to it, and that isn't something a restaurateur can fake.

Overall? I'd give The Village a high recommendation. I would go...

First time here today and I must say it will be my last. Ordered the jollof rice with stewed chicken, spinach with white rice 2 meat pies and a small side of their stewed meat. First off the guy who gave me the two meat pies gave them to me FROZEN as in literally the meat pies were rock solid and cold when i got them, I am pregnant and this is a major health violation. Even after i got home and warmed the meat pies up they tasted like they were days old I mean the photo speaks for itself, absolutely disgusting. I have never in my life received any frozen and cold meat pies at any restaurant considering there was a tray of warm ones in the front and this guy went to the back and grabbed me two frozen ones, im absolutely pissed. As for the side of stewed beef It was terribly overcooked i couldn’t even take a bite it was just not coming off the bone. everything else as in the jollof meal i never got any plaintains nor with my other spinach meal which was a major blow and i highly regret spending $45 for this terrible experience considering Ive had much much much better African food elsewhere. I would not recommend this place at all to anyone.

Update: my boyfriend got food poisoning the same day he tried to consume the food I brought from here. This place should be closed. Definitely will not be...

DO NOT EAT HERE EVER!!!!!! I MEAN NEVER EVER EAT HERE!!!!!!! The lady that took my order was rude and super impatient. I tried asking her many questions about her food because I have never been there before. Her answers were short like I was taking up too much of her time. She was not informative with what all comes with the meal. So I was suprised to see plantains mixed in with very very spicy (which she didnt tell me it was extremely spicy) dry chicken. I do understand that some African food is spicy (not all) but it would have been nice of her to notify me. But it seemed like I was bothering her with my many questions. She also short changed me as well. I never will come back here. After reading other reviews I wish I never came here...