The Best Pastry Shops in Portugal

Tickets and cash

A Portuguese pastelaria often runs on a ticket system. The customer takes a numbered ticket at the entrance or the counter and waits for the number to be called. Pastelaria Careca in Lisbon and Padaria Central in Lagos both work this way. Several shops take cash only, among them Manuel Natário in Viana do Castelo, Alfama Doce in Lisbon and Padaria Central.

Pastel de nata

The pastel de nata is a small custard tart in a flaky shell, eaten warm with cinnamon. Alfama Doce, a family-run shop in the Alfama alleys, serves it this way beside a house pastry called Pastel de Alfama. In the Algarve, Padaria Central and Confeitaria d’Alvor often have their natas warm from the oven.

Bolas de Berlim

The bola de Berlim is a Portuguese doughnut filled with egg custard. Manuel Natário brings them out in batches late in the morning and in mid-afternoon, warm and dusted with cinnamon sugar, and each batch draws a long queue; takeaway has its own queue outside. Atelier do Doce, in the countryside near Alfeizerão, fills them with custard or pistachio and has a terrace that looks over the valley toward the mountains.

Town specialities

Many Portuguese towns have a pastry of their own. Sintra has two, the queijada, a small cheese tart, and the travesseiro, a pillow of puff pastry with almond and egg cream. Dona Estefânia sells both, and an ice cream flavoured like queijada. In Lisbon's Restelo district, Pastelaria Careca is known for a sugar-coated croissant, which in Portugal is a soft, brioche-like pastry. Brites in Porto is a sourdough bakery with French-style laminated pastries and a separate café next door.