Pasteis de nata in Lisbon, where to eat the best traditional Portuguese sweets. The review of the places that most impressed me in the post, read here.
Lisbon it is famous for its cod, for the number 28 tram and for the Pasteis De Nata, it is useless to deny it. The most famous are the Pasteis de Belem which are found in Belem, but we must not disdain also the pasteis which are found in the historic center of the city of Portugal. In three days in Lisbon I tried several, but I was bewitched by two of them.
How are Pasteis de nata eaten? Preferably warm with powdered sugar and cinnamon dusted on top. It takes very little to enjoy a pasteis de nata and I assure you that this is the fastest and most enjoyable way. How much do pasteis de nata cost? About 1 €! In some places they cost € 1.05, but I have heard that only a few years ago were a few cents. However, the price is negligible, one evening I took home six for a few euros of course, with sugar and cinnamon in the bags separately.
Pastel de Belém
When we hear about Pasteis in Portugal, we almost always talk about Pasteis de Belem, there is nothing to do. To get there, from the center of Lisbon, you can take thebus number 15 and wait about 30/40 minutes. The stops are not very few, but you will notice the pastry shop, first of all because it is precisely at that stop that more or less everyone will come out, but also for the line that you will notice in front of a shop with a blue curtain. I was very lucky, I went relatively early on a Sunday morning and perhaps for this reason I found very few in a row.
The pasteis come here 1.05€ and you can choose whether to eat them seated or take them away. The patisserie is very nice, a little vintage let's say and the staff is super nice, they will be used to tourists working practically every day of the year. Here too, powdered sugar and cinnamon are the order of the day!
The curiosity is that the secret of the recipe of these pasteis was transmitted only to five pastry chefs who kept the original recipe. Since 1837 they have been baked more than 15.000 pasteis per day.
Manteigaria Fábrica de Pastéis de Nata
This place was a real find. Recommended by a couple of friends on Instagram, I found and tried this place and I was absolutely thrilled. The restaurant is located in Barrio Alto and it is called specifically Fabrica, because this place is a real pasteis factory and lovers of this dessert can only start to shine their eyes!
Unlike the first venue which is quite large with tables to sit and lots of space, Manteigaira it is a rather small place, I would say almost intimate. It develops in length, as soon as you enter you will find the cash desk where you can order food and drink and then a little further on there is a counter where you can only stand on foot.
In front of this counter a glass and beyond this the factory. A tiny place where at least 4/5 employees at a time they literally manufacture dozens and dozens of pasteis at a time. It is said that at least 2000 a day come out here, which is few compared to the first pastry shop, but they are not bad compared to the so different history of the two places.
