🇵🇹Lisbon, Portugal

The Custard Tart Pilgrimage

Still warm from the oven. Dusted with cinnamon. Worth every penny of the flight.

Photo by Hector John Periquin on Unsplash

Example Extreme Day Trip:🛫 From London Stansted💰 From £29 return⏱ 2h 30m flightShare to WhatsApp

Why this dish?

The pastel de nata is the most perfect small food on earth. A flaky, buttery pastry shell filled with a barely-set custard of egg yolk, cream, sugar and vanilla, scorched on top from a ferociously hot oven. It was invented by Catholic monks at the Jerónimos Monastery in Belém in the early 19th century, sold to raise funds when the monastery faced closure. That buyer became Pastéis de Belém, which has been making the original recipe - still a closely guarded secret - ever since.

You can buy pastel de nata in London. You can buy them at Pret. But eating one fresh from the oven in Lisbon, still warm, in the sun, with an espresso, is an entirely different experience. The pastry shatters. The custard trembles. The cinnamon catches in your throat. This is why you flew.

Our Picks

Pastéis de Belém

Address: Rua de Belém 84-92, Lisbon
What to order: Pastéis de nata, dusted generously with cinnamon and icing sugar. Order at least three. The espresso is essential.
Book ahead: No reservations. Go at opening (8am) or after 3pm for shorter queues.
Pro tip: Eat inside at the azulejo-tiled rooms rather than taking away. The atmosphere is half the experience.

Manteigaria

Rua do Loreto 2, Lisbon (Chiado)

Opened in 2014, Manteigaria has already earned a fierce local following. The glass-fronted kitchen lets you watch the natas being made. Lisboetas argue that these are better than Belém - lighter pastry, more custardy centre.

What to order: Plain nata, no extra dusting. Let the flavour speak. Buy six - they're gone before you reach the door.

Good to know

Pastel de nata is sold in every café and bakery in Lisbon. Quality is almost uniformly good - this is not a dish where you need to be anxious. A café that has been open for more than twenty years and has locals at the counter is all the quality signal you need. Avoid chain versions in shopping centres.

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