Celebrating National Dessert Day!

Desserts and pastries are a huge part of Portuguese culture, as well as a big part of the experience travelling to Lisbon! With today being National Dessert day, we have decided to dedicate a blog post to discussing Portuguese desserts, and why Lisbon has some of the best dessert spots in Portugal 🍰🍮

You’ve probably heard of the pastry that Portugal is most famous for, which is called pastel de nata. Pastel de nata is a dessert that is unique to Portugal, so don’t miss out on trying it if you’re ever in Lisbon! This custard tart costs as little as €1.10 in Lisbon. Lots of cafes and all pastry shops around the city sell pastel de nata, including a cafe 1 minute walking distance from the apartment our interns are living in, as seen in the pictures below. Pastel de nata is a core part of the history of Portuguese food, as the dessert was originally created in a monastery during the 18th century. Over hundreds of years, the recipe to make the dessert has barely changed, making pastel de nata very special to Portuguese culture.

Lisbon has hundreds of bakeries and pastry shops selling other desserts that are easy to make at home. Another dessert is called Portuguese salame de chocolate. This is a dessert made up of cookies and chocolate, chopped into slices like salame.

If you’re less into sweet, chocolatey desserts, bolo rei, also called Portuguese kings cake, is another popular dessert with candied fruits, lemon zest and wine.

If you enjoy more classic desserts, but still a dessert that’s only found in Portugal, the Portuguese strawberry cheesecake is another cake that can be made at home. This dessert is slightly lighter than cheesecakes made in other countries since it uses Maria biscuits in the base, giving it a lighter flavour.

In our Instagram and Facebook posts, we’ve spoken about how our interns have already enjoyed trying the huge variety of Portuguese desserts on offer in Lisbon. Some of our favourite pastry shops with the most beautiful interiors include Confeitaria Nacional, Pastelaria Padaria São Roque, and Manteigaria. 

Pastelaria Padaria São Roque is located in central Lisbon. This pastry shop is the perfect place to get beautiful shots of the interior design that Lisbon’s food spots have to offer. Decorated with gorgeous ceramic tiles on the tables and walls, stone pillars, and of course all kinds of desserts and cakes on offer, Pastelaria Padaria São Roque is of course one of our favourite dessert shops to visit. With affordable prices, this shop is also a perfect example of how Lisbon is unique in that you can experience eating inside a beautiful building at a fraction of the price of other cities.  

Another one of our favourite pastry shops to visit was Manteigaria. Being a highly rated dessert shop, Manteigaria is known for having a lot of cheap, as well as delicious and a huge variety of options on offer.  Manteigaria is a lovely spot to try Lisbon’s best desserts and cakes. Manteigaria is also known to be especially good at making pastel de nata, so be sure to visit this bakery if you’re in Lisbon for the first time!

And finally, another one of our favourite pastry shops to visit was Confeitaria Nacional, which is the shop the interns were introduced to by their tour guide on their walking tour. Confeitaria Nacional was founded in 1829. The company has been said to originally be a confectioner of the royal family, and this is clear from its gorgeous, shining silverware, and red and gold colour scheme. Confeitaria Nacional is one of the most popular dessert shops in Lisbon, and is particularly popular with locals. With a gorgeous vintage interior, this shop is the perfect place for an instaworthy video. Check out the picture below of Confeitaria Nacional.