Throughout my life in London, I heard a lot about Portuguese Pastéis de Nata. Everyone who tried them seems to agree that these little pastry and custard tarts taste great. My Portuguese culture experts – a colleague and a friend, who spent some time in Portugal and visited the famous Pastéis de Belém – are quite resolute in stating that pastéis should be served warm and topped with cinnamon. Here in London, however, most bakeries, restaurants and market stalls serve them cold.
Last summer, a tweet confirming the existence of warm pastéis in London sparked my interest. I asked for more details, and found out about Lisboa Patisserie, a small Portuguese café in the Westbourne Park area. It immediately went to the top of my to-try list.
Far from the cocoon-like, sophisticated cosiness of Central London’s independent coffee shops, Lisboa Patisserie is an unassuming, strangely homely small café. If you’re looking to sit down in a quiet place, where you can focus on working, writing, or studying while you have a cup of coffee, you’re probably better off somewhere else (Fork Deli in Bloomsbury is definitely your spot – with amazing scones on top). If you’re looking for a lively atmosphere, excellent pastries, and a vast array of tempting food on display, then Lisboa is definitely worth a visit: the queue, the spartan decor, and the few small, shared tables will add up to the experience, rather than put you off.
While my Metropolitan Writer side is all for the sophisticated cosiness, my inborn Country Girl side thoroughly enjoyed the atmosphere. In a way, Lisboa Patisserie reminded of home. Of my hometown’s local bakeries, and of the small, unpretentious bars in the bustling centre of Rome: those that only lifelong Romans know about. Indeed, most of the customers sounded like native Portuguese speakers, suggesting that Lisboa Patisserie’s fame is well-earned. Mybreakfast companion and I shared our table with three middle-aged women, whom we approached to find out if they knew of any Portuguese language classes in town. “They’re natives”, we thought – “They might know!”. Unfortunately, they didn’t. They advised us to look up “Aprender Português” on Google. Perhaps not the best tip ever, but at least that’s a start!
The range of fresh pastries on display was impressive, but our choice was relatively easy. After all, we knew well what we had come for. We had one pastel de nata and one coconut pastry each, with a warm latte that came in a nice, tall glass. We spent less than four pounds each, and the pastries were really excellent. The pastel was particularly good, even though – alas! – it was not warm. I didn’t feel betrayed, though. Given the crowd queuing up outside the shop, I simply thought that the baristas were too busy to warm up every single pastel they served; besides, my breakfast had already exceeded my expectations in terms of quality, quantity and price. I’m more than happy to suspend my judgement on warm pastéis until my next visit, avoiding, perhaps, the Saturday morning rush. I’m definitely not going to let another six months pass, this time. Maybe six weeks – but even that would be too long.
Full blog post on: http://whatevergetsyouthroughtheday.wordpress.com/2013/02/14/breakfast-at-lisboa-patisserie-and-a-walk-to-portobello-market/
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