Where to begin, just looking back at these photos has got me reminiscing about these delicious delicacies. Someone please arrive at my front door with a box of them….. right now!!! Pasteis de Belem also called Pasteis de nata are a Portuguese egg custard tart. Belem is the area of Lisbon where these little tarts were first created all the way back in 1837; there’s definitely a reason they’re world famous.
Conveyor belts of these pastries among many others are made and served daily on the historic site.
The pasteis themselves are served warm and fresh from the oven, with icing sugar and/or cinnamon to dust on top. I’d recommend both and lots of them, it only adds to the experience. They’re creamy and sweet but not sickly, they’re just the right amount of sweet and the cinnamon offsets this perfectly. We’re lucky we were only visiting Lisbon for a few days as I would have taken up residency here and just ate and ate and ate. This place will definitely be on my reasons to come back to Lisbon in the future. Even though its a busy tourist hotspot, I would really recommend making the trip, as they were by far the best ‘Pasteis de Belem’ we ate during our trip and the whole experience felt authentic and genuine, which Emily and I really enjoyed.
If you are planning a trip to Lisbon make sure you put this place on your to visit/do/see list.
Pastéis de Belém, Rua Belém 84-92, 1300-085 Lisboa, Portugal