Whether it’s to carry energy before a Lisbon tour or to recover energy after a visit to the Jeronimos Monastery and the Torre de Belém, a stop at the Confeitaria dos Pastéis de Belém is mandatory.
The Antiga Confeitaria Belém, better known as Pastéis de Belém, was founded in 1837 and has been in the same address since its foundation. It was here that according to an ancient recipe of the Mosteiro dos Jerónimos, the famous Pastéis de Belém emerged, until the present time the artisanal manufacture and the secret recipe. The Pastéis de Belém is probably the ultimate symbol of Portuguese conventual pastry - a delicious sweet of crisp puff pastry, topped with a creamy filling based on milk and eggs, and which can be sprinkled with powdered sugar or cinnamon.
To sample this ex-libris, do not be intimidated by the long queues at the entrance, since most of the time they are for the take away service. It is worth to enter, walk through the corridors of the space until you reach a large room decorated with tiles and preserving the old architecture and decoration. Here you can enjoy a delicious yet warm cake, accompanied by a coffee or tea. Although the cake is the star of the house, they also serve other sweets, such as marmalade, cake-king (at Christmas time) and others cakes, all of their own manufacture.