The 5 best pasteis de nata

The owners of Pastéis de Belém claim they have the original recipe for these popular sweets. According to tradition they could be right, as the recipe is said to have originated from the Jeronimos Monastery next door. Coming to Lisbon and not trying one is like going to Rome and not having pasta.

Cristal, a small pastry shop in the posh residential district of Lapa, has truly mouth-watering pastéis. The shop has more than once been awarded with the title of ‘the best pastel de nata in the city’. (The Pastéis de Belém never enter this competition because they claim to be a category on their own.)

One of the latest additions to the pastel de nata scene in Lisbon, Manteigaria is a modern shop that wants to set a new standard of quality and design in the market. The tarts are baked the whole day long so you’ll be sure to get a warm one (or ones).

NATA Lisboa is a franchising concept, present in several locations in Lisbon and also abroad. The recipe was fine-tuned by pastry masters to ensure that the taste of the tarts would be exactly the same in Lisbon, London, Hong Kong or anywhere else in the world.

Aloma started as a small pastry shop in the neighbourhood of Campo de Ourique but after the success of their pastel de nata (they also were the winner of the city’s best of the best title several times) they started opening more branches around town, namely in Mercado da Ribeira and in Chiado.