Pastéis de Belém - home of the Portuguese Tart

Last December we travelled to Lisbon, Portugal for a weekend with our friends Sam and Julien to catch up and explore the city.  One of the highlights of the weekend was a trip to the town of Belém, not far from the centre of Lisbon.  There are many sights in Belém worth visiting but the main attraction for food-lovers like us is the Pastéis de Belém bakery, home of the famous Portuguese egg tarts since the 1830's.  


We visited the bakery for brunch on Sunday and were amazed at how big the place is with four rooms that can seat a few hundred people.  Based on the number of tarts produced onsite that could see through the viewing room into the kitchen, it's not surprising that the place can be packed out including a constant queue at the shop counter in the front.  


Given how famous these tarts are, and the fact that we were hungry, we ordered a dozen tarts between the four of us with coffees.  Our waitress asked us asked how many we were going to eat and how many should be packed to take away - much to her surprise we said we were going to eat all of them.

Pastéis de Belém - so good over 10,000 are sold every day!

A dozen tarts didn't seem a challenge at first when they arrived looking and tasting so scrumptious with their fresh, flaky pastry and the sweet but not too heavy custard filling.  It didn't take long to wolf down the first tart and follow up with a second tart, this time with a sprinkling of cinnamon and sugar.  However, whilst the tarts are simple and tasty, they are rather heavy (especially due to the oil/butter in the pastry) and we found ourselves very full after our third tart.  At this point we understood why our waitress did not expect us to eat all the tarts in one sitting!  


Having said that, it was a great experience and no visit to Lisbon or Belém is complete without trying these legendary tarts.  Belém is also a lovely place to check out with plenty of walks and sights around which is just as well so you can work off any tart greed!   


What:  Pastéis de Belém
Where:  Rua de Belém 84, 1300 Lisboa, Portugal
How much:  only €0.90 per tart

Checking in at Hotel Chocolate

I'm a little late with my weekly post after going away to Granada, Spain for the long weekend (more on that in a future post hopefully....) so I thought I'd write a short post on what is probably my favourite British chocolate store, Hotel Chocolate.  The first time I learnt of Hotel Chocolate was when a store opened in West Quay shopping Centre in Southampton where Dave and I used to live.  The name of the store intrigued me and I had to check it out....

It was such a cool looking chocolate shop where you could always find a nice gift for someone or a treat for yourself.  One such gift idea is the Sleekster Everything Selection, a box of 30 lovely looking chocolates which all taste great (unlike some boxes where you always end up with some flavour that no one wants!).  My mum bought a box for Dave for his birthday and he wasn't disappointed, taking only a short time to finish the box pretty much on his own!

So many choices....

When Jack was in the UK on her previous visit, she also managed to find a few goodies to take back to Oz and our friends are never disappointed when we front up with Hotel Chocolate gifts - we know as they tend to be opened and finished within the same hour.  Whilst the chocolates are not as cheap as some mainstream or supermarket brands, they are definitely not as expensive as some of the posh European brands.  Highly recommended for a gift or just a nice treat for yourself - almost like a stay in a fancy hotel!

What:  Hotel Chocolate 
Where:  various UK stores and in some John Lewis stores, plus a handful of International locations
How much:  various from £2 a small bar to £85 gift boxes (you can go wild!)

A Snack from Jess

Dips are great for snacking and entertaining especially if you don't have to make them. One of my favourites which is a little different is the pea and wasabi dip from Marks and Spencer (M&S). M&S are renowned in England for their range of ready made meals which are easy to buy and good value. I get this dip from the small M&S at Clapham Junction station which is convenient if friends are coming over for drinks as I just serve it up with some toasted pita bread (and it's a quick and yummy snack before dinner which looks healthy cause it's green!). The dip also contains mint and soft cheese which makes for a more interesting dip than the usual french onion or houmus.

What: Pea and wasabi dip with mint and soft cheese

Where: Marks and Spencer supermarkets

How much: £2.99