The Portuguese custard tart is a Lisbon classic, and where to find the best is hotly debated by locals and visitors alike. As the winner of the Best Pastel de Nata 2024 competition is announced, we eat our way through the tarts that made the grand final.
Held annually since 2009, O Melhor Pastel de Nata is a competition to determine the best pastel in the Lisbon region.
“You see the wall over there?” Tomás Duarte points outside, through the main door, to the opposite side of the street. “Imagine this all full,” he gestures to the interior of the bakery, “and the queue out there… just to buy a pastel de nata.”
Often known in the UK as a Portuguese custard tart, a pastel de nata is a small, round, flaky puff pastry case filled with a sweet custard cream. The golden-brown top, caramelised during baking, is dusted with cinnamon or sugar, then consumed with enthusiasm.
Originating in Iberian convents, the pastel (plural: pastéis) evolved over several centuries, culminating in the modern interpretation, created almost 200 years ago by Portuguese monks in Lisbon’s riverside district of Belém. But despite such heritage, and a relatively simple recipe, the perfect way to make a pastel de nata is still in dispute. How crunchy should the pastry be? How sweet the filling? How to achieve that perfect golden colour?
It’s these points of debate that fuel O Melhor Pastel de Nata (the Best Pastel de Nata), a prestigious annual competition run by Edições do Gosto — an organisation promoting Portuguese gastronomy — to find the best pastel in the Lisbon region. Since the first contest in 2009, chefs from across the region have brought their pastéis to be blind-judged by pastry chefs, food journalists and other experts, who between them select a winner. Small, often family-run, operations frequently find themselves competing with famous brands.
This year’s winner has just been announced, and to see whether I agree with the result, I’m visiting each of the 12 pastelarias (patisseries) that qualified for the grand final, sampling their pastéis exactly as presented when bought over the counter.
Tomás Duarte and his family certainly know what impact making the best pastel can have. The pastelaria O Pãozinho das Marias was founded by Tomás’s uncle in the surf town of Ericeira, overlooking waves rolling in from the Atlantic, north of Lisbon. When their pastel de nata was declared the winner of the 2017 competition, everything changed: those long queues Tomás describes prompted the family to open two new branches. Having secured third place at last year’s contest, Tomás was ready for the additional attention that another victory could bring. “I could certainly say that a lot of people, especially from Lisbon and the other areas, would come here just to try it.”
During the official blind judging, each pastel is rated on appearance, ‘feel’, flavour and consistency of the dough, as well as the filling and overall taste. My criteria is exactly the same. The O Pãozinho das Marias pastel has outrageously flaky pastry and a nice gooey interior but is also very dark — almost burnt around the edges — bringing a slight bitterness. A very satisfying crunch, but it compromises the rest of the experience. My score: 8/10.
In Belém, I head to the luxury Altis Belém Hotel & Spa. Their pastel is attractive and nicely flavoured, but with flimsy pastry, such that the structural integrity of the entire pastel feels threatened. 8/10.
Sitting within the Epic Sana hotel, Bread & Friends craft their custard-filled pastel de nata’s on-site, in front of customers.
Nearby Bread & Friends also sits within a hotel, the Epic Sana. Its pastel has a filling as smooth as silk and would be perfect if not for the somewhat tough, almost chewy, pastry. 9/10.
Near the Tagus river, Pão da Ribeira serves me a pastel with small imperfections: fractures around the edges, a slightly separated filling. But with firm, springy pastry, and rich flavours in both dough and filling, it tastes better than it looks. 9/10.
In downtown Chiado, a district overflowing with tourists, Nat’elier opened only a few months ago, experimenting with creme brulee, cookie cheesecake and other flavours. Its traditional pastel has a nice texture but an underwhelming filling: more flavour is needed. 9/10.
Only a few minutes’ walk away, Castro has a few small cafes with shiny surfaces, soulful music and a generally impressive aura. Its pastel lives up to my high expectations: perfect layers, flaky pastry, great texture, light as a cloud and a wonderfully gooey inside. 10/10.
These city-centre businesses get plenty of attention, but finalists can come from much further afield. “It’s very important for us: even being a finalist — it’s already a big thing,” says Salomão Venturin, the Brazilian-born, bearded and tattooed owner of Pastelaria Pais dos Doces, a pair of pastelarias in northwest Lisbon. He’s extremely conscious of the attention that might come to this quiet residential area, should his pastel de nata be named the best in Lisbon. “You automatically attract a lot of people if you win, if you’re the champion,” he says with a nervous smile. His pastel, baked to a recipe he developed himself, has a lovely filling: light, sweet and smooth — but like all great pasteleiros (pastry chefs), he refuses to share his secret. Unfortunately, I’d like more flavour in the pastry and more time in the oven to give some real crunch. 8/10.
It’s tended to be these less central patisseries that have succeeded in the competition in recent years. Pastelaria Batalha, with cafes in and around Malveira, a 40-minute drive north of the city, has previously finished third twice. But for me, its pastel has too many pastry layers, which overpower the filling. 7/10.
Meanwhile, Casa do Padeiro, a small, noisy cafe in suburban Pontinha, busy with locals rushing in and out, was declared the winner in 2022. Its pastry is rustic and layered, yet surprisingly light, with a nice, sweet filling. 9/10.
Padaria da Né, another small, busy cafe, serves up a beautiful golden pastel, the servers proudly boasting of their victory in the 2021 contest. The pastry is delicious, though the filling is very heavy and much coarser than I’d like. 9/10.
Just outside Amadora train station, Confeitaria Gloria is a rowdy corner cafe that during my visit is packed with gossiping elderly ladies and young guys talking loudly on their phones. A single pastel displayed on a pedestal outside the main entrance indicates this place baked the winning entry last year. And judging by my experience, it hasn’t lost its competitive edge: the pastel is small, with lovely textured pastry in rippled layers, plus a sweet and light filling. It all comes together in a perfect balance. 10/10.
In the end, though, the trophy goes back to familiar hands: Pastelaria Aloma — winner in 2012, 2013 and 2015. It’s somewhere I’ve been several times before, and while it’s always reliably enjoyable, it lacks some of the spark and pleasure I’ve discovered in other pastéis during my taste test. It has soft and flaky pastry, but is too rustic for my taste, with the filling lacking the smoothness of some others. My score: 8/10. But then, it’s not my score that matters. The judges were won over and Aloma can once again call its pastel de nata the best in Lisbon.
