Custard is one of my favorite things in the world. So it won’t surprise you to know that pastel de natas, the delicious custards from Portugal, are one of my all-time favorite pastries.
But it wasn’t until I visited Porto earlier this year that my life was changed by how good a freshly baked Portuguese pastel de nata is. I’m sorry Sainsbury’s, but your store bought ones just don’t even compare.
So when I discovered that there were two Portuguese cafes and bakeries next to each other in West London, I jumped at the chance to compare the pastel de natas from both. The two cafes are both located on Golborne Road in North Kensington, a road that runs parallel to the more famous Portobello Road.
But what Golborne Road has retained is a sense of community and locality, as shown by how these two bakeries charge less than £2 for their pastel de natas. The first cafe I visited was Lisboa Patisserie, which has been on my list to visit for ages, having heard good things about their Portuguese ingredients.
Lisboa looks like your average cafe inside, with counters filled with sweet and savory pastries and lunch options and Formica tables inside where people sit and enjoy their coffee and food. I opted to grab a pastry and go and pay £1.85 for a pastel de nata – although signs outside warned that prices would rise from early October.
After securing my first pastel de nata, I was too impatient to wait and dove right in. But unfortunately this pastel de nata was simply OK – and nothing like the cakes I had tasted in Portugal.
I want a light but crunchy crunch without a lot of bite in the pastry that holds the cake up – but unfortunately the Lisboa pastel de nata gave me the opposite. There was almost too much crunch and way too much chew going on, which further disappointed me with the cake.
I then walked across the road to Cafe O Porto, which again looked like a traditional cafe. I again bought a pastel de nata, this time for £1.90, and sat down outside to eat it.
This time I was impressed – and transported right back to the streets of Porto. This pastel de nata was what I had been missing all this time. The custard was beautifully light, fragrantly infused with vanilla and perfectly smooth and creamy.
And the pastry was that perfectly crisp and light combination that immediately let me know this cake was a winner. If you’re in West London I’d highly recommend a trip to Café O Porto for a custard – grab a coffee too, sit outside and watch the world go by for a while.
Lisboa Patisserie and Cafe O Porto are both located on Golborne Road in Kensington.
Do you have a story for us? Email anna.willis@reachplc.com.
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