Sinta and Regaleira

I will not bother you with much text, all I can say is that Sintra is an incredible place to visit and to be in. Quinta da Regaleira is an obligatory stop! Photos are not so good but I will return and take some really good ones for sure!

Frutalmeidas

This place doesn't seem to have the sophistication touch that some places have with their comfy sofas and weird objects. Contrarily to the more modern spaces, Frutalmeidas, with more than 30 years, lives from the elders tradition, our parents came here for a little break, to sit down and eat something and maybe do some grocery shopping before heading home.

My father still remembers coming here, it is interesting when people open their eyes and say excited "Ooooh! That place!!". You feel you just brought up an old memory. I like it when people still conserve the taste of youth on their tongues and kind of return to it momentarily by remembering a flavour.

~

They had an enormous variety of juices and as the weather was heating up I had two of them (watermelon and plum) for 1.50€ each and a pastry for 1.20€. This is the Santini of juices I must say. My friend got an almond pie (1.75€). There wasn't much to chose from in terms of chewables. Maybe 17h was already too late.

Facebook / Website
Open from mondays to saturdays from 8h to 20h.
Also located on Rua Pedro Nunes, 25, 1050 Lisboa.

Ó-Chá (closed)

I've been researching some teahouses to go to. A friend of mine told me about matcha tea and now I am obsessing with it. This thing. Still faithful to coffee though, I am not a tea person, I usually murder it by drinking it cold with sugar or by doing it on the microwave and adding sweetener and milk.

~

We asked for a smoked salmon and herb cheese toast for 4.80€ and a brie, honey and rosemary one for 4.50€. They also have 7€ menus for those tired of toasts (but really, how can one get tired of that?).

While I was waiting I took the time to look around. Clearly an oriental thematic, except the mad hatter painting, that was solely there due to the "tea party" subject I guess. I love the mad hatter but I prefer it a little bit more darkish and weird.

Well, but then came the toasts, and once again I did the stupid mistake of trying the sweet one first (scrumptious!) and so the salmon's taste became very week as my tongue was already vitiated.

I was also trying to spare money by not drinking anything, but they suggested me a cold tea of ginger, honey and lemongrass (2.50€). It was really good, milkish look and with foam! That was a first.

Ó-Chá is really discrete from the outside, but once inside, it is another world, and that honey toast it worth the go. Take a look at their website because they also sell tea!

Facebook / Website
Monday to saturday from 12h to 20:30. Closed on sundays.

As Vicentinas

Beware of the entrance, you can easily pass by it (I think). But this historical looking sign should offer you no doubt you are in the right place.

Vicentinas, also known as Santa Isabel teahouse, initiated in the 50's as a sewing saloon in an old banana warehouse that was ceded to the Vicentian Group so they could help the needed.

In that place there were as well fashion shows to display the garments and it was offered tea and scones to the guests. This trend started to have some success and that was the beginning of the tea house. Scones overruled fashion, the spontaneous pleasure was better than the long lasting one.

~

It is impossible not to notice the religious motive that is going on. Jesus figures here and there. This looks like a selective place. Most of the people are elder, and probably religious, I fit neither of them and I can't help feeling a bit dislocated.

There was a table FULL of cakes and I was drooling. Try not to look at it while passing by, because a bit further there is once again one of those inside/outside esplanades. You can see the sky covered by the tree branches and through one of the windows you can see a sewing room.

~

I asked a cold tea first, the best ever, it was something fruity but not too red fruity or else I wouldn't have liked it. The other one was black tea and lemon. They were 1.50€.

The scones that came were amazing and I had to ask for more, 1.90€ for two (because the second one doesn't need to bring butter so it is 10 cents cheaper). I started to have the feeling I should be eating like english royalty.

Facebook / Website
Monday to friday from 11:30h to 19h. Saturdays from 15:30h to 19h. Closes sundays.

Orpheu Caffé

The wallpaper hits you in the face the moment you go in: it fits like a glove. We decided to sit one a big table near the entrance with enough space for working. Lana del Rey was playing on repeat for the four hours we were there, I wanted to kill myself.

Orpheu was a vanguard magazine in which participated a lot of personalities from the beginnings of the XX century that are part of the portuguese cultural history. 

The space is amazing and so is the service: when we asked if they could cut the toasts in three parts they actually brought three plates each with the two toast parts in it.

The esplanade seemed cool but we ended up staying inside (sockets!). Reminded me of Royale Café in a way, an open air isolated area, an inside/outside, I love this kind of paradox spaces.

~

The drinks come in large sizer (yes!). I never shared a drink before but they made it possible. We split a lemonade with groselha (redcurrant juice) and a mazagran. If you start with the sweet groselha/lemonade, then the mazagran will be kind of a disappointment, because the sweetness is already taking over your mouth and it will taste too watery and plain. Later my friend asked for an orange juice with rooibos (I think that was it). Kind of weird I must say.

As for the food, the first toast was so good it disappeared quickly form everyones' plates and I didn't photograph it. It had tuna paste, tomato and cucumber (5.50€). The other one had eggplant, goat cheese and marmelade, slightly stuffy and less good but still yummy. It was around 6.90€.

They also have a lunch menu for 8€ (soup + mini dish + café) and a summer menu for 6.5€ (soup + salad). Well, not to mention cakes, scones, pastries, brownies, all looking at us with their baky eyes.

Facebook
Tuesdays to saturdays from 11h to midnight and sunday from 11h to 20h. Closes on mondays.

Nata Lisboa (changed place)

Note: I think this palce changed location so I will put the nearest one to Principe Real

I think I was one of the first to try this (I hope! Finally!). It made some noise when it opened in Principe Real and now it is expanding very quickly! A success history. I actually hard some bad rumors about who could be the one behind this franchising, well, that aside, it is really a nice place, it surprised me in two peculiar aspects:

One: (because I was there to work) there are electricity sockets in the backyard but not inside! This is the total opposite of most coffee shops. Ok, moving on.

Two: The other thing was an interesting and interactive wood sculpture placed in the middle of the garden. The stairs were pretty wobbly and we were scared to death from falling but we did climb, and what it does is that it enables you to see beyond the enormous roof that is obstructing the view at ground level.

It reminds me of a work from the tv show Work of Art. We were kind of alone so we just started to behave like little kids and tried every single chair and thingie on the garden. We also questioned why was a cactus in the bathtub.

~

The name is not by accident, the famous pastel de nata is the main item sold on the café.

First time I went there I ate a ham and cheese sandwich (1.65€), a faux pas, maybe... But it tasted like no other, at that time, it was the best thing I could have had. The bread was amazing, the prices are competitive, the service was impeccable (put an emphasis on that). The cold tea was 1.15€. No pictures because it was so good I forgot.

Second time I went there I did try the pastel de nata. Oh mamma. I won't say no more, just go.

Facebook / Website
Monday to saturday from 8h to midnight and sunday from 10h to 18h.