I am just so glad that there’s a new bakery in town that really “gets me”, ya know? A bakery that doesn’t hold back on portion sizes, where “delicious” takes on many different forms, and where that warm, carb-y, sugar-dusted smell that hits you right when you walk through the doors. When I heard that a Portuguese bakery (with its head baker imported from Portugal, btw) had moved into Goszdu Street, I was So. There.
I have very fond memories of Portugal, so of course, I had to check Lisboa Pastry and Bakery out. There were plenty of luscious savory breads on display, but for this trip, I had only one mission: to give myself over to the sugar gods. I have no regrets.
After wandering around a bit (the bakery isn’t strictly on Goszdu, but in between Goszdu and Holló utca), I finally stumbled into the oasis of baked goods. When I finally got to the front of the long line (it seems that I wasn’t the only one eager to try this place), my heart broke to see that they were cleaned out of the iconic Portuguese custard tart–the pastel de nata. However, this was my first taste of a blessing in disguise. If that hadn’t have been the case, I never would have tried to console myself with a hazelnut chocolate filled croissant. Notice I didn’t say “Nutella”–that’s because it tasted like the purest form of hazelnut/chocolate balance that Nutella aspires to be. Who knows? Maybe it was just regular Nutella, enhanced by being wrapped in a cushy, moist croissant, but whatever the ingredients, they worked together verrrrrry well.
All the seats were full and I wanted to have my dessert rhapsody in peace, so I grabbed a Berliner for the road. Just seeing this donut fills me with memories of a midday beach snack with my host family in between naps on the sand and dips in the blue, blue water of Portugal’s Algarve region. I had planned to save it for later, but…two minutes after I got home I seemed to have blacked out and came back to consciousness with an empty bag and a mysterious dusting of crystallized sugar all over my face. Suspicious.
I walked out of there with both pastries for 1000 HUF ($3.60), so despite being on a tourist avenue such as Goszdu, at least those pastry prices weren’t too inflated.
*Twist of fate*–Just as I had turned to leave, the front case was being filled up with a fresh batch of plump, beckoning pastel de nata. I already had a pastry for each hand, so I wasn’t gonna push it…but now I definitely have a reason for a second date with Lisbon Pastry and Bakery. Can’t. Wait.
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