Portuguese food

The food of Portugal is rich, & has a depth of intensity just like its people.

Monday, October 25, 2010

Review of Portuguese Custard Tarts - Pastel de Nata

Thank you to one of my readers for the suggestion of this blog post, I hope you like it.
When I was in my 20's the humble Portuguese tart wasn't really known outside the Portuguese community,  & the only place you could buy them was at the Portuguese bakeries in Petersham, where they cost 0.60c each, yes you heard me right they cost less than a dollar. I can't believe the cost of them these days $3 each.Ok enough winging, I sound like one of those old people talking about the good old days when things where so cheap.
Now the Portuguese tart is everywhere, & most I have to say aren't very good. The only place I'll buy them at is in Petershem, Sydney.


There are 3 Portuguese bakerie shops in Petersham, they all offer coffee & a variation of Portuguese & Australian sweets.
I had the help of my husband & sister in law who where both taste testers & gave me their opinion on each tart.


The first place is Honeymoon, we all agreed the custard tarts here where nice.
The pastry was crispy, the custard was nice, not too sweet & not bland.
I know it may seem strange to say you don't want a sweet tart, but if they are too sweet the flavour of the custard can be spoilt. What your looking for is a tart that has just the right balance.
Price was $1.70 each

Honeymoon Patisserie
45 New Canterbury Rd, Petersham
02 9564 2389



The 2nd patisserie was La Patisserie.
The tarts here I found to be not very good.
The pastry we all found to be stale & rubbery, not very pleasant to eat.
The custard was too sweet & floury, which made the custard thick & dense.

Price: $2 each

La Patisserie
45 New Canterbury Rd, Petersham
02 9569 1107




The 3rd was Sweet Belem.
The pasrty on these tarts were the crispiest & the flakiest out of all of the tarts we tried.
The custard was very nice, & was just right in sweetness. It  was velvety, creamy & soft, not too thich & not runny.
The tarts here come with cinnamon which I really like. They are also very similar to the tarts you can get in the Belem distict of Portugal.
They are the most expensive out of the 3, but also different to what is out there.
Price:$3 each

Sweet Belem
35B New Canterbury Rd, Petersham
02 9572 6685

Overall I found Sweet Belem's tart to be the best, their pastry was the best, very very crispy. I don't think there is any where in Sydney that has the cripiest pastry.At $3 ea they are the most expensive out of the 3, but when you compare what's to out there, these are worth it. Most cafe's aroundSydney sell them at $3 & aren't as good.

My second pick is Honeymoon
The pastry was nice & the custard was great as well. At $1.70 they are probably the cheapest tarts in Sydney, & well worth it.

5 comments:

Digital Media Learning said...

Yum,custard tarts,is there anything better.I agree Sweet Belem is definitely the best.

Roland said...

It's really the only place to get them,in Petersham that is.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the post,I've never been to Petersham but will check it out.The tarts from Sweet Belem look so different to what you can get at most places.

Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella said...

I love these little tarts too and agree that when the pastry is nice and crispy, it's a lovely counter to the velvety custard! :)

Anonymous said...

These look AMAZING! I am on serious obsession phase with portuguese tarts..because they are small they feel not too naughty!

If you are ever in London, you must try these!

http://crumpeats.wordpress.com/2011/01/22/portuguese-tarts/