Café a Piriquita, Sintra

I visited Piriquita cafe in March 2011 for one reason – to sample the local Queijadas de Sintra ("cheesecakes of Sintra").

I had just eaten lunch at Restaurante Alcobaca next door, but their dessert menu did not include queijadas, so I made my way to Piriquita instead.

My guidebook recommended Piriquita as the best place to sample these local cakes, so I expected it to be full of tourists, but it wasn't. I also expected the lady behind the counter to instinctively know exactly what I was looking to purchase, but she didn't. Clearly my pronunciation of "queijadas" wasn't even close to being correct! I resorted to pointing at the word in my guidebook and holding up two fingers to indicate that I'd like a couple of them. They only cost 0.80 Euros each.

I took a seat at one of the many vacant tables in the pleasant dining area with its unmistakably Portuguese tiled walls and diligently photographed my cakes (for the benefit of VT!). Then I tucked into them...

I knew from their appearance that they weren't like the cheesecakes that I've become accustomed to in the UK and elsewhere in the world. They looked more like the mini custard tarts (pasteis de nata) that I had been indulging in in Lisbon. The exterior was a thin, flaky pastry, while the interior was a soft cheese. The taste was of strong cinnamon. I enjoyed them, but two was enough, despite their fairly small size.

Piriquita is located on the small side street of Rua das Padarias, across the square from the National Palace, and slightly uphill.

Piriquita is a great place to sample the cheesecakes of Sintra – Queijadas de Sintra!

Once in Sintra we knew that we MUST go to Piriquita and taste those well-advertised Queijadas and Travesseiros.
Of course, our opinions were different, and is normal isn’t it?
Anyway, my son do not appreciate the sweets not containing as much chocolate as possible, for my wife it was too much sugar and for me… it was really good and, more than this they are “distinctive”.
After climbing all the walls in Moorish castle, the break on Piriquita II was really welcome.
Take a look at our photos and you’ll understand why :)

Piriquita is the most well known pastry in Sintra which has two traditional sweets: Queijadas and Travesseiros de Sintra and if you want to give it a try, give it here. The stor has been open since 1862 and it was considered the best one in Sintra.They also have all sorts of Portuguese pastries and sweets.

Piriquita has two Tea Salons: One in Rua Padarias 1/7 which sells to take away and eat there and other one, close to the first, where you can seat in an esplanade and enjoy the landspape (Rua Padarias 18-r/c).

Favorite Dish: Queijadas de Sintra

I first had a cola zero 1.20 euro
and later i was here again i had a fresh orange juice (asuma naranga natural?) and a cheese baguete? very cheap here
Also you can do take away bread, pastries and more at the entrance

Travesseiros consists in a puff pastries stuffed with a sweet eggy mixture... Such as it happened with Queijadas, you can find Travesseiros almost in all country, but those made in Piriquita are delicious... hummm They are served still hot and you almost cry for more :))

You have got to try traveseiros, which means pillow in Portuguese.

These are sweets in the shape of a pillow and with a wonderful filling.

The receipt is secret so no one really knows how's it's made, a little like Coke...

I THINK that's what this little pasteleria was called, but I'm not 100% sure. If anyone recognizes it from the pictures, let me know. Anyways, this place provided some shelter when the rain was falling in buckets on my friend and me. We stopped by for some coffee, but when I saw the pastries I just had to try one.

Favorite Dish: Andrew ordered the quiche (which he said was great) and I ordered an almond pastry called travesseiro, which is a local specialty and was delicious.

There was one older lady and a young girl working here and they didn't speak any English, but they were so kind! They could tell that we were cold and wet from the rain and did their best to warm us up with their smiles and hospitality. The pastry and coffee helped too!!