Lisbon Croissanteria

Croissants are pretty common in a lot of Pasteleria. However, I’ve not found any that blew me away and have never seen chocolate. And, have never seen any place that makes them all day. That said, I haven’t been searching for them.
We have a relatively new place here in Cascais that advertises as a croissanteria but they are more like brioche.
If you’re in the area, try them of course. But, you might have better luck with excellence sticking with pastel de nata..

Thanks Kathrynj, though that's a bummer to hear. Those were my 2 fondest memories of Lisbon...pasteis de nata and those croissants! Oh well, at least my expectations have been set, and I'm sure I"ll have no problem carb overloading on pasteis and other great things. :) I actually booked my airbnb across the street from pasteis de belem. Though I did read on a different thread where you thought another place at Timeout Market has better pasteis, so I'll be sure to check those out too. :)

Yes, Mantegeigaria, at the Time Out Market and in Chiado are my favorite nata’s. Like in Belem, they are always warm because they make so many. Enjoy!

I can't address the crosissants but another fabulous place for Pasteis is Fabrica de Nata on Praça dos Restauradores. We loved sitting outside and watching the world go by with a warm pasteis and hot cappucino.

Awesome, thanks! I've added it to my list!

I suggest you do a search in Google Maps. Yelp is outdated and Tripadvisor recommendations are often fake.

Hello!

45 years ago there was a pastry chop at Av. de Roma, that has hot croissants for many hours (not all day, but some hours during afternoon), with egg custard in the middle, and almonds at the top. They were really good, and that's the only place I remember in those days, having that kind of croissants. It closed many years ago.

42 years ago, a lot of "croissanterias" opened in Portugal, mainly at malls. There were 8 to 10 kinds of croissants: of egg custard, chocolate, and other sweet things, and also of cheese, ham, etc. At the beggining there were queues to get them. Coming out from the oven all day and evening. It lasted more or less 5 to 10 years, can't remeber precisely. Then, many other things started to open, for instance the 1st McDonalds opened in 1990/1991, not sure exactly, but I went to my 1st BigMac in 1991, I had to went to Lisbon for work, so I went there. (I live in Porto. No McDonalds in Porto yet in that year). The same for many other chains. And even at supermarkets, new products started apearing. This way, croissanterias ended, not enough customers for them.

I still go to "Careca", however. It is located at Restelo (if it is still open, 3 years ago it was). Very good croissants, but no chocolate in them.

I was reading something about croissants in Lisbon a few months ago. A new chain, called "O melhor croissant da minha rua". They have croissants with Nutella. But for what I remeber reading, they open the croissant and put whatever you want inside, so it's not the same.

What I miss more about croissanterias is the smell! It was so good!

That is fascinating! And too bad. Yes, I was there in 91/92, so that fits the time frame of when there were still lots of croissanterias in town. It does seem a little odd that they would disappear completely, since places like McDonald's are hardly of comparable quality. Sad. At least the pasteis de nata haven't gone out of fashion!

Pastéis de Belém, and their cousins Pastéis de Nata (also known as "tigelinhas" when I was youg) are a typical product. Croissants were not typical but were very commom, although kind of different from those from the croissanterias. These were new, you know, like the new girl in class.

Other new things that appeared in those days, and made croissanterias disappear: crepes and goffres.

There is a product, a very sad one, that exists in almost all "poor" pastry shops, or coffee shops (Like the ones at train stations) named Panike. It's andindustrial product, and they have two versions: chocolate or ham and cheese. They put the thing in the microwave for a few seconds, and serve it to you. The shape is not a croissant, but tryes to be the most similar of the ancient croissants from croissanterias. I don't advise you to try. I did, and I felt I was going to dye.

Sorry, here I am, telling you sad things you don't asked. I will try to find out if, for some kind of miracle, any croissanteria from the old days resisted. Will let you know if I find one!

Helena

Oooh, panikes! I'll be sure to avoid them! :) I don't understand the crepe fad....they aren't that appealing to me. Google tells me there might be 2 other croissanterias. One is on R da Prata, and from the Google street view looks fairly sketchy, if not abandoned. However, there is another called Croissanteria Tradicional that has 5 star reviews on Google. They appear to have opened recently under new management. Whether they are like the croissants of the old days, who knows. Maybe I'll check it out if I have time.
Thanks for the perspective on O Melhor Croissanteria de Minha Rua. I'll skip that one.

Loving this discussion (Helena, you are a treasure!). Taking notes for our trip in May.