Café Saudade

There are some places that to me are Portugal concentrated in one spot. Café Saudade is one of them. It is somewhere to go that just lets you breathe easy and it celebrates the real Portugal. Not the Portugal of shopping centres or highways, but the Portugal of my childhood, of long trips into the countryside.

First of all it is in the magical town of Sintra, but that doesn't guarantee loveliness as many a tourist has found to their cost. Saudade, however is a veritable rabbit warren of loveliness. The building itself was once a queijada factory making traditional Sintra cheesecakes, although factory seems too industrial a word for the authentic beauty of the place.

The café's menu is excellent and offers a variety of traditional Portuguese cakes and sandwiches as well as fruit tarts, an incredible gooey chocolate cake and light lunch options. Whiling away an afternoon with a cup of herbal tea or even a single espresso - nobody will make you feel like you need to have anything more if you don't want it - is something I do far too infrequently to do this fantastic café real justice.

Saudade is the heart and soul of its owners the sunny Mary Pereira and her husband Luís. Mary is Portuguese-American and in spite of, or perhaps because of, this she actively celebrates the Portuguese heritage that so many people take for granted. Saudade sells Portuguese handicrafts - not tourist tat the real deal - and also has its own little silver store (Prataria) offering the most gorgeous traditional Portuguese jewellery.

If you have never been there I couldn't recommend it more highly.

Café Saudade

Avenida Dr. Miguel Bombarda 6

Sintra

2710-590 SINTRA

Tel: 212428804

Coffee!

Portuguese coffee is wonderful.

Granted it is not grown here, but it is roasted and blended here and there's nothing like it.

I've had coffee in Italy (harsh in my opinion) and in Brazil (just plain awful) both of which you would think were countries with excellent coffee. Frankly they just don't get close to the smooth, strong, delicious coffee you find in just about every café across Portugal.

There are several ways coffee is served here and most people are very specific about the way they like it. Here's a run down of the most common:

Bica / café / cimbalino

Otherwise known as an espresso the humble bica (as it's called in Lisbon, cimbalino in Porto and plain old café across the country) is the staple of the Portuguese café. The coffee blend is mostly smooth, strong and oh so dark. Order an italiana and you'll get what in Italy is called a ristretto or a very small espresso. Otherwise you can ask for bica cheia and you'll get a bit more coffee than normal in your cup, which will make it slightly weaker. Because of the variety of options for your espresso, if you want it just as it comes you may just need to ask for a café normal!

Galão

This is a favourite of northern European tourists and little old ladies (forgive me it's not my favourite at all). It's a milky coffee served in a glass. If you like your coffee strong make sure to ask for it that way and be certain that it's made with fresh espresso. It's great way of warming your hands on a cold day... or burning them if you're not too careful.

Meia de leite (chinesa in Madeira)

This is the Portuguese equivalent of a cappuccino though not quite so frothy. One of my favourite types of coffee. Make sure to ask for a meia de máquina or you may be in danger of receiving something pre-prepared, which entirely misses the point.

There are several other ways of drinking coffee in Portugal, but these three are the most common and should keep you buzzing all the way to lunchtime.