Padaria Ribeiro is a bakery/café with origins from 1878. Same as some of the other reviews…read morementioned, I came here because Rick Steves guidebook included this shop in his walking tour. Looking from the window outside, I spotted familiar savory pastries. I suspected correctly that they would be served room temperature direct from the display case. (They don't offer warming serves of prepared pastries.)
At the counter, the cashier spoke perfect English. I asked her about favorites of savory pastries. We bought pastries of beef, chicken, 2x shrimps (her favorite), and 2x cod fish (traditional Portuguese recipe). For the why-not of it, we also got a full-size pastel de nata and a mini size. These are packed in takeaway package trays and paper wrapped. To avoid the crowds at the outside tables, we walked to a plaza around the corner and enjoyed them while people watching and looking at the octagonal 4 lions fountain called Fonte dos Leões.
Perhaps because we are familiar with these types of pastries, we find the flavors subtly enjoyable. They don't have big chunks of beef or chicken or shrimps inside (American style). They contain finely chopped and well-seasoned fillings inside a potato pastry shell or a flaky pastry shell (for the beef). The potato pastry shell is less common in the US (except maybe Porto in Los Angeles area). In any case, we enjoyed our food overall and thought the prices are reasonable. These would be 5 stars if they warmed them up.
