The cafe, pastelaria & food
The Pastelaria - Mini Local Bakeries
Places called “pastelaria”, which would be loosely translated a pastry shop, is where people come to drink their coffee and socialise. The shop will have a range of “pastries” from the traditional Pastel de Nata, or custard tart, to the croissant and other small cakes that you can eat with your coffee. Many pastelaria shops will also sell bread. Therefore, every morning, I take the car and go to one of the two shops for my morning expresso, which I guarantee to be one of the best you may drink, and a pastel de nata to go along with it. I then buy some freshly baked bread to bring back home and have a splendid breakfast with the family, once they get up.
As a side note, the bread and bread buns are so good that we as a family will go on to have all of our breakfasts with these with the additional butter, jams, marmelada which is an Iberian speciality of quince marmalade and alternatively, a range of cheeses.
Our local daily cafe/pastelaria
The first pastelaria nearest from home is the local one, located a few minutes away, one mile from home.
The atmosphere is lively because it’s really the locals who come here, and it’s as if they were all family chatting away and loud. Their large flat round bread is delicious, very light with huge air bubbles, which you may say you are also paying for but totally worth the money. The directions are such that, as with most part of the silver coast in Portugal villages, the roads are very narrow and may seem almost as if you were going through a labyrinth with ups and downs to add to the adventure of getting bread for your breakfast.
R. da Escola 16, 2420-026 Arrabal, Portugal.
Location, Link on Googlemaps: https://maps.app.goo.gl/tX37C47EYr1PLTDh9
Front view of the local cafe which also provides bread and “pastelaria”.
The traditional bakery
The second cafe / pastelaria, called “panibrites”, is about 4Km (less than 3 miles) from home, which takes around 7 minutes to get there. It is a great place to go when you want to have the opportunity to choose from a few different bread varieties, which are also delicious and making this pastelaria quite sought after around the neighbouring villages. It is apparently baked in wood ovens, which would explain why the bread is so tasty.
R. Vale São João 13, Caranguejeira, Portugal.
Location, Link on Googlemaps: https://maps.app.goo.gl/Jza2qttzDMGPzUkRA
I come here on Mondays as the local cafe on this day, or if it is closed due to holiday.
This bakery is very popular amongst the local community. they still bake the bread with wood and provide the corn bread that is typically Portuguese
LOCAL SHOPS FOR GROCERIES
Mini preço
Parracheira does not have shops and generally, we go shopping in three different places depending on our needs. The first shopping is for groceries and general items at the market called mini preço (mini price) and is closest from home. It is very practical to go to when you just want a few items without having to go far away.
Check the times on google maps, but it seems that the opening times are 8am to 8pm except on Sunday when it closes at 7pm.
Location, Link on Googlemaps: https://maps.app.goo.gl/g2mgfKDKSN3AfdmL8
The market has a fairly large open parking lot as well as an ATM cash machine
Intermarché
As we often go to Leiria or pass nearby when going to places, we like to go to Intermaché. It is bigger and has therefore more products. Again, check the times on google maps, which shows that the opening times are 8am to 8pm including Sunday.
Location, Link on Googlemaps: https://maps.app.goo.gl/EfwzY1Uip2VBPtTZ9
LeiriaShopping
Leiria Shopping is the new main mall of Leiria. There is the Continente supermarket which open until 11pm. We tend to go there when we arrive or if we want to go and eat at the restaurant area before going shopping. Because it’s a mall and it’s open until late, we usually tend to go there a few times during our holiday.
Location, Link on Googlemaps: https://maps.app.goo.gl/crstaeCZVX4FwYmv7
When arriving at the last small roundabout you will notice that the Shopping mall is on the left, going upwards. This is where I go to park the car in the basement. when following the red arrows shown on the picture above, you can then either go to the open space ground parking level, or the lower-level parking level which I prefer because the car won’t be exposed to the sun when it’s hot during summer. The parking in the basement is very modern, with green lights showing where parking spaces are available.
The town of Caranguejeira
Finally, I haven’t spoken about Caranguejeira. It’s the main town around Parracheira, where you have the pharmacy, meat shops, some groceries as well as several cafés. I often go there to get some delicious take-away meals.
Location, Link on Googlemaps: https://maps.app.goo.gl/oDS792MA5J7XPyd38
To reach Caranguejeira, you continue on the road that leads to mini-preço market and continue for about a mile (1Km). Just before you arrive in town, there will be some areas where you can park, otherwise you can find that there are parking spaces behind the church.
The Restaurants in Leiria
The restaurants that I will mention here can be very different from one another. We like them for what they are, in that we like to eat some more traditional meals, whilst at the same time, we enjoy discovering restaurants that try to be more creative with the gastronomy of the country and therefore add a more modern experience when visiting the restaurant.
A toca
I start with the simplest, probably cheapest restaurant. We go there because they are unbeatable with their grilled squid speciality. The squid come in a butter-based sauce, and eaten simply with fries, rice, green beans, and a side salad, it’s simply gorgeous simple and down to earth food. They are very busy and the best time to arrive is before 8pm. The experience is that of a very standard Portuguese restaurant, but we always go there because we love their squid so much.
restaurant "A toca"- the speciality is "lulas grelhadas", grilled squid served with a delicious sauce.
Casinha Velha
The restaurant "casinha velha" - little old house- would be completely invisible to anyone visiting Leira. It's been recognised by Michelin and it's the place to go for a traditional Portuguese meal
The restaurant Casinha velha is the more stylish restaurant and more expensive we have in our suggested list. Despite the appearance of what seems to be a standard building, the experience lies inside, where you are welcome in an ambience filled with elegance.
Apart from the elegance and style, it’s the traditional gastronomy that makes this place so distinguished from the other restaurants. Therefore we love to come here and highly recommend it to discover the Portuguese tradition and savoir faire.
There is a caveat because the place is quite hidden in the outskirts of Leiria, and you will need to follow your navigation system very well to find it and finally find a parking nearby. It is worth it however if you enjoy discovering the local gastronomy while on holiday.
KOBORÚ
My family loves Japanese food, and I will be very honest: I have not yet been to this restaurant, but based on what I have seen, I decided I would make an exception to the rule and suggest this restaurant despite not having been there yet. I used to walk and pass by the road leading to Koború when I was 10 going to the high school nearby. The area has now become a stylish part of Leiria along the river Lis.
The restaurants around Parracheira
When at home, and if you feel like going to a restaurant without any fuss, and all you want is just a delicious meal without the hassle of having to make it, perhaps after returning later from a day trip, you will find that there are several local restaurants that will be the ideal place to go.
Be aware that there won’t be many choices on the menu, and it may not always be easy to know what to expect if you are not a Portuguese who knows the local gastronomy. However if you ask for more details, you should be able to order a good meal with confidence.
A taberna da Isílda
I was told by the floor heating technician that there is an extremely popular place in the Algarve where it is know for its delicious “frango asado” which is the popular Portuguese traditional piri-piri chicken that has made Nando’s so famous around the world.
He then said, that the restaurant that is closest to my home is where he found the frango asado to be as good as that one from Algarve and that even his boss would come here specially for the frango asado. I was really pleased about that and, I can therefore strongly recommend this restaurant because of the quality of the food and the proximity from home!
The restaurant is located a few hundred meters from home, on the main national road N113 when you exit Parracheira.
Barão Dourado
This restaurant is also located the main national road N113 when you exit Parracheira.
It’s a few Km driving towards Fátima. It has a simple menu, but it’s good authentic local Portuguese food at a very affordable price.
À Mesa
This restaurant is the most stylish in the vicinity of our village, but it’s also the one furthest from home, even though it’s just over 4 miles away.
The place feels a bit remote, and you will certainly have to rely on your navigation system, but also expect to ask someone in the vicinity, if you find someone, where the restaurant is because it’s not easily visible from the main road. The Picture below is taken not from the road, but from the parking space at the back of the road.