FORCADO

My love for Portuguese pastries has been well documented both on the blog and my Pinterest boards. Thanks to my major sweet tooth I had already spotted Le Petit Forcado, a tiny Portuguese pastry shop on Chaussée de Charleroi before discovering on Instagram that a new pastelaria was about to open its doors in Brussels. 

Located on the same street as its little brother, the Forcado is a family affair. Mr. Joaquim de Oliveira has worked over the years with prestigious hotels, foodie paradise Rob’s and even run his own Portuguese restaurant in Brussels, which closed in 2004 to focus on his little pastelaria that has already become famous. The tradition is now carried on by the new generation as Joaquim’s son has opened the Forcado, a much bigger space which combines both a pastry shop and tasting room. I personally loved the design of the space which is bright, clean and modern. 

Certain things however remain the same at the new Forcado: all pastries are still fresh and handmade following the family recipe. Apart from the classic pastéis de nata (custard tarts), you can also find flavoured ones (lemon, raspberry, coffee, caramel, etc.), cakes and together with some gluten-free options. During our visit, my partner in crime and I went for a small selection as we were keen on trying a few different things. The pastéis were the best I’ve had so far – crispy on the outside with a gooey custard filling, the almond roll cake was creamy and rich in flavour and the azevias de batata doce were a wonderful surprise – fresh, citrusy and not overly sweet. We finished everything while happily catching up after my Greek holiday and even had a chance to chat with Joaquim himself who mentioned that he makes more than 400 pastéis per day to keep up with demand. Impressive, right?

Although I was very tempted to take away some pastéis with me, I resisted and instead I bought a pot of Portuguese Doce da Bina jam from their selection. Bonus points to the Forcado for being open on Sundays – can’t think of anything better than coffee and Portuguese sweets for a lazy afternoon in Brussels!

INFO

Address: Chaussée de Charleroi 196, 1060 Saint Gilles, Belgium

Telephone: +32 2 5390019

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