Doçaria Mário - Amarante

A 5 minute walk out of the centre to thus lovely "lost in time ' cafe and cake shop. there is a large terrace out back with fabulous views of the river. The sweets are typical of Amarante (very sugary!

The pastries are of high quality and the view, both from inside and the terrace, is quite relaxing. Nevertheless, the decor and equipment are somewhat antiquated.

After a short walking in the Sunday afternoon, we arrived at this cozy space. Though we were a little bit exhausted, the cafe made us nice rest. We spent a relaxing time having traditional sweets, S. Gonçalos and Brisas do Tâmega, with rich coffee. They were amazing!! It’s just a little bit high price but it is valuable. In addition, you can have snacks and beer. The lady is so kind and helpful. Though we didn’t speak Portuguese, she served so sincerely. And this cafe has large windows and terrace. The view from the terrace made us release stress. Then, the interior is chic. Unexpectedly there are a lot of seats. So you can take seats without waiting. Here is the perfect place for traveller’s short stop.

As I see, that other travelers have already praised the lovely terrace with a view over the tamega river and the friendly atmosphere, all of which is more than true, I'd like to add a culinary observation. The main ingredient of some typical Portuguese and Spanish sweets are egg yolks and sugar and I have often asked myself what happens to all the egg whites. Well this lovely pastry shop had found the answer: you use them to make merengues! So they had added another specialty to the offer of regional pastries: little merengues, perfectly baked, crunchy and with a soft interior. They are not only good to have on that great terrace, with a cup of their excellent coffee, but also to take home. They weigh nothing and keep good forever

Wandering around Amarante we stopped outside this pattiserie and were dragged inside by the assistant. Whilst my wife bought some pastries I went to look at the 'beautiful view ' she assured us that could be had from the rear and found a lovely terrace with tables and chairs with a view of the river that was, indeed, beautiful. So of course we stayed for coffee and took a few snaps. When she brought the coffees the assistant offered to take our photo. Coffee was great (and very reasonably priced considering the setting), the service excellent and the pastries which we ate later that night very enjoyable.