Pao De Lo De Ovar Cruz

About

Pao De Lo De Ovar Cruz is a bakery-restaurant in Ovar, about halfway between Porto and Aveiro, and it specializes in one thing: pão de ló, the eggy, barely-set sponge cake the town is famous for. The 5-out-of-5 rating across 42 reviews—and perfect marks for food—suggests they've nailed the traditional recipe, which is harder than it looks because the center is supposed to stay almost liquid. Most visitors come for takeaway boxes, but you can sit and eat a slice with coffee if you want to see what the fuss is about before committing to a whole cake. It's mid-range priced, which makes sense given the eggs and the technique involved. If you're driving the coastal route or stopping in Ovar for any reason, this is the place locals point you to for the real version of the cake, not the drier knockoffs you'll find elsewhere.