Parabéns is located in Boavista, Porto, and it’s very well known for the specific cakes it sells for its customers’ birthday parties.

The name is a Portuguese word that means ‘congratulations’. My mum first suggested I buy cakes for my birthday parties here, but now I can’t resist buying only 1 cake per year. When I have a reason to celebrate an event, I usually come here to buy my favourite cake, the chocolate cake, that we usually call “brigadeiro”. I really don’t know if it is common to find a cake like this one in other countries outside of Portugal, but if it’s not, I can only recommend tasting it: it seems like a solid chocolate mousse with a fresh, wet dough that melts in the mouth.

But “Parabéns” has other types of cakes, including the miniatures with different types of flavors, for example or someone who would like to taste the traditional Portuguese gastronomy. They sell the “jesuita”, the “bispo”, the famous and traditional “pastel de nata”, but also other type of snacks.

They grew recently and increased their shop but “Parabéns” also provide an external service with their partnerships with other companies for who they provide their cakes and snacks. They also work as a bakery and I also really appreciate the fresh bread that they sell all the mornings.