Village on Cloey

Flaky pastry cups filled with silky custard and dusted with cinnamon: well-made Portuguese tarts are one of life's sweet pleasures. They can be found at Village on Cloey, a Portuguese cafe in Clovelly.

Co-owner Diogo Ferreira and his mother Lucia make these tarts daily by hand. The recipe is from Diogo's late father, Gus, who brought it with him from Portugal in the ‘80s.

It's not the first time these tarts have pleased Sydney diners. Ferreira's parents ran La Patisserie in Petersham, the Portuguese pastry shop Fleur de Lys on Bondi Beach and, more recently, Pastelaria Caravela in Bondi Junction.

Ferreira joined forces with long-time friend Simon Ruc and former Flying Fish chef Kyle Johns to start Village on Cloey in January 2016, when the restaurant below his apartment became vacant. They stripped it right back, exposing the concrete ceiling to give it a raw and natural look. Portugal's largest export, cork, is featured throughout.

There’s traditional prego sandwiches stuffed with grilled steak, seared onions and mustard. The all-day breakfast menu also includes more classic Eastern Beaches-style dishes such as the 62-degree poached egg with mushrooms, kale and smoked eggplant on toast and the quinoa egg bowl, a refreshing mix of wild rice, edamame beans, dried cranberries, broccoli and fried shallots.

Locally brewed Wild Kombucha is on tap, the sticky chai blend is made in-house and Ferreira roasts the espresso coffee beans.