The pastel de Chaves is one of Portugal's most distinctive regional pastries: a small flaky cylinder of rough puff pastry filled with finely seasoned veal, traditionally flavoured with cinnamon and parsley. Unlike the custard pastéis de nata of Lisbon, these are savoury and served hot, and you will find them in every bakery and pastelaria in town.
The best place to try them is the Pastelaria Adriano on Rua do Sol, a long-established institution that sells them fresh from the oven throughout the day. They are cheap, filling, and genuinely good — the kind of regional speciality that is hard to find well-made anywhere outside its home town. Pick up a few along with the local presunto (smoked cured ham), another Chaves product with a strong reputation across northern Portugal.