Insensato Café-Livraria — Restaurant in Tomar

We finally got to try Insensanto, after passing by and reading many great reviews ove the past year or so.

The food is very clean and healthy feeling, the ambiance is inviting, and the service is excellent.

We ordered the salmon poke bowl, which was excellent, as well as the pastrami sandwich, which is one of the best we've ever had. It's simple, but the flavors and textures of the bread, the pickled onions, and the pastrami really bring this sandwich together. (Also, the crisps it comes with are very good.)

For drinks we ordered a house made lemonade and an artisanal beer. ...but be forewarned if you're an American who is used to sweet lemonades because this is not. But it is very flavorful and particularly refreshing on the 100F+ day we visited for lunch. For beer, they have Letra, which is a Portuguese artisanal beer and is always excellent. (We are not fans of Super Bock/Sagres so try to support cages/restaurants that carry true Portuguese craft beer and Let's is an excellent example of one of these.)

And don't miss out on ZERT! We opted for the chocolate cake with marscapone cream and it was fabulous. We'll definitely need to explore their dessert menu more deeply on future visits.

We got to chat with Zelma, the wife/owner, and she is delightful and she and her husband are trying to do something really nice here, while balancing their lives with their kids, which is why the girls are somewhat limited. We can appreciate that and now understand why it took us a while to try them.

We also learned (both through tasting and taking with Zelma) that she is using high quality ingredients. It certainly comes out in the flavors and the fact that even when we were stuffed, we did not feel weighed down/heavy. This higher quality sourcing means higher prices, but we would happily pay even more than the current menu prices to continue to have this high quality of a menu available to us.

We look forward to trying more of Insensato's menu and what with their limited hours, would highly recommend popping in whenever you...

I recently had the pleasure of visiting Insensato Café Livraria in Tomar, Portugal, for a lovely brunch experience. This charming bookstore café boasts a wall of books that reaches the ceiling, including an English section for those looking for American expats like me who haven’t quite mastered the local language.

My husband and I opted for the €24 brunch menu (feeds two), which includes a choice of tosta, scrambled eggs on sourdough bread, a choice of pancakes with two toppings or yogurt and granola, slice of cake, and two drinks. We began with a salmon and cream cheese tosta on sourdough bread that was simply out of this world. Unfortunately, the scrambled eggs were a bit of a letdown, as they were overcooked and in need of flavor. The accompanying salad was enjoyable, mainly due to the vinaigrette, but the greens were a basic romaine or iceberg variety, leaving something to be desired.

For our main course, we chose the pancakes with blueberries and maple syrup. Sensato Café Livre offers both regular “American” pancakes and oat flour pancakes, and we decided to try the latter. These oat flour pancakes were amazing - moist and perfectly cooked. I absolutely loved them! It's also worth noting that the restaurant provides an extensive array of gluten-free options.

For dessert, we indulged in a gluten-free coffee mascarpone cake (with coffee beans in the icing) which was delicious and not overly sweet. As for drinks, my husband enjoyed an apple cinnamon juice, while I opted for a beer. Both were satisfying and refreshing.

The staff at Sensato Café Livre were extremely friendly, and the interior of the café was both beautiful, bohemian (thrift-store chic) and inviting.

I recommend Sensato Café Livre for a cozy brunch experience in...

After one week in Portugal I was desperate for something not traditionally Portuguese. Preferably that did not involve heaps of meat and fat, and had some veg content, as I'm truly ready to burst.

My wife is vegetarian and gluten free and always struggles here, so we were delighted when we stumbled upon this cafe on Google maps.

Most of the menu is vegetarian with some vegan options. The dishes are a bit alternative even for Sydney standards (note "some vegan options") but very well done. I had a salmon salad bowl and my wife a bean and beetroot burger, both very good.

They have really good gluten free bread. My wife wanted to take some home 😀 I asked and they're happy to oblige but you need to ask in advance so they can order more for you on their next weekly delivery.

Finally, we found it extremely hard to park nearby. We had to drop the car the other side of the river and take a 10 minute walk. Well...