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This is the Alexandria outpost for Tuga Pastries, a tiny Clovelly bakery famed for some of Sydney’s best pasteis de nata (Portuguese tarts). Situated along a line of retail stores on McEvoy Street, it has an expansive shopfront compared to its eastern sibling, with paving and a grassy lawn out the front for al fresco dine-in, and production space out the back.

It’s a significant step up for owner, head baker and tart maker Diogo Ferreira and his team, who were outgrowing their tiny bakery on Clovelly Road, from which they were running both retail and wholesale.

Approaching the display window, you’ll find myriad baked goods. Of course, choosing the exceptional cinnamon-dusted pasteis de nata is a no-brainer. But selecting between other traditional Portuguese treats – such as pillowy sugared doughnuts filled with custard cream, jam or chocolate – is a much tougher task. Beyond croissants and savoury breakfast options, Tuga also sells three or four pastry specials per week.

Ferreira is forever experimenting and has fine-tuned his craft learning from his late father Agostinho’s handwritten recipe book, as well as trips to Portugal. Ferreira’s secret pastel de nata recipe is self-created (with reliance on memories of Agostinho’s baking and months of help from his mother). To this day Diogo and Lucia Ferreira are the sole custodians of the clandestine egg-custard filling, of which they make about 50 litres per day.