Heretofore I guess my job was to loiter outside various Ale Hop stores in a variety of thankfully…read morewarm countries, most notably Spain and Portugal they've even spread out into airports.
The stores are notable for the life size Frisian cow that stands in the doorway with her head outside the door.
I've recently loitered in Cadiz, Malaga, Seville, Santa Cruz De Tenerife, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Funchal, Madeira and Lisbon to name a few so you get the picture.
Ale Hop is an emporium flogging bags, textiles necklaces, scarves, hats, stationery and other I really don't need stuff.
This changed in Sintra, an historic Portuguese town with a huge castle literally miles up on top of a mountain enveloped in a huge park. It's even hilly inside the castle.
Sintra is also well provided for with a 10th century Moorish castle, whimsical palaces and extravagant villas.
We didn't know an Ale Hop cafe existed so for the first time I was inside one of these stores for longer than five minutes. I got a small glass of fresh orange juice and a cream doughnut at a 'deal price' of 4 euro.
In Portuguese terms I was overcharged for the portion sizes.
The doughnut was quite good and I had several creams to choose from but the doughnut was not cream filled rather it was cut open and ungenerously spread very thin with a knife. The creams are used for toppings on frozen yoghurts. The picture showed a well filled doughnut.
They also sold a variety of slices of cake and frozen yogurts. The coffee was from a machine so the server just pressed a button so it's a hotel style unimpressive breakfast coffee from a machine. A few hours before I got a single shot proper espresso a mile away in a tourist area for 1 euro.
The staff were friendly and helpful which gets a star, the seating was comfy and they had a restroom which is deserving of an extra star so borderline three stars. Without a restroom and in the food alone it might have scraped two stars, but the quality just ain't there so more likely one star.
Would I return to one of their cafes - no not really unless there's nothing else around or no toilet nearby. I'd much rather loiter and find proper coffee. Even the cow is looking outside.
