A Severa Restaurant — Restaurant in Lisbon

We arrived at 8:00 (opening) and were seated at a table that collided with another patron. We accepted the space , but our neighbor table was irritated about our close proximity. We were not asked for a drink selection until 8:30. ( we seemed to have 2 very young waiters). Other tables arriving later were waited on Promptly by the more mature waiters. Our food was very tasteless (soup) and the nectarines on our salad were brown. The cod was way too salty (it is of course supposed to be salty), but this was not eatable. Many of the clams were cold so we set those aside. No one came to ask us how was our main course selection so between the Fado presentations we just sat with inferior food. No one came to take away the clam debris nor the clam pot so we had to set it on another unoccupied table ourselves as we watched the Fado, which was nice. When the bill came we asked if the bill would be reduced and the answer was no. (We did not eat the expensive salty cod). Our young waiter said his manager said no. We even had to seek out a waiter to get our bill as our table seemed to be in a zone of inattention. Our wonderful hotel, the Lux Lisboa park hotel had made our reservations so we reported back to them of our poor food and service. We were not offered a dessert menu nor coffee, nada. It was a very negative experience so we would not recommend A Severa. We come to Lisbon now and then (have visited 4 times now from USA) and would urge others to research alternatives for a Fado dinner experience. Note that hour table is crammed in “like sardines” so that effects the atmosphere -not neighborly. If A Severa wants to share their Fado culture with visitors, they need to reassess their service and food quality. Photo shows husband standing to try go get a waiters attention. The other photo shows salty cod with potatoe. If there was a 0 rating, that would be...

The singers are average to good, but the song selection is tailored to be "up-tempo," presumably to cater to tourists' tastes. In fact their most lively song with audience participation encouraged, turns out to be a paean to the restaurant itself, with a recurring chorus of "A Severa!" This is nothing near to authentic fado, more like British music hall. Very cheesy, smarmy male vocalist.

As to the food, it is absolute garbage. I'm sure you could get better food in jail. And the prices are astronomical! A Couvert, a starter of bread, olives & butter available all over Portugal for between 1.5 and 4 Euro was 11.5 Euro. This couvert advertised as including patè, but appeared apparently with none. When I asked the waiter, he pointed to two foiltop, peel-open tiny cans; the size of restaurant jams. Size notwithstanding, both the tuna and the sardine patè were disgusting - I wouldn't feed either to my cat.

We shared the couvert, two cod cakes, a single bowl of seafood soup and a bottle of wine and the bill was over 75 Euro. Same food, even in Lisbon's expensive tourist district ought not to have exceeded 30 Euro. And the seafood soup was Campbells tomatoe with a few broken shrimp in the bowl and a mittfull of croutons.

Avoid this tourist trap. Fado restaurants generally have 3 or 4 song sets till almost 4am. These waiters and singers were basically hustling the patrons out the door as soon as their food was done. I thought they were going to put the chairs upside down on the tables and vacuum before we'd heard 4 sets; about 10 o'clock!

Save your money. Don't go to A Severa. Next night we went to Caldo Verde, about 4 blocks up the Baixa on a cross street. Excellent paella, nice wine, good service and great fado singers enthusiastically true to the genre....

I really wanted to love this restaurant and the experience they provide but it’s probably the biggest regret from our entire trip to Lisbon. From the moment we arrived, the negative attitude we experienced from the man seating us and then from our sever was disheartening. It was like they could care less that we were there. We watched as other tables received service and attention, while we sat for long periods of time with empty glasses and dirty plates. Even when we realized we probably needed to flag our sever down, he was often not to be found or never to be looking in our direction. I hoped the Fado would improve on our experience, and it did to some degree. The singers were good however it was clear there was no planned set so there was always awkward pause between songs while the singer and musicians figured out their next song. I had read reviews prior to making a reservation and blew off the ones that expressed disappointment but now I get it. The food was good—the grilled octopus was amazing and my husband enjoyed his meal. But the experience—which is ultimately what you will be paying for at this restaurant FAILS to live up to expectations. We met before even bothering to look at the dessert menu and before the Fado was finished. Deeply disappointed in this experience and highly recommend looking elsewhere if you’re looking to experience...