Casa de Fado Porta d'Alfama — Restaurant in Lisbon

5 Highlights

They didn’t serve the food that they said they will

Food is very oily with olive oil and that’s all you taste. No other flavour unlike other places

The servers are irritable and have very little patience. This aligns with other reviews that criticize the customer service at this place. I feel bad for the owner lady because she works hard and she is the only one who welcomes the customers.

The irritability exists between the workers at the restaurant too. I witnessed the fights between the workers in front of the customers..

The music is not special to this place. After dinner, as I was walking by, the same band and the singer were performing at different restaurants just a few blocks away.

My Verdict I don’t think this restaurant can survive for too long. It has too many competitions in the area while the same issues have been there since years ago. In other words, no improvements. Plus, there isn’t anything that stands out about this place.

Long story short

The person who sings fado was standing in front of the restaurant. He couldn’t speak English, so he called the staff name, Jessica, over to me. She told me that the octopus will be served with “vegetables” and potatoes before I entered the place.

*How would I know the name Jessica if I had no contact with her lol.. doesn’t make sense at all

When the dish was served, I only got potatoes. They look like they just came out of microwave. They are not cooked at all. Other restaurants make sure to cook the potatoes on the “frying pan”. But not this place.

I let it go by thinking of the situation as a possible language barrier. However, the octopus itself disappointed me. Too much olive oil was served. The only flavour is olive oil and salt.

Issues with customer service Another problem with this restaurant is customer service. This explains 3.8 star on Google. The servers, especially Jessica, treat you in such a demeaning way.

I asked Jessica if I can take the water since I payed 4 euros for it. She responded by saying “what do you want?” with frowns on her face while giving me the look that i should’nt be asking questions.

It’s one thing to not know how to use English in a polite way and another thing to show attitude with body language and facial expressions.

Why do I have to accommodate someone who is irritable when I am trying to enjoy my evening?Plus I have so many other restaurants in the town to choose from?

Why would customers go to this...

We had prepaid for the show and dinner. We were told to arrive by 8:00 pm. When we arrived the waiter took us into the dining room which was 3/4 empty. He showed us to our table and asked us to set at a table set for 6 persons. There were already 5 persons on the table. I asked him if we could sit on another table as there was no room, and we would be very tight for space and uncomfortable. This waiter answered “no you’ll be alright there” then left. During the whole night this place was 3/4 empty. When he came back to take every ones order, my traveling buddy asked what type of cut was the peppercorn steak. He answered with a smirk on his face “meat from a cow”. I asked him, we know it’s from a cow, but what specific cut is it. Again, he replied “cow”. The peppercorn steak was a tough meat and the peppercorn sauce was uneatable. It tasted like cream with lots of grounded pepper. No flavour at all. The other two guys that ordered the meat cutlet were just as dissatisfied with their meat. All three of us left most of the meat on the plate. The other four persons that had the fish were happy with their meals. Desserts were ok, probably the best part of our meal. House wine was served all night. The fado singers changed through out the night. They sang 3 songs per set. The band was amazing. The following day, we went back to our tour organizers, and told them of our experience at this location and suggested they do not send future travellers as we found this restaurant to have poor table manners with the servers, and their meat was below satisfactory. Try other fado locations, you will be disappointed with the...

I was originally skeptical about eating here because of 2 reasons: the reviews & the fear of falling into a tourist trap with average food. But, we had the best time!! It felt like we were taken in by a family who genuinely loved performing & sharing Fado with others. It was a true dining experience focusing on Fado and tradition.

Yes, the service will be interrupted by the Fado performance; it is such an intimate atmosphere that if you were to continue service, it would distract from the fado for everyone in the room. Also, our server was the owner/ a Fado performer as well & she was very charming & would bring everyone in the room together. When we sat down, she shared where everyone in the room was from with us & shared that we were from the US with everyone else, immediately bringing a sense of community to the night.

We got there right after 9 and didn’t leave until around 11:30, so be sure you aren’t in a rush (again, this night is an entire Fado “experience”).

I got the chicken and absolutely loved it - probably some of the best chicken I’ve ever had in a restaurant. We loved the wine we got, too!

Overall, the night was full of genuine tradition, good food,...