Clube de Fado — Restaurant in Lisbon

For context, I do not typically review restaurants on Google.

Firstly, I would like to say that the Fado music was excellent and that I rate it 5 stars. Not only were the performers wonderful and talented, but they took the time to explain the history and meaning of Fado music during their performance, which was enriching to us as tourists visiting Lisbon for the first time.

The service was so-so. The environment was hectic and confusing, with no clear indication of when the dishes were supposed to be coming out. We witnessed the tables in the restaurant fill up as time went by, but guests at tables who were seated after us received their food much sooner than guests who were already present when we were seated. In addition, when booking online it seems as though the experience includes the Fado music show during the course of the dinner, however they paused the entire meal service before the performance and didn't resume until after the performers finished (which I have no issue with, I agree that the music should be enjoyed on its own, but it was not clear what we were supposed to expect in terms of ordering/dining/enjoying the music). Also, the servers did not seem to be too attentive and looked like they were scrambling or running around, never checking up on us throughout the experience. Maybe we are accustomed to a different standard of service, but I felt that it was overall lacking.

Finally, the food. It was bland, slightly overcooked, and did not seem to be too high-quality, which was extremely disappointing. We ordered the Cod "Clube de Fado Style" and the Croacker and Shrimp. The Cod was overcooked and chewy. The Croacker smelled very fishy when it arrived at the table, and the shrimp (confusingly) had the texture of a ground meat patty when I bit into it. They served potatoes on the side that seemed to have been simply boiled, peeled, and placed on the plate. We both had our server take away our food without touching more than half of it. We also noticed other tables' plates being returned to the kitchen, indicating that other guests may have been having similar opinions about the food. I honestly can't remember the last time I was this disappointed by a food experience, especially considering that our entire tab was €140 for a couple glasses of wine, two small appetizers, and two entrees. If you are someone who enjoys food that is cooked, seasoned well, and flavorful, I would advise you to save your money and spend it elsewhere. Though the music was fantastic, it was not enough to save the overall experience of...

I deleted my original review. I am local not tourist. I’ve been this restaurant over 5 times. I brought my business guests here usually. ——————————————————— Update:6/27 ↓

Little guy in front service, he is not nice at all. This was my favorite fado restaurant, but not anymore. I was lucky until I met this little old guy. So, this fado restaurant has two separate rooms. I wanted to go one of historical architecture’s room, because the other one is less decorated and small and simple room. He tried to guide me to the small simple room so I asked him can I go to the other bigger room? He said it’s same. (I know it’s not same! That’s why I’m asking) Also small room’s fado was already started. I had a important guest so I keep telling him, if we can sit in the other room or not. I told him I’ve been here many times, so I know, but he seemed to don’t care about repeat customer which is I live in Portugal so I’m not tourist. He was pretty rude and not happy because I know the place very well? I also asked him why is the fado start earlier today? what time were they start music today? He said fado finish 1am. Lol Oi! You didn’t answer my question lol I asked him again, what time was the fado start today? He showed his face uncomfortable. Hey! DO NOT PRETEND YOU UNDERSTAND ENGLISH!! If he don’t understand what I mean, he should politely ask me! Again! I’ve been this fado restaurant many times! They usually start fado music around 9:30pm! BUT, somehow they started music earlier, probably because summer time and many tourists? This little old guy need to customer education! This restaurant is kind of high-end type of fado restaurant. Service should include the price for my opinion. Food is good but not amazing, main dish is between 28-38 euro. They charge double price than many restaurants. So usually for two people will be around €100. Fado singers are good, but not amazing either. 27/6/2023, this little guy ruined whole my experience in this restaurant. So it was my last visit. Never again. I just found great fado restaurant where is the amazing food and customer service restaurant called “Trovas Antigas” This will be my...

Our dinner was planned for February 4th at 21:00 at Club de Fado. We were on our way to the restaurant but we were too early so we decided to pass the restaurant. At 20:45 we passed the entrance of the restaurant and unfortunately one of the waiters found it necessary to catcall us. We looked around and saw that it was actually the waiter of the restaurant. The man was a small man, we guess between 60-70 years old. Then we went inside and unfortunately he was our waiter that evening. We sat down at the table and after the first fado he came to take our order. We ordered water, wine and 2 times a fish dish. He asked for confirmation of the order again. After this we got olives and bread and our glass of wine and water. As the evening went on we kept waiting for our food, because you are not served during the singing, only in between. An hour later still no food to be seen and another waiter came to ask if everything was ok but before we could answer the old little man said something in Portuguese and the other waiter immediately left, without us being able to answer. By 22:30 all the artists had gone home and we still had no food. We decided to go home and pay the bill. When paying it was the other waiter (who first came to ask us if everything was ok) who came to pay us. He asked if everything was ok and we then mentioned that we had not received our food to which he replied: ‘did you also order food because there is nothing on the bill?’. In the end we had no food and the old little man did not pass on our order. We do not know if this was ‘forgotten’ or done ‘on purpose’, but in both cases not a pleasant experience even though the artists were amazing and the rest of the staff...