Ideal Clube de Fado — Restaurant in Porto

The music was beautiful, the singers voices were top notch, the mandolin and guitar player played expertly.

My biggest issue was the vocalists and the musicians did not make eye contact with the audience. It sounds like a trite complaint. And maybe it is traditional with Fado. But Fado is extremely emotional. And having a singer close his eyes the entire time squashes the emotion. I found it difficult to watch them perform as I sought a connection with them and the music they were presenting to us. It was a very weird feeling, juxtaposed emotions, raw, bare, painful, sad but also, stay away and keep your distance. same applies to the musicians. I don't feel like any of the performers have to look into my eyes but just seeing their eyes would make a huge difference.

also, one star less because if you're on the back row, you cannot see well. I almost never saw the mandolin at all and sometimes the singers face was blocked. it is not the best set up for a performance. need elevated back row or a more elevated stage for...

When searching for a traditional Fado night the best suggestion I found was this one, Ideal Club de Fado. The original price for under 26 years old was 17€ but when buying it online we received a discount, so it ended up costing 14€ per person. Due to traffic, we arrived with a 5min delay and sadly missed the beginning of the show but were kindly welcomed and offered a free glass of port wine. It is a very small location which on the outside looked closed but had a very cozy and intimate atmosphere on the inside. When we arrived a lady was signing, a man was playing the Portuguese guitar and another young man playing the classic guitar. One could notice that the lady sang with a lot of passion and emotion. She took small breaks in between and during those moments the young man took over the signing. We were able to experience different types of Fado which was interesting. Furthermore, all the explanations were in English. It was an amazing experience, and the wine...

This was my first time at "Ideal Club de Fado", and I had a great experience through and through. My friends and I wanted to go to a fado performance to learn more about the Portuguese culture, and this club looked the most inviting and it was easy to find. The tickets were quite cheap as well and since we are students, we very much appreciated that. Aside from the fact that the club looked like it was closed when we arrived there, we were welcomed in very kindly and were even offered a free glass of very tasty port wine. The show was about an hour long, with one man playing the Portuguese guitar, one man singing and playing classic guitar, and a woman singing most of the evening. They were are very nice and explained what the song they were about to sing was about, all in English of course, because they want to share the art and beauty of fado with people all around the world. We had a very enjoyable night and I would definitely...