Insider Tip for a great night in Lissabon Based on a good review in a magazine I searched the Alfama district for this restaurant. It's a little bit hard to find, and you will have to knock and ask to enter. Even though I hadn't reserved, I had luck and got a seat. The restaurant is placed in a former chapel and has a beautifully designed interior. Amazing Azulejos are covering most of the wall. There are only two rows of tables so it has a very cozy atmosphere. There is one menu option of starters, main course and dessert, where you can decide in what direction the main course should go: meat or fish. The food was slightly under seasoned - especially the cod I had. But the starters and the dessert were very delicious. You will pay a fixed price (60,- Euros in my case) which includes all courses and the drinks (water, beer, wine). The service was very good and attentive. Especially as in the time of the music plays no service will happen, to not disturb the acts. The highlight of the evening is the music. At the end of the menue artist will start to play live Fado music. In different constellations amazing acts are playing and transferring the legendary melancholy of Lissabons music style to the guests. In the whole run of the night also locals will come in to listen to the artists. It feels like I found a little treasure within Lissabon and for sure I will recommend it to friends and will visit it again when I'm back.

A special place with local music and local food. Mostly locals seem to go there. When I asked for a vegan meal they created my own dish; extremely tasty and sophisticated, which I didn’t expect from a meat and fish place

Amazing for the ambience and the music. You do have to make reservations in advance as it is a small place and gets booked up. Ring the bell until the doors are open. Food menu is limited but good. At desert, Fado musicians preform. They are breathtaking! Hi

Wow what an excellent experience! This place offers food ,drinks and live Fado shows. The place is opened at 20:00 for dinner, and the show starts at 11pm. You can come at 11pm just for show and drinks, but since the place is small and there are limited tables you might not be able enter and you will have to wait until the break when people leave. The show includes different singers and it lasts for 3 hours with a break every 3 or 4 songs, so you an enjoy it as much as you want. This place is just amazing and you can feel the essence of the Portugees culture. The singers and players last night were wonderful! What voices did they have, wow! And since we set very close to them.it felt so intimate. The show is for free and there is no minimum to order, so for 7.5 eur of drinks we got 2 hours of the best evening we had in Lisbon.

Absolutely brilliant experience. We booked for the Fado but the meal vastly exceeded our expectations. We were presented with a good selection of starters to try, and both ordered the tenderloin steak with Portuguese sauce as the main course. It was the biggest steak I've ever been served, but also one of the best, and it was cooked beautifully. Just a bit too full to finish dessert of chocolate cake with biscuit pieces and the Portuguese sweetened eggs. Then the Fado started and the venue just got busier and busier, great atmosphere and the music and performances were amazing. We watched two musicians and three singers, all of which were excellent and brought something different to their performance. The music was due to continue until late, but we left a little after midnight, though we would have stayed to enjoy more if we hadn't been exhausted. Staff were friendly, wine was poured generously and the venue is a cute old chapel that is interesting in itself. Do note that it is a cash only venue, and make sure you arrive prepared to avoid a late night trip to a cash machine. Loved the whole evening and would definitely recommend.

We are a couple in our 60’s from Canada on a month tour of Portugal The dinner and the show was organized for us The place is beautiful very small very old with beautiful Azulejos The dinner is preset, appetizers on the table, a choice from 4 options for main course and desert. We had the mushroom risotto which was very good and the sea bass which was decent And wine and beer as much as you can drink. But the fado show Omg Out of this world The dinner is at 8.30 and the show at 10.30 Maura was the first performer together with three guitar players. Strong voice beautiful performance But the second act - OMG An elderly gentleman when he started singing I could hear the angels I knew we were in the presence of something special and we were right - the gentleman is João Braga a legend of fado I guess we were just lucky We stayed until 1am but the show goes on until 2am We were very tired and I was so sorry to leave Great experience

O, my heaven's, what a night. Fado evening. Supper wad very good and all you can wine. Starts at 8 pm and usually goes to 2pm.

This is truly the worst meal that I have ever been served at a restaurant. And of course, it was exorbitantly priced. Honestly… the appetizers were just gross. One was just tuna mixed with mayo. The fried veg were cold and tasted like they’d been left out to sit for hours. And don’t get me started on the mains. They clearly freeze the mains and microwave them. We barely touched any of our food. I’m not going to comment on the service, atmosphere, or music, because I truly hope that anyone reading this review will take my words to heart, and avoid eating at this establishment. I don’t know what more I can say to warn you. If you choose to go anyways… you are throwing your money in the garbage. I have written 144 reviews on this app, and I’ve never written a review like this of a restaurant.

If you are up to a fado experience during your stay in Lisbon, Mesa de Frades may offer you a taste of it. It is located in a breathtakingly beautiful historical building with the walls adorned with spectacular tiles. It is a special experience to see this unique setting. The music is quite satisfactory although the intermissions are long in every 3-4 songs and the singing starts after 11 pm and goes on until late hours. You may also go for dinner earlier and catch a nice table to closely listen the music. Other option is to go only for drinks after 11 pm which is a better idea so that you do not spend two three hours only eating and waiting for music. Then you may have a seat only in a tiny balcony alike area upstairs and not be very comfortable but usually seats empty downstairs and you may find a good table after midnight . It is purely a touristic experience. This is your place only if you haven’t found your local fado bar that the Portuguese frequents.

The fado was a 5/5, the food was a 1/5. They need to do something about the menu because it was the most expensive meal that we’ve had so far in Portugal and was extremely disappointing. The bread was hard, fried green beans were cold, and the entrees didn’t do anything to save the meal. Luckily the fado was beautiful and the musicians they brought in were very talented. They saved what would have otherwise been a very unfortunate night. Update — changing this review to 1 star. After 16 days in Portugal, this was by far the worst and most expensive meal (€50 more than anything else). The fado is 5/5, but the beautiful music can’t make up for the fact that I left feeling like a tourist who fell into their trap.

Incredible - the food, the music/singing, the service!!! There are some harsh reviews about the food but we loved it!!! Had the steak and the pork mains - delicious! The fado performances were amazing. Such a special venue too. Can’t recommend enough!

This place is a scam. I didn’t see a single person who didn’t have a voucher, so everyone has already paid by the time they enter the restaurant. I would be willing to bet my life that almost everything was cooked in a microwave. Almost everyone that I saw left lots of food on their plate, so there’s no accounting for the positive reviews.

What a terrible experience! We can’t judge the food, drinks or music, because our reservation was mismanaged awfully. We reserved in person one hour in advance and were promised a table at the front of the balcony. When we arrived (on time), we saw that our table was already taken. The same employee who had made the reservation for us told us that there was a previous reservation for other people and that he had overlooked it earlier. He then offered us a table one row behind with much less visibility. Either this is poor professionalism or the guests added an incentive that was convincing enough… In any case, we simply can’t tolerate this kind of behavior and we just left. Last remark: all payments had to be done with cash only, probably to allow creative accounting. Hopefully, this is an exception among the many fado houses of Lisbon.

Real Good food and excellent service. The Fado music was exceptional and overall a enjoyable experence.

Amazing atmosphere for Fado music.

When you first arrive outside you’re not really sure what to expect. The building itself is stunning inside but very subtle outside. You are sat down, given your starters and regularly topped up with wine if that’s what you’re after. The main course arrived and then we were treated to some Fado music, a traditional Portuguese music rich in heritage. The food was good but I wouldn’t say ‘great’. I would suggest the experience of food, drink and music is probably a trio rather than one thing alone. Totally worth it tho, would thoroughly recommend.

To start positively, Beatriz has one of the best voices I’ve ever heard & was blown away by her fado performance. Unfortunately the following male vocalists were more average. Service starts off very friendly but staff forget about you after a while. They seemed super inconvenienced by card payments & didn’t even look me in the eyes by the end of the meal. We were seated promptly but the first fado session began while we still had food on our plates. The guitar player actually complained to my boyfriend that we hadn’t finished our meal & that it was rude. Sorry? We weren’t being slow, we were served at the restaurants time! I was really annoyed by that. Food (and wine) is quite basic & bland, especially for the price. Restaurant venue itself is beautiful.

We loved it! Lots of reviews about the food but honestly, it's pretty good and the amount of food you get for the price, as well as everything else is good. Unlimited wine which was also nice and fado was beautiful. We stayed until about 1.30am after most of the tourists had gone and it was all locals left. It gets more lively and informal after 12am. Speaking as a tourist (I've been to Portugal many times but don't know much about fado) I think this is a good experience and would recommend.

Overall, it was a good experience. The appetizers were very good. The main cod entree was good but a bit dry. We had three different desserts, and they were all good. If you are a foodie, you will probably be somewhat disappointed with the food bit you come here for the overall experience. The service was very good. Our wine glasses were kept full the entire night. The musicians were all excellent.

The fado singer was great, and no question to them! However, the food you get for a 65€ package per person for a "fado night dinner" is rubbish... service goes along, although they are trying to make it more pleaseble... The hilight is that the performance occurs in front of the main door, so there is no way to exit while they are singing... The atmosphere, like in the narrow storage with high ceiling and dusty guitars on the wall... Avoid if possible, I am sure there are better places to enjoy fado in Lisbon!

Small cozy place, full of typical azulejos on the wall. They propose a fix menù of 3 courses: mix appetizers, a meal course (I chose cod fish cake) and a dessert. Drinks and fado shows are include for €50/person. Food was good, especially cod fish. The show was really intense, I recommend the full experience if you are in Lisbon.

Amazing music, intimate atmosphere. We went without booking but they let us in. Very small so if you want a table make sure you book in advance. Both the singers -male and female were superb!

The food was very bad!!!! None of the plates were good. The deserts were terrible too. It’s a very expensive place and it doesn’t correspond to the quality of the food. Very overpriced, don’t recommend it (it’s around 60€ per person). The music is very good. Fado is beautiful ! but you don’t need to go there to see a good show or have an amazing experience. There are a lot of good places in Alfama with good menus (that actually have prices), accept card and have fado.

The food was good, but the highlight was the Fado music we had there! It was amaaazing! Such a great experience!

We had an amazing time. The food is abundant and tasty and the servers went above and beyond to get my partner gluten free bread. For 60 euro a person, it was a great deal. Be aware that they only take cash. Fado was wonderful and beautiful, because of the space you are right up close. Someone in a review complained that they "lock you in" which is not true. Singers sing 3-4 songs and then take a break, so you can leave and eat during that time if you want. Gets crowded with locals as well around 11. Highly recommend. Also we broke a glass and the staff was super kind about it.

Was there for a combined dinner + fado mid of July. Considering the overall cost per person I would have expected something more from the menu (average quality and with limited choices), but the fado exhibition was really great. Would consider to come back, but having dinner somewhere else and get the fado later in this wonderful context.

Excellent place for fado music! Amazing atmosphere with amazing voices!!! It is an experience to be there! The food was good enough

I hate to say this, but this was the worst meal that I have ever in Portugal and also the priciest. The appetizers were subpar. One was just tuna mixed with mayo. The fried veg were cold and tasted like they’d been left out to sit for hours and the mains although hot, lack of personality. The service was good, the atmosphere was nice, but the only sang 6 songs in total and completely distracting, since people kept going in and out of the front door, where they performed in between songs. The main reason we went was because Madonna used to go to this restaurant and other celebrities as well and now it seems it has just gone through their head. I don’t know what more I can say to warn you. If you choose to go anyways… you are throwing your money away. I am sure there are other better Fado venues than this one.

Overpriced for this three course dinner but the performance was cool.

An intimate space that made us feel lucky even getting inside. Fabulous decor, delicious food, great service, and lovely fado. It was everything we wanted.

We had a one dish dinner + tiny starters (chosen by the restaurant). We were two people drinking a glass of wine. There’s no written menu and you are not able to check prices. The menu on the website does not exist. The fado show is a 4 songs performance. The bill is too high (we unbelievably spent €130). On the bill most of the cost is charged on the “fado show” (€55 each person). The feeling when you pay is truly bitter: you feel like there’s something really unclear covered by nice people in a nice location.