It was my second time traveling to Lisbon, so I thought it was high time for Jamie W and me to try…read morean evening of dinner and fado, Portugal's traditional cabaret entertainment. But where? We were made aware of this place from a video we watched on the flight over from an expat vlogger named Dave in Portugal. He raved about it, so I made a last-minute reservation. When we arrived, we were seated upstairs in the less enticing mezzanine section where we had to watch the performers through an opening in the floor where their heads were partially hidden under the second floor walkway. What made it worse was that we were subsequently sequestered to the side of the mezzanine where we had to crane our heads to watch the festivities. The less-than-desirable seating and partially obstructed view were not going to torpedo our evening. We decided to start with the 20€ pitcher of refreshing Sangria (Photo 21). We both ordered the 64€ Menu Corrido Dinner. This included the fado show (of course), couvert (starters), one appetizer, one main dish, and one dessert. Little did we realize how long our dining experience would be. First, the Couvert arrived, rustic bread slices accompanied by marinated olives, flavored butter, and Algarve's carrot hummus (Photo 15). For our appetizers, Jamie requested the Shrimp & Bivalves Rice with bits of clam, shrimp, and garlic (Photo 2). I went for the traditionally Portuguese Caldo Verde Soup with chopped kale and chorizo (Photo 4). Both were decent enough, just not outstanding. Our entrees also fell a bit short. Jamie decided on the Slow Cooked Pork Belly & Crispy Skin, which came with sautéed savoy cabbage, chorizo, and sweet potato purée (Photo 3). I had the Roast Duck Breast & Confit Leg with baked duck rice and braised red cabbage in Madeira wine sauce though oddly missing the confit leg (Photo 7). Both were a bit overcooked and rather smallish in portion. Interspersed between the courses were the fado musicians, one playing a traditional Portuguese guitar and the other a more standard six-string guitar. Three singers performed two songs each, about 4-5 minutes per song. Their voices offered dramatic flair in their emoting. The first was a young woman, the second an older male, and the third came across as the prima donna in her confident renditions. Dessert consisted of Chocolate Mousse with Salted Toffee (Photo 5) and Condensed Milk Cheesecake with Wild Berries (Photo 6). Both were fine, but by now, the evening was clocking in at well over three hours. We had early morning plans, so we asked for the bill well before the final performances. They didn't accommodate our request, and we ended up waiting quite a while. Long night. FOOD - 3 stars...middling and pricey ENTERTAINMENT - 4 stars... the true focus as it should be AMBIANCE - 3.5 stars....probably better on the main floor, the mezzanine just felt suboptimal SERVICE - 3 stars...not very responsive toward the end TOTAL - 3 stars...the fado show was unique but the food was not..,the pricey evening came to 152€ or $177 RELATED - Exploring Lisbon? Here's a collection of places I've visited and reviewed: https://yelp.to/bCFrNN2Wyg

Located across the street from the National Pantheon. Featuring an authentic Fado Experience, by…read morethe owner Felipe (who is the manager and lead guitarist). Fado music is a song genre created during the 1600s in Lisbon by sailors wives. They offer two prefixe menus: 65€ and 128€. The 65€ course includes a 3 course menu with choice of appetizers, main entree, and dessert! We selected the cod fish fritters and Portuguese potato soup. Both appetizers were absolutely amazing! For the entree we ordered the shrimp stew over rice, which was incredibly tasty. My Polvo (grilled squid) was juicy and tender on the inside and the tips of the tentacles were slightly charred. Our desserts featured the chocolate mouse, which tasted like an almond Rocha with cherry jam and gram crust on the bottom. The cheesecake was the best that I have ever tasted! Home cooked, not store bought and the berry sauce was such a great combination! Beautiful music with a Portuguese guitar and angelic vocals. At the end of the performance, the singers and the entire restaurant say Happy Birthday to my wife! We also received a complimentary cherry liqueur shot!

There's a variety of ways to judge this place. The first is…read moreas a fado house. Fado is the soulful Portuguese music characterized by a singer showcasing powerful vocals at a dinner show. As the oldest operating fado place in Lisbon, this expectedly delivers on this front. The music is simply fantastic - we were seated right next to the singers and guitar players, and were treated to an absolute show. There were three singers throughout the night, each separated by 20-30 minutes or so, but when a singer comes on everyone stops eating and watches them in silence and attentiveness. The power showcased by these singers is truly impressive, and the guitar players do their job amazingly as well. To me, this experience was fully worth it. The second part is as food. With a single price of admission, you get an appetizer, entree, and dessert. There are about 5-6 options for each. For my starter, I had the grilled sardine. This was fine - just a small part of a sardine rather than the full thing. Quite small. The entree was the confit cod. This was actually pretty solid. The cod was super tender, although the skin was quite soft. But the best part was the chickpeas in the surrounding sauce. Once the egg, hollandaise, and hummus mixed together - it created a really damn good sauce to coat everything in. The dessert was not great either. It was basically all just meringue which didn't taste like much. The price per person is quite steep - coming in at over 90 euros per person as the default for the price-fix menu. But this brings up a way to judge the price in a way I haven't had to deal with before. Is the food worth the price? Not even close. But when you consider the show? That's when things get more interesting. Obviously, fado on its own isn't worth that amount - you can go see much cheaper fado in a lot of places in Lisbon. When you combine the two? I'm still unsure, but at least the fado was damn good. Overall, go here expecting a lot from the singers and not a lot from the food, and you won't be disappointed. 7.75/10

Traditional fado show in a bar lined street. The staff is friendly and efficient- taking orders,…read morebringing and clearing plates between performers. The meal was surprisingly tasty with almost absurdly huge portions (an entire octopus!?!?). Nice options for wines by the glass and an n/a beer. The real treat and reason for coming is the music. Two amazing guitarists provided music to accompany three vocalists. They were all talented and had a range of styles. You can purchase cd's after, but it's not a pushy sell. Definitely worth checking out.

The people outside enjoying a Port and a beer made this place interesting. Walking in we realized…read morequickly that is was mostly locals which is always a good sign. We only ordered the codfish cakes and the bitoque ( steak with an egg). Both were delicious. This is a great little place. We are planing to come back to enjoy their Fado.

Amazing authentic Portuguese atmosphere with wonderful fado music to accompany a traditional…read morePortuguese meal. I can't recommend this restaurant enough. Definitely worth seeking out when in Lisbon! We got the sea bass with salad and the codfish, both were amazing.

On the recommendation of a good friend, another friend and I met up here, as we happened to be in…read moreLisbon at the same time. Fado was definitely on my list of things to do, and while Mascote da Atalaia was the only place I got to experience it, it was a good experience. We ordered a la carte, which really worked for us. I read that the food was mediocre and it wasn't as bad as I was expecting. I didn't love the smaller dishes, except for the creamy sheep cheese, but my entree of swordfish and green beans was good. Nothing fancy, but quite tasty. We did a bottle of wine, which worked well. Skip the chocolate salami for dessert though--it's dry and not flavorful. We went to the early seating, which I recommend. We had reservations, which I also recommend. Though I don't recommend the actual seats, since they are super uncomfortable, but you don't have a choice. Also, this place is very small and uncomfortably tight. The performers were great. And this best part is that you cannot talk during the performance. You will get "shushed" by the entire place and that was awesome. Since this was my first time at fado, I thought the performers were great. While I definitely want to see other fado shows, I'd return to Mascote da Atalaia and think it's a great introduction to fado. You will have a great time here.

It's Like Fado And Dinner In My Bedroom…read more Pros: - The music was fantastic! - The food was good with a decent number of options - The service was friendly and efficient - The price (€25/person) for a 3-course meal, including 1/2 liter of wine/sangria/beer and a live Fado show was a good value Cons: - The room holding 30+ diners, 3 musicians, and 2 servers running around with food and drinks was the size of our bedroom - We arrived with a reservation for two five minutes early only to find one tiny seat by the door available - they had to tell a lady to move so we could sit down - The tables and milking stools they call chairs were tiny, and the tables crammed together like dominos - They stuck us in front of the door so, beside having a step (down) inches behind my stool (a safety hazard), I got hit in the back with cold air and people as they constantly entered and exited to go outside to smoke - The toilet door was behind one of the guitar players, so going to the bathroom during a set was impossible - During our two hour dinner, there were just 13 songs (4 sets of 3 songs and an encore), then we were expected to leave The cons appear to have it, but we actually had a very good time. Even though the place is more like a "Fado factory" than a "Fado House", our meals were good with an adequate amount of quality food and drink and the entertainment was impressive. Their focus seems to be more on cramming as many people as possible into each two-hour block than on providing a comfortable, relaxing atmosphere in which to enjoy this unique and historic Portuguese folk music. If you are expecting to have a leisurely dinner and listen to Fado over drinks over the course of a long evening, as we were led to believe, you are mistaken. Having said that, the quality of the food and entertainment, along with the fair price, made it a good overall value. I have mixed feelings about this place, hence my rating. From all that I had read beforehand, a Fado House is an "experience" where you arrive after 9pm, eat and drink what you like (with a minimum of course) for as long as you like, and leave as late as you like (03:00 to 04:00 in some places). If you have just two hours, do not want to stay up too late, and want a condensed version of Fado, this is your place! CombatCritic Gives Mascote da Atalaia 5 Bombs Out Of 10 ... More Bombs Are Better!

This Fado and dinner restaurant was absolutely amazing. The woman who runs the place greets you at…read morethe door, sings her heart out, and runs the cash register. She is all in and makes this place fabulous. Because I was in Portugal, I needed to order the codfish dish before leaving. I don't normally care for codfish because it can be tough. This cod dinner was juicy and moist. It was seasoned perfectly and came with the perfect sides of potatoes and spinach. I took my time eating it because it was that good. The wine was great, the Portuguese sausage was excellent. As for the service, our waiter was very attentive and met every need in a very timely manner. Getting back to the roots was topped off with a wonderful live music fado experience. If you ever visit Lisbon, this is a must.

5 stars for the Fado show but god was the food bad here. I chose this place because it was one of…read morethe few places that had a vegetarian option on the menu, but that was barely edible. The stuffed mushrooms were overcooked, the tiger prawns were tough and barely edible. The codfish cakes were just okay. The best thing we ate here was honestly the bread. Service was also really slow despite the staggered seating. Ambiance wise it just feels like a low key restaurant with a small stage in front. There are no bad seats in the house which is nice, you can see the performers well no matter where you're seated. The Fado show made up for the bad food. The performances were beautiful and varied. The level of talent on this tiny unsuspecting stage was really something to see. I wish I could've paid for just the show and skipped the meal in retrospect.

Wonderful live singing performance included with dinner. Service is very slow so you have time to…read moreenjoy the show. Cash only. There are ATMs with high fees nearby. We enjoyed the cheese and sausage plate with bread. It is an 18€ minimum per person.

Four stars for the fado, 3.5 stars for everything else. Food seemed pretty good but it's a limited…read moreselection. For example, it's all tapas (though the plates are large enough to be a small meal), and it's hard to have a balanced meal unless eating in a group, I feel. Coffee available, but not tea. If you think of it more as a fado bar with bar/tavern food, this place makes way more sense. Most of the reason for 4 stars is the live fado music. I was here during the low season, just before a Christmas, so no issues finding a seat but calling ahead seems generally advisable. It's a very small, cozy space to hear this intimate art form. The space is cold in the winter. I kept most of my layers on as did many patrons, because the space is small and drafty, since they keep the doors open, presumably to advertise the fado. Bathrooms: Mostly functional and clean. Men's room doesn't have a toilet seat at the time of this writing so you'll have to squat if you plan to take a poop. And don't take too long because there's only one toilet each for males and females.

Incredible food and incredible experience! Would highly recommend for anyone looking to experience…read morea traditional Portuguese fado! The place is small and cozy, and it really feels like you're in someone's home. The food was delicious and bottomless wine generous. But the best part by far was the fado show! The musicians came out for a few sets throughout the evening, and sang beautiful traditional Portuguese fado music. The service was great, and all the staff & performers really seemed like a big family. Definitely of the top things I did during my trip to Lisbon!!

Small restaurant in the Mouraria district - birthplace of Fado music. Not a lot of space but they…read moremanaged to accommodate our group. Food was not fancy but excellent - best I had in my two weeks in Portugal. Tasty baked cheese, cod - the most tender of the salted cod I'd had in Portugal, veal - also super tender, veggie/bean soup, tempura and chorizo, starter with Lima beans and chickpea salad with tuna pate, dessert of the most delicious mango mousse light and smooth just a hint of sweetness. Fado show was wonderful. We had two sessions. They turned off the lights while performing and the effect and atmosphere was amazing.

The Fado music was phenomenal. The food could use more work…read more I came around 7 PM so this was considered early for the restaurant. But I didn't realize that the Fado music only starts at 9 PM. So I had to stay in the restaurant for two hours, but that was more of a mistake on my part. They have the singer and the musicians in the front of the restaurant and while the singers are performing, no waiters are allowed to walk around. This means that everybody needs to order their items as soon as possible and in between fado performers. The fado was so pretty, and the singer sang around 15 minutes and seeing her heart out with different styles of songs. They dim the lights and it felt very intimate. I thought the cocktail was pretty good, it tasted like a sangria. The starter also was pretty good as well, it was a breaded octopus. The sauce was fantastic. They had added some herbs to the tartare sauce that made it taste fresh and light. My only issue was the cod. Cod is a really famous thing to order in Lisbon. However, I'm not sure if it's because it was doused in olive oil, but the surrounding potatoes were so mushy because of it. My cod was also kind of rubbery and chewy. This location is English friendly. I would suggest getting a reservation ahead of the time online, but if you're also looking for different fado performances during dinner, you can consider here. This location also got kind of sketchy at night. It is located near the Prado de Comerico, but through more narrow back alleys. Be prepared to walk quick and walk with confidence.

Located in a rustic building right behind the cathedral, I was equally impressed by the beautiful…read morefado performances and the delicious food. I hadn't seen any comments about the food online, but everything tasted amazing. We ordered the fried octopus strips, bacalhau, grilled octopus, and pork cheek stew. The octopus was fresh and lightly bouncy. The pork cheek tender in a rich red wine sauce with buttered bread. My favorite dish was the bacalhau. A gorgeous portion of bacalhau cooked in a rich tomato sauce, with crispy pan fried potato slices, some vegetables with salty ham, olives, and drizzled with olive oil and a rich olive sauce. Sipping on vinho verde and snacking on slices of porco preto while listening to the performers sing was a magnificent experience. I would definitely come back for another visit