Arcadas do Faia
Arcadas do Faia
4

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The area
Address
Neighborhood: Encarnação
How to get there
  • Restauradores • 6 min walk
  • Baixa/Chiado • 6 min walk
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Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.

Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as wait time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.


4.0
4.0 of 5 bubbles11 reviews
Excellent
3
Very good
6
Average
0
Poor
1
Terrible
1

Gay_Traveller2
London, UK3 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
This was recommended by our hotel as we were looking for a good fado house. We were not disappointed: the music was just amazing. We liked it so much that we went to anothe Fado house the following night (A Severa): it was not half as nice.
The big drawback at this place is that the food is just plain bad-I rarely had such a poor meal (for extortionate prices).
I would strongly recommend going to this place because, again, the music was really a few notches above the rest, but try to go there for drinks/light meals.
Written May 5, 2009
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

TravelGirl24-7
Boston, MA26 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Faia was recommended by our hotel, and we were very pleasantly surprised when we got there! The wait staff is extremely professional and polite. The food was amazing, albeit, very expensive. (we dropped 150 euros for 2). We thought the amount of Fado was great, too. 4 different singers sang a collection of 5-6 songs each with about 20 minute break in between. Beautiful people and voices.

One piece of advice is that you can probably skip the appetizer, since they serve not only the usual cheese, olives and bread when you get there (fyi, it looks like it's complimentary, but you do pay for it - they do this in every restaurant), but also sausages and sardines - all very good. I say we'll definitely go back when we're back in Lisboa.
Written November 23, 2009
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

mb2015
Gilroy, CA5 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
May 2017 • Friends
Great experience all around. Dinner was wonderful and the staff friendly and lots of fun. Fado music was great and we will were well taken care of. Thank you
Written May 19, 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

NordicStar
London, UK21 contributions
2.0 of 5 bubbles
This was recommended by our hotel as the best fado restaurant in Bairro Alto.

We made a booking for 11.30, just for drinks. On arrival the restaurant was 3/4 full, and we were taken to our table at the far end of the room. On our request, we got a slightly better table.

The drinks menu arrived with most prices around Euro 8-50, there being a note about a minimum spend of 18 Euro per head. The service was rather poor, with the head waiter being surly and positively ignoring several attempts at getting his attention after he realised we would not be dining.

We saw 2 sets of fado singing, each lasting about 10mins, but with a long interval of 20mins during which half of the guests left, having finished their dinner.

The first fado performance was by a lady (apparently the owner of the place), and she performed with gusto (almost too much as we had been expecting some of the fado songs to be melancholy and quieter). She was nicely accompanied by 3-4 guitarists and the guests seemed to enjoy her performance.

However our general impression of the restaurant was that it was rather touristy, with just ok fado singing and high prices for mediocre restaurant fare.
Written October 15, 2006
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

satrip_2009
London3 contributions
1.0 of 5 bubbles
This place is a classic tourist rip-off!
In short – this restaurant offers live Fado so a reasonable expectation would be that for a duration of cca. 2 hours spent in there - Fado music would be performed for at least one hour. But…
They had a 3 performers with 2 guitars, each of them singing for about 12 min. in average. Food is triple-priced comparing to neighboring places with “no-Fado”.
Quality of food is in range of any cheap local “cantina” but overpriced because of performers (no cover for entrance but guests are expected to spend at least 20 euros per head). The bottom line is – look for a Fado somewhere else and avoid this place by all means!
Written September 28, 2009
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

B v
San Jose, CA284 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Jul 2013 • Family
Now, many Portuguese people will question why you would want to go listen to Fado because they find it very aggressive or depressing. Since we do not understand the language we merely enjoyed the music and it was a great experience.

Faia was the perfect place in Barrio Alto. The food was well prepared and the selection was nice. They paced it well moving from intro to music to appetizer to music to food, etc. We did not feel rushed or that it was unnecessarily drawn out.
Written August 4, 2013
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

shellyf
Brooklyn, NY710 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
May 2013 • Couples
Faia Casa de Fados is located in Barrio Alto, a district of very narrow streets, one car wide, which houses many students. There must be 5 bars in every street and the night we visited, was a Saturday, so the streets (and bars) were filled with hundreds of kids having a great time. The place itself is very nondescript from the outside but the interior is a beautiful restaurant with Moorish, curved arches separating the several rooms. We got there at 8 p.m. and ordered dinner. They have a $65 (50 Euros) prixe fixe menu consisting of 3 courses. We opted for a la carte and my wife had a wonderful dish of grilled bass with vegetables and I had chicken thigh stuffed with Portuguese sausage and accompanied by delicious mashed potatoes. We enjoyed both dishes as well as the dessert and coffees. Around 9:10 pm, two guitarists sat with their backs against each wall of a center arch and the Fado singer stood between them. She sang about 4 songs of the haunting melody central to Fado music. I am a big fan of Fado and enjoyed her performance with its nasality and meandering nuances especially at the endings of songs. The performances last about 4-5 songs and then there is a 10-minute break and another singer begins their routine. It was a most rewarding evening. The setting was beautiful, the singers and musicians, very talented and the food, quite good. There is a 26 Euro minimum which includes the show., If you go, you will need a taxi. The fare from the main square in Lisbon is about 6 Euros. Make sure the cab has a meter. Someone at the venue will be happy to call a taxi to take you back.

T
Written May 12, 2013
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

jbinkcmo
Kansas City, MO25 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Jul 2012 • Couples
We had a very good dinner (yes, a bit expensive, but the quality was very good) and very good music. Our first time in Lisbon, and first time for Fado. The setting was very intimate, as we were only 10 feet from the performers, who stood in the middle of the club to sing and play. We spent $170eur for full dinner, expensive appetizers, and a bottle of wine. Whiel expensive, we felt we got our money's worth.
Written August 6, 2012
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
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