Mesa de Frades

We just arrived at Mesa dos Frades and when we got here they didn’t have my name and I called 2 days before I got to Lisbon. Thank God it was a Wednesday, they were empty so they sit us. The place is cute but there is no music or any sound until 11pm … Get ready for a long talk with your partner or friends. I hope you have a lot to say!
Menu here is a prefix (45 euros) per person and after coming from Algarve, the house wine was horrible. We got fried cod balls, mushroom with ham, cold quail (my wife like that one), Fava beans with some sort of sausage (I like them), melted cheese, tuna pâté (I can make it at home) and bread. Everything tasted just okay because we ate amazing cod and rissoles fresh cooked for us at REAL SOCIEDADE (next door) so Mesa Dos Frades food was BLAH. We are from NYC, have high standards and know what good food taste like!
Before the main course, we got two shots of soups. One asparagus which was very bland and I had to ask my wife what was it because I couldn’t figure it out. The other tomato soup which for my taste straight from the can and with water add it. Yummy !! (Trying to be sarcastic here). Oh wait … The cherry tomato on the side was very fresh !!
As the night goes on we got the entrees. They were grilled fish and cod with rice and beans. The different type of rice were very good … The grilled fish was very tasty. I have to give their the entrées a plus.
We got 4 dessert scoops: chocolate mouse (okay) was too sweet, 2 pieces of regular pineapple (if that’s considered a desert they were good), rice pudding was good, and flan was super super sweat. Bottom line not that great!
The Fado was very very good but make sure you sit next to the door because people come after don’t pay for the prefix and stay in front of you.
Also Sergio is super nice. He keep giving us drinks and called a taxi to take us back to the hotel. He also let us know when the taxi arrived.
In summary, if you still want to make it to this place I would recommend to come only for the Fado at 11pm or after because it’s amazing but not for dinner. The food wasn’t for me but maybe it would be for you.

O Mesa de Frades dispensa apresentações, num espaço recuperado de uma antiga capela da Quinta da Dona Rosa em alfama, conserva ainda os azulejos originais do Sec. XVIII.
O ambiente torna-​se místico quando se apagam as luzes e se canta o Fado, para ajudar a tal, o facto de a sala ser pequena e aconchegante.
Entrei no intervalo entre dois fados pois os músicos e fadista estão encostados literalmente à porta e dou de caras com o Senhor João Braga, um dos mais conceituados fadistas Portugueses, a minha primeira visita não podia ser melhor.
Sobre preços só posso dizer que o vinho a copo fica a 3,5 €.
Visita obrigatória a quem gosta de Fado…

Went to this historic place in August. It was an amazing experience, a place that is not only historic but so incredibly linked to the world of Fados. Had great food and then stayed to enjoy some of the Fados. Definitely call ahead and make a reservation and don’t miss out on this experience.

This beautiful, ancient former chapel is lined with gorgeous tiles appropriate to the holy experience you will enjoy there. Mesa de Frades was the best of all the Fado houses I experienced in Lisboa. No, the food wasn’t amazing. Only pretty good. No, the wine isn’t great, but it flows freely and they’ll bring you carafe after carafe. No, each and every singer wasn’t amazing. But the camradere… simply wonderful. The range of fadistas was delightful — from teens, getting their feet wet and learning to control their instrument, to well aged singers in their sixties and seventies, making up for what they had lost vocally with what they had gained in life experience. And in the middle, incredibly talented singers in the prime of their career. Unlike most of the other Fado houses, it wasn’t about the tourists. Instead, there are only so many tables and you’re sitting in the midst of the singers. During the breaks between sets, you can share a glass of wine with them out front. We got to hang out with the remarkable Pedro Moutinho! I was told by many (and confirmed at the Museo de Fado) that all of the greatest fadistas performed here at some point in their careers, including the late, great Amalia Rodrigues.
A Spanish friend suggested getting here at 9:30, to dine and secure a good table, and to not worry when the singers showed up very late because the singing would go well into the night. He was so right. As we finished our meal, they closed the doors, moved a few tables around and the singing began. At 2am, they barred the doors and brought out more carafes of wine for all who wanted to stay. The wine poured and the music flowed until 4am. One of the most magical nights of music I’ve had anywhere in the world!

Numa capela oitocentista onde imperam fantásticos azulejos da época, temos uma das melhores opções de Lisboa para ouvir um bom fado e comer ainda melhor.
O ambiente de capela transforma as noites num misticismo sem explicação e ouvir Carlos do Carmo, um dos meus fadistas preferidos, neste espaço, foi realmente inesquecível.
Já passaram talvez uns 8 ou 9 anos; nem sequer recordo o que comi, apenas que comi bem, porém, este foi um espaço que nunca mais esquecerei.

O Mesa de Frades é um dos melhores sítios para ouvir fado enquanto se janta ou toma um copo. Nunca experimentei lá jantar, apenas tomar um copo e ouvir algum fado vadio, depois do horário dos jantares. Por lá já passaram dos melhores fadistas portugueses, incluindo a irmã de Amália Rodrigues, Celeste Rodrigues.
O espaço poderá ficar mesmo muito cheio, de maneira que o truque é ouvir pela porta habitualmente fechada quando há um intervalo na música (através por exemplo dos aplausos), bater à porta e quando abrem a porta passarmos por entre os músicos e encontrarmos um cantinho para nos sentarmos. E falo em passar pelo meio dos músicos, porque pelo menos algumas vezes a/​o fadista está a cantar junto à porta com os músicos à volta, pelo que quando abrem a porta para entrarem clientes tem de se entrar mesmo pelo meio deles…

Antes de visitar esta casa já a conhecia através de trechos do filme «Lisbon Story», onde os Madredeus surgem a tocar. Pude, depois, entrar neste sítio. Já era tarde, mas ainda deu para beber uns copos e, claro, ouvir fado. O espaço é lindíssimo, com paredes caiadas revestidas por azulejo históricos em tons de azul.
A quem quer ter a experiência de uma casa de fados lisboeta, no típico bairro de Alfama, esta é, sem dúvida, uma daquelas que aconselho. Não é um restaurante barato, como todos os que têm fado ao vivo, mas vale bem a pena ir lá, nem que seja uma única vez.

Ana Sofia Varela, Tânia Oleiro, Dom Vicente da Câmara e Teresinha Landeiro. Tantas vozes que já tive o prazer de ouvir após ter petiscado umas deliciosas pataniscas de bacalhau ou uma refrescante dourada, sempre acompanhadas por sangria «da boa»! Isto tudo graças ao icónico restaurante Mesa de Frades. Antes de mais, devo avisar: este espaço não é nada fácil de se encontrar… Pelo menos, quando fui ao Mesa de Frades pela primeira vez, perdi-​me, sozinho, entre as ruas estreitas, as sinuosas ruelas e os intermináveis lances de escadas do bairro de Alfama. Mas, mal cheguei ao restaurante, senti-​me logo recompensado: o pessoal é mesmo muito simpático, o ambiente é deliciosamente pitoresco (nunca me canso de observar os típicos azulejos azuis e brancos) e o preço é acessível (cerca de 35 euros), se compararmos com outras casas de fado lisboetas. Enfim, é um local ao qual volto sempre: afinal, reza a lenda que fadistas tão renomados como Camané, Carminho e até Carlos do Carmo costumam ir ao Mesa de Frades para encantar a todos com um ou dois fados. Quem sabe se não tenho sorte numa próxima visita?