Taberna Real do Fado

 Tuesday, 7 March 2023 - Continued.

Taberna Real do Fado

Fado is a traditional style of music that originated in Portugal, it is believed to have developed in the early 19th century, drawing on a mix of musical and cultural influences from Portugal, Africa, and Brazil.

Fado is typically performed by a solo singer, accompanied by a classical guitar and a Portuguese guitar, which is a stringed instrument with a distinctive teardrop shape. The lyrics of fado songs often deal with themes of longing, love, loss, and the struggles of everyday life.

For a discussion of the meal, visit my companion blog, Dining With Barney 

We arrived at the venue a half hour before our 8pm reservation - the Uber driver was worried as it was locked up tight. Undeterred, we went for a walk to take some pictures of the full moon.

We found this venue online before we left NJ.  Once in Porto, we saw many venues offering fado shows.  With so many previous bad ‘dinner theater’ experiences, Amy and I started to have fears over the potential quality of the show.  The fears were unfounded.  The venue takes its fado (and food) very seriously.  There was an announcement that fado is performed in silence (with the full attention of the audience) - an encouraging sign.

The restaurant seats about 80 guests - there were about 30 in the audience tonight.

The first two performances were two numbers by the musicians, two by the female singer, and two by the male singer - who was also the maître d' and waiter.

Here are a few photos of some of the food... Cod Fritters.

Octopus. 

Crème brûlée

During dinner, we spoke with a fellow diner, who seemed to be a regular and know all the staff.  He explained he was a heart surgeon (he had done 4 open heart surgeries that day) and loved fado to help him relax at the end of the day.