My first Fado

The husband and I decided to put our stuff in storage and work remotely in Portugal for two months. My marketing agency has three employees in Portugal — one near Lisbon and two in Porto — so we decided to spend a month in each city.

I’m a bit embarrassed to admit it, but 2 weeks into our trip and we haven’t done much exploring. We’re still working (keeping east coast hours) and most of our extra energy has gone to navigating daily life in a new country—such as how to work the oven, buy groceries, and figure out where to take the trash. But our second Friday night in Lisbon we felt the itch to have a quintessential Portuguese night. So we headed out to experience our first Fado.

What is Fado?

As soon as I arrived in Portugal I saw and heard lots of mentions of Fado, but had literally no idea what it was. A place? A food? An art? Turns out it is traditional Portuguese music.

Portugal.com describes it better than I ever could:

In Latin, fado is “fatum”, that is, destiny and sings of life’s encounters and mismatches, using saudade, love, melancholy, and sadness as inspiration. In contrast to this state of mind is the rhythm of the Portuguese guitar – only introduced later in the history of Fado – which transmits life, cheer and enthusiasm. Perhaps it is this contrast that makes Fado so special.

Initially, this musical style was sung in taverns and houses of prostitution, commonly known as ‘half-door’ houses. However, there is no record of Fado until the 19th century, and it only became known in the old neighborhoods of Lisbon.

According to my co-workers, the Fado All-Star, one of the most, if not the most beloved Portuguese Fado artist of all time is Amália Rodrigues:

A more contemporary beautiful Fado singer is Gisela João.

A quick Google search for “best Fado in Lisbon” says that Senhor Vinho is the place to be so I follow the link to make a reservation. In general, Portugal seems to be laid back, and making a dinner reservation is a perfect example of what I mean:

… 🤔

The American in me wants to ask specifically what time the reservation is for. But I’m also trying to fit in with the local culture so we decide to just go around 8:30 which is when it seems people eat around here.

Tiles are a thing in Portugal and this place
has clearly been here a while.

When we arrive, the host checks our vaccine cards and politely but sternly reminds Ryan to take his hat off before we can enter the restaurant. Ryan got instantly more excited — this place takes its craft and traditions seriously!

Our bottle of Tinto vinho (red wine) was elaborately decanted at our table as we dug into the bread, olives, and tuna paté.

Then we choose courses from the pre-fixe menu. Each course is listed as simply and shortly as possible “sea bass”, “grilled octopus”, etc. Not like menus we see in America with every ingredient listed. Ryan has Traditional Portuguese soup, veal, and ice cream. I take recommendations from our waitress and have whole shrimps poached in a garlic tomato olive oil along with grilled octopus and chocolate mousse. It was all delicious (sorry no pics!).

After eating every bite of our first course, Ryan asked the owner what was in the soup and she said “vegetables!”. She’s completely fluent in English (even funny) so her simple, straightforward answer is another example of the laid back nature I’m trying to put my finger on.

All of a sudden, the lights dim real low and two acoustic guitarists sit on simple chairs facing each other in the middle of the restaurant.

They play a short tune and a stunning woman in her 50s (?) joins them. The music sounds to me like it has Flamenco rhythms and middle eastern influences. The guitarists are top-notch — playing tightly with no notes. The vocal tones are very unique, almost operatic. The body language of the singer is sultry and anguished. The mood is emotional, but we found it more introspective than sad.

The musicians played four short sets over the course of the night. During the music, the lights are very dim and table service is suspended. Everything was delicious and the service was impeccable.

I genuinely loved our Fado and dinner experience and I’m glad we went into it without any expectations of how the night would unfold. It meant each part of the night was a small, delightful surprise.

Two weeks in and we’re falling in love with Portugal. Highly recommend adding it to your bucket list of places to explore.