Sr. Fado de Alfama

If you come to Portugal you definitely have to experience Fado Music and that is exactly what we doing tonight. Minh found Sr. Fado de Alfama online, the restaurant got a lot of good reviews, so we are giving it a try. Sr. Fado de Alfama is located in Alfama district, owned by Husband, Fado violinist Duarte Santos and wife, Fado singer Ana Marina.

Many Fadistas perform in restaurants so that guests get a great meal while enjoying Fado music. Here at Sr. Fado de Alfama, Ana marina is behind the stove making home-cooked meals while Duarte run the front of the restaurant and taking care of all the guests. For €45 you a get a complete meal, local wine, dessert, coffee and Fado entertainment is included. Reservation is a must as the place is really small.

Our reservation is at 7:30PM and we arrived a bit earlier so we had to wait a bit as the restaurant is not open yet.

The restaurant is really small and can sit about 25-30 people and we felt we were lucky to get a table here tonight.

The restaurant was at full capacity and Duarte has to turn away people that showed up without a reservation. Lots of people keep knocking on the door to get in only to be turned away-Reservation is a MUST!

A huge appetizer plate was brought out, cheese, cold cut, jam, butter and marinated olives.

A large basket of fresh bread is brought out.

Duarte put us a ease right away and was explaining that Ana Maria prepared 2 Portuguese traditional dishes tonight and he recommended for us to order both dishes.

Duarte is a very nice and so friendly! He took really good care of us throughout the evening.

Ana Maria came out to say "Hi" to us. She told us she has to cook for everyone but once dinner is served she will dress up and be the glamorous singer!

Duarte and Ana Maria are so warm and friendly. They welcome us with opened arms and we felt like we are eating at a friend house.

Minh and Hoa opted for a more expensive wine instead of the one that was included in the original price.

View of the dining room from our table. As you can see it is pretty tight, there is barely room for Duarte to move around and serve his guests.

The name of this popular dish implies an origin in the province of Alenjeto. Made with tiny sweet cockles, which is really difficult to find in the U.S. but it is the equivalent of clams. The pork is traditionally browned in lard or bacon fat, than simmered for an hour or so until soft and fork tender, tiny sweet cockles or clams and roasted potatoes are added at the end.

The clams and pork is unusual but the combination works and it is an interesting dish.

The 2nd dish is a Seafood Cataplana. This dish originate on the southern coast of Portugal, the Algarve. It is fairly simply to prepare but you must have fresh ingredients.

The dish is serve is a traditional cataplana, a deep-bowl-shaped pan, with a hinged lid that makes it resemble a clam shell. The lid had to clamps to keep it closed tightly.

Great seafood, flavorful broth and simply delicious. Ana Maria is a very cook and both dishes were very good but my preference is the Cataplana.

For desserts we had poached pears in red wine and the other dessert is a Portuguese dessert make with cooked egg yolks, sugar that are transformed into strands (reminds me of a Thai dessert), served with ice cream and drizzled with a caramel sauce.