Lisbon, Portugal: It Is Like Fado And Dinner In My Bedroom Over The Period Of A Short Nap

Mascote da Atalaia 

R. da Atalaia, 13-15

1200-036 Lisbon, Portugal

Bairro Alto

Phone number +351 211 983 973

Website: mascotedatalaia.com

Prices: €€€€

Pros:

- The music was fantastic!

- The food was good with a decent number of options

- The service was friendly and efficient

- The price (€25/person) for a 3-course meal, including 1/2 liter of wine/sangria/beer and a live Fado show was a good value

Cons:

- The room holding 30+ diners, 3 musicians, and 2 servers running around with food and drinks was the size of our bedroom

- We arrived with a reservation for two five minutes early only to find one tiny seat by the door available - they had to tell a lady to move so we could sit down

- The tables and milking stools they call chairs were tiny, and the tables crammed together like dominos

- They stuck us in front of the door so, beside having a step (down) inches behind my stool (a safety hazard), I got hit in the back with cold air and people as they constantly entered and exited to go outside to smoke

- The toilet door was behind one of the guitar players, so going to the bathroom during a set was impossible

- During our two hour dinner, there were just 13 songs (4 sets of 3 songs and an encore), then we were expected to leave

The cons appear to have it, but we actually had a very good time. Even though the place is more like a "Fado factory" than a "Fado House", our meals were good with an adequate amount of quality food and drink and the entertainment was impressive.

Chorizo

Swordfish and Green Beans

Steak and Broccoli

Their focus seems to be more on cramming as many people as possible into each two-hour block than on providing a comfortable, relaxing atmosphere in which to enjoy this unique and historic Portuguese folk music. If you are expecting to have a leisurely dinner and listen to Fado over drinks over the course of a long evening, as we were led to believe, you are mistaken. Having said that, the quality of the food and entertainment, along with the fair price, made it a good overall value.

Pudding

Chocolate Salami

I have mixed feelings about this place, hence my rating. From all that I had read beforehand, a Fado House is an "experience" where you arrive after 9pm, eat and drink what you like (with a minimum of course) for as long as you like, and leave as late as you like (03:00 to 04:00 in some places). If you have just two hours, do not want to stay up too late, and want a condensed version of Fado, this is your place!

CombatCritic Gives Mascote da Atalaia 5 Bombs Out Of 10 ... More Bombs Are Better!

Five Bombs Equates To:

Translation for Civilians: "Continue Mission"

Read More Reviews By CombatCritic:

Yelp - "GOLD" ELITE '14/'15/'16/'17/'18 

• 650,000+ Views A Year

Read Chris S.'s review of Mascote da Atalaia on Yelp

Tabelog - Official Judge - "Silver"

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Title: Lisbon, Portugal: It Is Like Fado And Dinner In My Bedroom Over The Period Of A Short Nap

Key Words: Mascote do Atalaia, mascote, atilaia, Fado, music, bar, entertainment, venue, Lisbon, Lisboa, Portugal, CombatCritic, TravelValue, travel, value, restaurant, menu, review, Yelp, Zomato

Copyright 2019 - 3rd Wave Media Group And CombatCritic ™ - All Rights Reserved

Lisbon, Portugal: This Zebra Earned Its Stripes In This Officer's Opinion ... HOOAH!

Zebras do Combro
Calçada do Combro 51
1200-111 Lisbon, Portugal
Bairro Alto - Bica - Cais do Sodré, Santa Catarina
Phone number +351 213 462 110
Prices: €€€€

A tiny, cute little place on a hill, of which there are many in Lisbon, with extremely friendly service, excellent food, and very reasonable prices. We spotted this restaurant on a walk back to our Airbnb from a day of touring, almost passing it up before turning around and going in. Good choice!

A small room and attractive, vintage interior with typical Portuguese family style seating for around 20 patrons, you will get authentic Portuguese dishes at prices that will not put much of a dent in your wallet. With the customary basket of bread (€0.50) and assorted spreads (€1.50) arriving post haste, we then ordered a half liter of the house tinto (red - €5.50) and a liter of sparkling water (€1.50) from our delightful hostess whom had decent English language skills. I also got a bowl of vegetable soup with green beans (€3) that was savory, not quite hot enough, and not very well seasoned although tasty with a little salt and pepper added.

I forgot to photograph the menu and the check as is normally the case, so I will have to estimate the prices and describe our orders rather than butcher the Portuguese language. My wife ordered a type of sliced meatloaf (beef - €9) with apples and honey inside, coming with a pile o' fries, rice and a small side salad. It was quite tasty with very little of the sweetness you would expect. I ordered the shrimp (gambas - €9) in a garlic and olive oil sauce very similar to what Americans know as shrimp scampi. It was a little "fishier" than expected, so I presume they add some fish sauce to the recipe, but it was quite delicious as I mopped up the sauce with some extra crusty bread.

Pretty full, we passed on dessert and instead finished our meal with a glass each of Portuguese cherry liquor and port (€1.50 each), a delightful end to an equally delightful meal that only set us back about €32 ... HOOAH!

CombatCritic Gives Zebras do Combro 9 Bombs Out Of 10 ... More Bombs Are Better!

Nine Bombs Equates To:

Translation for Civilians: "U.S. Marine Response To A Verbal Greeting Or As An Expression Of Enthusiasm"

Read More Reviews By CombatCritic:

Yelp - "GOLD" ELITE '14/'15/'16/'17/'18 /'19 

• 650,000+ Views A Year

Read Chris S.'s review of Zebras do Combro on Yelp

Tabelog - Official Judge - "Silver"

Zomato - #1 Ranked "VERIFIED" CONNOISSEUR (13) - Over  4 Million Review And Photo Views ... And Counting - #1 Reviewer in Portland, Oregon!

Booking.com - Frequent Traveler "Genius"

Google Maps - "Top Photographer" With Over 3 Million Views!

... And Don't Forget To Subscribe To TravelValue TV on YouTube and our sister channel, CombatCounselor Chronicles, with Over 1,250 Subscribers and 1,000,000 Video Views ... HOOAH!

Title: Lisbon, Portugal: This Zebra Earned Its Stripes In This Officer's Opinion ... HOOAH!

Key Words: Zebras do Combro, zebras, zebra, do, combro, Lisbon, Portugal, Lisboa, CombatCritic, TravelValue, travel, value, restaurant, menu,  review, Yelp, Zomato, TripAdvisor, Google, Facebook

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Lisbon, Portugal: Swish-Swish-Swish - Zorro Would Gives Zapata His Seal Of Approval

Zapata Restaurante
R. do Poço dos Negros, 47-9
1200-335 Lisbon, Portugal
Santa Catarina, Bairro Alto - Bica - Cais do Sodré
Phone number: +351 213 908 942
Prices: €€€€

Simple, unrefined, local cuisine, we almost passed this place not knowing that it was a restaurant until we peaked in the small window. They were almost fully booked on a Monday night, a very good sign and we were glad we stayed, but we had to sit in the very loud "smoking room". The very friendly English-speaking server quickly brought out three small crusty loaves of bread and a plate with small containers of garlic butter spread, soft cheese, and tuna and sardine pâtès.

Having felt under the weather for a few days, I was not all that hungry, so I ordered a half-order of the chicken cutlets sauteed in olive oil and mushrooms which came with a pile o' fries and rice (€8) - it was huge and delicious - the five medium size chicken cutlets were browned to perfection and the fresh mushrooms properly sauteed. I would hate to see the full order!

My wife ordered a steak in a coffee sauce with a poached egg on top (€11.90), a Portuguese specialty having seen it on menus around Lisbon. It also came with huge piles of fries and rice. When she cut into the steak, it was practically raw, "rare" at best - a steak Gordon Ramsey would love, but not my wife. She hates anything less than meat cooked medium-well, so she asked the server to have them cook the steak a bit more, which they did without question. Maybe it is customary in Portugal for the customer to indicate the temperature of the beef when ordering. Next time we will specify that her meat be cooked medium-well or well-done when ordering, a simple mistake on all our parts. It was also quite chewy, but being a big flank steak and very reasonably priced, we could not expect filet mignon. Lesson learned.

The service was superb, the decor simple, rustic and clean, and the value of our meal amazing, coming in at just €30.70 ($35) for bread, two massive meals, a beer and a liter of sparkling water ... we shall return, even with the flaws ... HOOAH!

CombatCritic Gives Zapata Restaurante 8 Bombs Out Of 10 ... More Bombs Are Better!

Eight Bombs Equates To:

Translation for Civilians: "What-The-Fuck ... Over!"

Read More Reviews By CombatCritic:

Yelp - "GOLD" ELITE '14/'15/'16/'17/'18 

• 650,000+ Views A Year

Read Chris S.'s review of Zapata Restaurante on Yelp

Tabelog - Official Judge - "Silver"

Zomato - #1 Ranked "VERIFIED" CONNOISSEUR (13) - Over  4 Million Review And Photo Views ... And Counting - #1 Reviewer in Portland, Oregon!

Booking.com - Frequent Traveler "Genius"

Google Maps - "Top Photographer" With Over 3 Million Views!

... And Don't Forget To Subscribe To TravelValue TV on YouTube and our sister channel, CombatCounselor Chronicles, with Over 1,250 Subscribers and 1,000,000 Video Views ... HOOAH!

Title: Lisbon, Portugal: Swish-Swish-Swish - Zorro Would Gives Zapata His Seal Of Approval

Key Words: Zapata Restaurante, Zapata, restaurante, Lisbon, Portugal, Portuguese, CombatCritic, TravelValue, travel, value, restaurant, menu, review, Yelp, Zomato, TripAdvisor, Google, Facebook

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Naples, Italy: Rocco And His Bothers And A Very Pushy Waiter

Rocco e Suoi Fratelli
Via San Giacomo dei Capri 155
80131 Naples, Italy
Phone number +39 081 5465302
Website: roccoeisuoifratelli.info
Prices: €€€€


We have ordered pizza from this place many times and have always been happy with the quality and price, so we decided to eat at the restaurant itself with our good friends visiting from Portland ... BIG MISTAKE!

My wife, who is Italian and has a home next door, made the reservation, but we (my two American friends and I) arrived 10-15 minutes before she and her mom. The server was all over us from the beginning, spotting an "opportunity" in a location that does not see many tourists.

He started bringing out the big (expensive) fish from the get-go and when I asked for "un litro di vino rosso della casa" (a liter of red house wine), he instead brought out three bottles, one from Benevento (which is 40 miles away) and two from the north of Italy (neither of which are local house wines). My friend picked one of the bottles, so I kept my trap shut, knowing that a much more cost effective and equally good liter of wine was likely available.

My wife and her mother soon arrived and the same pushy server insisted that we did not need menus and that he was going to recommend what we eat (in order to pump up the bill as much as possible), but I insisted on seeing a menu. Alas, there was in-fact "Vino Rosso della Casa" (€4) on the menu, but by that time it was too late as my friend had already picked one of the three much more expensive options presented. The server hovered around, not letting us have the opportunity to settle-in and have a look at the menu, so our (American) friends had already been persuaded to order what he wanted them to order.

I suggested that we get some Frittura Mista (deep fried potato crocchè, mozzarella, and zeppoline) and the server insisted that we get two orders (€8 each) for 5 people, but, as I thought, we barely touched one of them. My friend also ordered Alici Fritti (€8), kinda like fried sardines, but I did not partake, so I cannot comment.

Not swayed in the least by the high priced fish, I ordered my regular, a Pizza Salsiccia e Friarielli (€6.50/$7.40 - sausage and sauteed broccoli rabe) and my wife a Pizza Capricciosa (€5.50/$6.25) which were both excellent as usual. My good friend who decided to go with the fish (€20) as did my mother-in-law (€14) and his gluten-intolerant wife followed my recommendation and ordered the Salsiccia (€6) and Friarielli (€5), adding an order Roasted Potatoes (€5).

Overall, the food was decent, the prices a bit higher than average for Naples, but the thing that irked me was the pushy waiter trying to make an easy buck off of the Americans. Well, his tip partially made up for it and was probably half of what he would have gotten if he simply did his job - take orders and deliver food. Oddly enough, the €8 frittura was twice as much as the ones they have usually delivered with our pizzas at my mother-in-law's house. Explain that! I will explain it ...

CombatCritic Gives Rocco and His Brothers 5 Bombs Out Of 10 With A 3 Bomb Deduction From Previous Pizza-Only Orders ... More Bombs Are Better!

Five Bombs Equates To:

Translation for Civilians: "Continue Mission"

Read More Reviews By CombatCritic:

Yelp - "GOLD" ELITE '14/'15/'16/'17/'18 

• 650,000+ Views A Year

Read Chris S.'s review of Rocco e Suoi Fratelli on Yelp

Tabelog - Official Judge - "Silver"

Zomato - #1 Ranked "VERIFIED" CONNOISSEUR (13) - Over  4 Million Review And Photo Views ... And Counting - #1 Reviewer in Portland, Oregon!

Booking.com - Frequent Traveler "Genius"

Google Maps - "Top Photographer" With Over 3 Million Views!

... And Don't Forget To Subscribe To TravelValue TV on YouTube and our sister channel, CombatCounselor Chronicles, with Over 1,250 Subscribers and 1,000,000 Video Views ... HOOAH!

Title: Naples, Italy: Rocco And His Bothers And A Very Pushy Waiter

Key Words: Rocco e Suoi Fratelli, Rocco, Suoi,  Fratelli, Naples, Napoli, Rione Alto, Italy, Italian, pizza, CombatCritic, TravelValue, travel, value, restaurant, menu, review, Yelp, Google, Facebook

Copyright 2019 - 3rd Wave Media Group And CombatCritic ™ - All Rights Reserved