Jump to content

Amada, Spanish Tapas in Old City - 2009 James Beard Award Winning Chef José Garces on Chestnut Street


Recommended Posts

Mr. Monavano and I went to Amada, an authentic Spanish tapas restaurant, last week. Amada is located in Old City, and features 3 seating areas; a large bar and high table area, restaurant table seating, and a few seats looking into the kitchen.

We sampled about 10 dishes ( I can not remember one) and the red sangria. The sangria had small diced pears and apples with a cinnamon stick to swirl in the aroma.

Our dishes included:

Complimentary flat crisps to scoop up a tuna, caper and balsamic dip.

Charcuteria mixto - I'm not a connoisseur of serrano ham, but it was delicious and freshly sliced to order and paper thin

Tortilla Espanola - This came with a saffron aoili, presented in a mortar and pestle. More saffron was sprinkled on top to be ground in. Fun. The "tortilla" was more like a big potato pancake with onions. It was fantastic. It's filling, so consider that.

Almejas con chorizo - Tiny clams and chorizo in a broth just begging to be sopped up with the bread.

Albondigas - soft bite size lamb meatballs and fresh peas in a creamy manchego cheese ? sauce

Flat bread with manchego cheese - this was good, but we ordered it without knowing we'd be getting gratis crips with tuna dip.

Probably redundant.

Kobe beef carpaccio - This was a special. Seared kobe slice thin and fanned out. Topped with truffle emulsion and garnished with candied carmelized onions. This was melt in your mouth good. The emulsion lent an earthy tone to the dish. Even though it was Kobe beef, it was only priced a few dollars over the regular menu items.

Arroz con leche - warm creamy rice pudding with current compote. Served in an old fashioned glass, this was totall comfort, not your mom's rice pudding! (at least mine, sorry ma)

Almond crips - complimentary after the meal.

I will not make the mistake of being in Philly and NOT eating here again. It will be interesting to go to Jaleo now to compare and contrast.

eta: all this for $85 before tip. Our server (Stephanie) and runners were very hospitable and kept the meal going at a perfect pace for us.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

eta: all this for $85 before tip. Our server (Stephanie) and runners were very hospitable and kept the meal going at a perfect pace for us.


Bumping this up to add that our bill was $95, not $85 before tip. And, the Tortilla Espanola is pictured in Tom's Postcard Review. I never think enough ahead of time to make a ressy at Vetri, but that is next on my list.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We had dinner at Amada tonight, sharing over ten separate courses for a real taste of the restaurant's capability. It is overall outstanding. All of the flatbreads (especially short ribs), the filet w/ Cabrales and foie gras, grilled scallops, avocado salad, gambas ajillo, tuna salad amuse laced with balsamic and capers-no weaknesses in first and second courses; all absolute strengths with the filet a "Great Dish" and the flatbread the best I have had anywhere. This is a serious restaurant which, for me, may set the standard for tapas on this side of the Atlantic. On a different note the wine list is weak, short and overpriced, in part due to the state of Pennsylvania which supplies the restaurant. Generally, a remarkable 250-300% markup. (Emilio Moro was $68, Numanthia Termes $74) Still, about twenty reds by the glass ranging to $17 per for the Termes. The two desserts we had were also weak including supposedly "homemade" ice cream on par with Breyer's. Ambience is "downtown" and "arrived." Superb, attentive, knowledgeable service. "Chef's table" dead center in the middle of the main dining room and roped off and literally elevated on a wooden pedastal; bring six or seven for an over the top evening. Reservations for Friday and Saturday have a one month (yes, one month!) lead time. The chef/owner has opened a second restaurant specializing in Basque/San Sebastian cooking ("Tinto") with a third ("Chicago Mexican-" Topolobampo East?) on the way-and, apparently, is infrequently in Amada anymore. Still, this is a restaurant that sings-perhaps worth the trip to Philly to experience it. I'd just close my eyes and if you skip dessert you'll believe you're in Spain!

In fact, in Spain you'll be fortunate to find a meal this good.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Stacy, for tapas you and your husband need to take a Saturday drive, two hours and twenty five minutes from Reston...to Philadelphia. To Amada. Serious. The absolute benchmark for tapas in the Eastern United States. You also need to plan your trip, at least a month in advance. A serious restaurant, one that I wish I could find a D. C. area restaurant which could compete..... With all due respect to Jaleo and Zaytinya, unfortunately I cannot. Amada is THAT good.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Stacy, for tapas you and your husband need to take a Saturday drive, two hours and twenty five minutes from Reston...to Philadelphia. To Amada. Serious. The absolute benchmark for tapas in the Eastern United States. You also need to plan your trip, at least a month in advance. A serious restaurant, one that I wish I could find a D. C. area restaurant which could compete..... With all due respect to Jaleo and Zaytinya, unfortunately I cannot. Amada is THAT good.

Not really all that convenient for quick bite. dry.gif

Link to comment
Share on other sites

CHEESES

GALLEGO / White Sangria & Cherry Honey

CADI URGELIA/ Chocolate Hazelnut Puree

GARROTXA / Garlic Dulce de Leche

AGED MANCHEGO/ Truffled Lavendar Honey

QUESO DE CABRA / Balsamic Strawberries

LA PERAL / Cherry Pistachio Salbitxada

PAU /Black Olive Caramel

CAÑA DE CABRA / Fig & Cherry Marmelade

Above are listed the cheeses of the day from Amada's menu. With all due respect to Frank Bruni, who is a superb, expressive and esteemed writer, this was a pedestrian cheese list. I spent a bit of time studying it; seated at two of the seven or eight "chef's seats" which are counter seats directly in front of the prep area, we were able to see almost every dish that came out of the kitchen. Only a couple of weeks before I was in a restaurant in Germany, Schwarzwaldstube, where they have three separate carts for the cheese course: one for cheese, one for sweet relishes and sides, and one for various sauces and other accoutriments to the 50 to 60 different cheese featured on the main cart. It took them almost fifteen minutes to present the three "courses" for the "cheese course."

Amada-which in its own way may be the equal of any restaurant that I have been to in America this year-was nowhere near its equal.

But I believe that I know what Bruni was writing about: he expected nothing and stopped in, finding several delicious cheeses with sides that really set them off. A light, unexpected and truly delicious lunch in a restaurant that he had not come to Philadelphia to write about. Coincidentally, it's nominated for a Beard award going up against three D. C. area restaurants and has a one month wait for a reservation. Yet he finds a table without a problem, walking in off the street. And, of course, New York writers typically do not take Mid Atlantic restaurants seriously enough to devote a weekend column to them. Only a cheese course. (Ah! Now my vent becomes apparent!)

We, too, actually did not expect what we found. I thought this would be something on the order of Jaleo with a bit more variety to the menu. Rather, it was a veritable tour of authentic Spanish cooking which, for me, exceeded anything that I have found on this side of the Atlantic. Perhaps curiously, for me, the cheese course was not part of the attraction. Rather, excepting cheese and dessert, everything else!

I wonder what Bruni would have thought of the rest of the menu? I also wonder if he'll be sampling the regular menu at Amada's chef/owner's new restaurant, Tinto, which focuses on the cooking of the area around San Sebastian? I know we will. We plan on driving from Reston to Philadelphia to experience it. Amada was THAT good, lending THAT much credibility to the new Tinto.

Perhaps the next time that Bruni is in Philly (or D. C.) he'll sample more than just cheese. To the best of my knowledge Amada is better than anything similar in New York. That can be a grudgingly reluctant acknowledgement for a New Yorker.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

To the best of my knowledge Amada is better than anything similar in New York. That can be a grudgingly reluctant acknowledgement for a New Yorker.

It reminded me in a few ways of Tia Pol and in a few ways of Boqueria, although it feels like a slick, slightly Disney-fied invocation of the muse that guides those restaurants as well.

Having eaten at Tia Pol, Boqueria, and Amada, they are all wonderful restaurants and I would not say that any one stands head and shoulders above the rest. You can eat very well for a reasonable price but there will be an occasional clunker on the menu. My favorite dish out of all three were the bacon/cheese/almond-stuffed dates at Boqueria, but Amada's cooking was the most consistent.

As for Bruni's review, which otherwise I really enjoyed, I hate the insulting "Disney-fied" and I don't think it applies. Tia Pol is grittier and more authentic than the other two, but Boqueria is just as much of a see-and-be-seen hotspot as Amada. Maybe he just means that Amada's plating is snazzier, which it definitely is.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yet he finds a table without a problem, walking in off the street. And, of course, New York writers typically do not take Mid Atlantic restaurants seriously enough to devote a weekend column to them. Only a cheese course. (Ah! Now my vent becomes apparent!)

Just a side note to your post: At 11:15AM on the day we went to Amada, we went on open table to make lunch reservation for noon. Times available for this Friday were 11:45, Noon, and 12:15. We were idiots and got lost and showed up at 1:15. We waited 15 minutes and had a table. I think there's a big difference getting a dinner table and a lunch table, but then again, when we showed up, people were calling for dinner reservations that night (hostess was even giving dress code advice over the phone). It was Good Friday, which may have suppressed dinner plans for some, but just thought I'd throw in my two cents.

Pax,
Brian

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I didn't ask about lunch, only Friday or Saturday dinner. I do believe that you can also have dinner at their bar assuming a seat is available. My real point is that I believe this is a restaurant worth going to for more than just a cheese course. The fact that he never seemed to consider this surprised me. I'm also admitting to some of my own value judgments about New York food writers in general, excepting the late R. W. Apple.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

And to make the evening exciting, there was foie gras protest at Amada, the restaurant next door to Mandoline.

The foie gras protest, complete with megaphones, signs, shouted slogans, etc..., was quite amusing. Apparently it's a regular thing. If I had a megaphone with me, I would have staged an impromptu counter-protest. "ATTENTION! FOIE GRAS IS DELICIOUS. IT'S LIKE MEAT BUTTER"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The protestors were there when we dined at Amada last weekend as well. BTW Amada sells more Foie Gras when the protestors are in session, then when they are not. I offered to send some samples out, but the manager would not allow it!

And to make the evening exciting, there was foie gras protest at Amada, the restaurant next door to Mandoline.

---

Tom Sietsema's 10/7/07 Postcard from Philly which includes Amada.

Edited by DonRocks
Link to comment
Share on other sites

We ended up at Osteria afterall & had an absolutely delicious meal for about $125 with tip & tax. We ended up at the front bar since the back bar was already full at 5:05 when we arrived. Since I wanted to try a bit of everything, my friend was kind enough to humor me & share an order of the mozzarela bufalata with swiss chard crostini; the parma pizza with mozzarella, fontina, arugula, and prosciutto di parma; a sweet & rich squash tortelli with butter, sage and amaretti; and the chocolate flan (aka the chef's molten chocolate cake) with a scoop of fabulous pistachio ice cream & crushed pistachios to cap it off. To drink, we started with their Venetian spritzer, which is red or white wine, campari and blood orange with soda. I had the red which was a really refreshing way to start...my friend ordered it with white & had the unfortunate chance to taste what happens when you add too much campari (YUCK!), we also both had a glass of Tocai with dinner which made the tortelli dish magical. Our seats were right in front of the pizza oven & to the immediate left of the expo so it wasn't really a relaxing meal. If you go, which I highly recommend you do, get reservations (try for the enclosed patio area) and enjoy. Also make sure to think ahead about how you're getting home. Taxis are few & far between - we ended up having to walk back to the hotel which wasn't far but the heels I was wearing weren't quite hiking boots (and I have a healing broken toe)!

For brunch this morning we were going to go to Honey's Sit 'n Eat, but the line outside was daunting. We headed over to Market for a quick bite at Fork etc, but ended up at Continental on the corner of market & 1st. Great brunch - my friend had a huge plate of brioche french toast with caramelized banana and I had the roasted tomato frittata with fontina & bacon served with a side of grits & multi-grain toast. They start you off with a passion fruit slushie too!

All in all, I'd say this was my best food experience out of all three of my Philly trips to date (and George Strait rocked the Wachovia Center which just made the trip all the better)!


If you are still in Philly you should not leave without going to Amada. This is a GREAT Tapas restaurant that, if here, would be continually raved about by most on this board. My wife and I will drive back to Philly this spring just to eat there. It is THAT good. Sit at the counter in the back where you can see the food prepared. If you're hungry you may end up having ten or twelve different dishes as we did. We started by ordering five or six and, as a new dish was set on the counter, we "lost control" and continued to order more for ourselves. Honestly, for all of the hype about L'Atalier du Robuchon (and I was at the original three weeks after it opened in Paris) I honestly believe that Amada, based on our visit last spring, is better in its own way.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I went into Amada with high expectations, given that its chef, Jose Garces, was a 2007 finalist for the Best Chef, Mid-Atlantic James Beard Award.

Eleven dishes later, and $240 poorer, I can say with confidence that Amada - at least on this night - wasn't even as good as the downtown Jaleo, and considering that it's a much smaller operation, that's saying something.

The highlights of the evening were the Sangria, a glass of Godello, the dip brought before the meal, and the dessert. In between came an armada of courses, ranging from decent (Albóndigas ($11), Amada's Empanada ($12) Chipirónes A La Plancha ($5)), to mediocre (Pulpo A La Gallega ($11), Boquerones ($12), Piquillos Rellenos ($12), to poor (Gambas al Ajillo ($9), Entrecote A La Plancha ($15)), to inedibly salty (Patatas Bravas ($4), Caldo Gallego ($7)).

Last year, Garces opened a second restaurant, Tinto. Has this affected the performance of Amada? I don't know, but I do know that given my expectations coming in, I walked away from my dinner roundly unimpressed.

Compare and contrast with John's Roast Pork, where a large Roast Pork Sandwich with onions, peppers, sauteed spinach, and sharp provolone set me back all of $6.50. Scarfed greedily, this was one of the most satisfying sandwiches I've had in a long time. Unlike the vast majority of subs, this one actually needs and benefits from the hoagie roll. The sharp provolone is quite pungent, and as good as it was, it slightly dominated the mild pork, so next time I'm going to either get mild provolone, or add a few squirts of Tabasco, heretic that I am. Everyone needs to make a detour to John's Roast Pork at least once in their life.

Cheers,
Rocks.

Just saw your post, Don. Obviously our experience last April was entirely different. We will go back in a month or so; it will be interesting to see what we find.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There was a couple in the elevator with us after the concert who had just come back from their second full dinner of the night - guess they didn't want to miss out. She had an Amada bag in hand with leftovers...they had nothing but raves for the place. Then again, who could trust it...they probably had so many plates pass in front of them over the past six hours, they all started to run together. Didn't find out what the other place was since we got to our floor before I had the chance. One night in Philly is enough for me though.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I went into Amada with high expectations, given that its chef, Jose Garces, was a 2007 finalist for the Best Chef, Mid-Atlantic James Beard Award.

Eleven dishes later, and $240 poorer, I can say with confidence that Amada - at least on this night - wasn't even as good as the downtown Jaleo, and considering that it's a much smaller operation, that's saying something.

The highlights of the evening were the Sangria, a glass of Godello, the dip brought before the meal, and the dessert. In between came an armada of courses, ranging from decent (Albóndigas ($11), Amada's Empanada ($12) Chipirónes A La Plancha ($5)), to mediocre (Pulpo A La Gallega ($11), Boquerones ($12), Piquillos Rellenos ($12), to poor (Gambas al Ajillo ($9), Entrecote A La Plancha ($15)), to inedibly salty (Patatas Bravas ($4), Caldo Gallego ($7)).
. . .
Cheers,
Rocks.

i wholeheartedly agree about amada. politburo and i went this past saturday and the best thing i had that night might have been the dessert (banana torrijas). nothing was memorable, except the extremely saltiness of every dish we tried (boquerones, pulpo, patatas bravas, etc). the pato con datiles (duck confit flatbread) could have been any meat other than duck and it was extremely greasy. the hamachi special was seared too much, creating a rubbery, tough texture to the fish. and the dip brought before the meal was reminiscent of canned tuna and capers swimming in an excess of mayo and olive oil.

on top of the mediocre food, there was a very loud table at the front (next to the window) that almost started a fight with the table nearest to them (because they were asked to keep it down a bit). the waitress knew they were loud yet didn't do anything about it.

i'll give tinto a try, but i don't think i'll be heading back to amada any time soon. *sigh*

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I went into Amada with high expectations, given that its chef, Jose Garces, was a 2007 finalist for the Best Chef, Mid-Atlantic James Beard Award.

Eleven dishes later, and $240 poorer, I can say with confidence that Amada - at least on this night - wasn't even as good as the downtown Jaleo, and considering that it's a much smaller operation, that's saying something.

Alas, I was also disappointed with Amada. The best thing I had was a green tea gimlet - refreshingly astringent. The octopus and oyster tapas were good. The artichoke was bland with a gloppy sauce. My companion's fish was likewise uninspired.

Rather than stay for dessert, we went to the nearby Franklin Fountain on Market Street for some really good ice cream. It's a recreated old-time ice cream parlor serving quality products: http://www.franklinfountain.com/

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Went to Jose Garce's Amada in Philly a couple weeks ago. It's a little more trendy atmosphere wise than Tinto, and while the tapas was ok, the Roast Suckling pig we pre-ordered for the table was spectacular pics

It was brought tableside and carved for us- an order for 4 people served 6 of us. We also were given the option of eating the head, which we consumed like zombies- tearing it apart manually to get to the good meat. mm snout.


It came with several sides- the best was the rosemary white beans. The cost for the the pig and sides was only 130 bucks- not at all bad for the amount of food we got.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The tapas portions at Amada were mostly noticeably larger than the equivalents at Jaleo. It's not a cheap meal, but I didn't think it was expensive for the amount of food we had.

^

Amada (Chestnut Street) - Post wedding, pre reception drink spot. So apparently this is a Jose Garces tapas joint. They weren't serving food at 3:30pm on a Saturday, which seemed rather lame. We sat at the bar and had a couple glasses of sangria which were all solidly good. Menu looked on the expensive side for a tapas place...you could do some serious damage here quickly. But the place looked, shall we say, handsome for a bar/restaurant. I would be interested in stopping in for a couple bites next time they are serving food. They do a $14.50 lunch deal which seemed like a good place to start.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

[These paragraphs were copied from The Mother Thread as part of larger posts.

Use the Snapback Function (the little icon at the top-right of each entry) to view each post in its entirety.]

Amada - We enjoyed it, but have a couple of caveats. One, we went with the tasting menu in part out of ease of ordering. It was quite good, and started off fantastic, but the last couple of dishes (the lamb, for one) were the weakest dishes of the night. Two, service started out wonderful, but go extremely slow as our meal wound down. I believe this was because our server simply had too many tables (this restaurant was absolutely slammed, with new tables being seated after 10 pm). Regardless, not a positive.

^Say Hi next time   B)

Amada (Chestnut Street) - Post wedding, pre reception drink spot.  So apparently this is a Jose Garces tapas joint.  They weren't serving food at 3:30pm on a Saturday, which seemed rather lame.  We sat at the bar and had a couple glasses of sangria which were all solidly good.  Menu looked on the expensive side for a tapas place...you could do some serious damage here quickly.  But the place looked, shall we say, handsome for a bar/restaurant.  I would be interested in stopping in for a couple bites next time they are serving food.  They do a $14.50 lunch deal which seemed like a good place to start.

Thanks to this community, ate like kings this weekend in Philly.

Dinner at Amada was very nice. Nothing mindblowing - more than a few of the dishes are better at Jaleo - but everything was very tasty and service was great. Highlights included the octopus, lamb meatballs, shrimp flatbread, pernil, and sangria.

My wife and I love Amada, and we usually get their tasting menu. It's always plenty of food, that's well executive, has a good cross section of their menu, and we leave satisfied. That being said, I had a buddy of mine do the tasting menu at Zahav and said it was his favorite meal in Philly. It's been on my list for a while now, but if you can fit in both, I don't think you'll be disappointed.

jiveturk21, I love Amada: I've driven from Reston there just for dinner and felt it was worth it. Interesting to sit at the food bar at the back of it in front of the kitchen and watch everything come out. On our last trip we had 15 or 16 different dishes. GREAT restaurant. I would take it over Vetri (who also own Osteria) which we went to for our anniversary this year. Of course I still haven't forgiven Beard giving Vetri the award over Maestro which I thought was in a totally different league.

New Years Eve at Chifa was good enough, but it paled in comparison to New Years Eve at Amada last year. Then again, that meal at Amada ended up being a top 10 meal of all time.

The amazing - Amada. I tend to side with Public Enemy on the whole concept of believing the hype, so I was highly critical during my meal at Amada. And, after a three hour meal there on New Years Eve, my ONLY complaint was that they could have brought the bottle to me when they were presenting me with the wines that they paired with my meal. That is pretty impressive that this was my only complaint after a three hours meal with a party of four, it was that good. I don't remember everything, or even anything, that we ate, but it was all simply perfect. Especially on New Years Eve, when you would expect a waitstaff that is ready to high-tail it out of there, the service was superb. In fact, it is one of the rare times that my expectations were exceeded at a restaurant, tough to do for a place where the expectations were so high. Simply amazing.

Instead of Chifa, I'd recommend going over to Amada (another of Garces' restaurants, and I believe that was his first in Philly) and get the tasting menu (we got the $65 one). I had it back in November, so the details may be a little fuzzy. The highlights were:

Oyster shooter - Kumomoto Oyster with some sort of roe. I can't find it on their regular menu, but I remember it was very fresh.
Cheese plate - GARROTXA w/ Garlic Dulce de Leche was the highlight here. The garlic dulce de leche was not spicy, but more like carmelized garlic.
ALBí“NDIGAS - Lamb Meatballs & Shaved Manchego - Very light meatballs with a truffled cream sauce, and fresh peas.
PULPO A LA GALLEGA - Spanish Octopus - I remember these were like little thin disks of octopus with a good amount of smoked paprika. Tasted like octopus bacon.
PERNIL ASADO - Roasted Pork, White Beans, Arugula & Orange - highlight of the night. Was a very rich and tender roasted pork with crispy skin, sitting on a bed of creamy beans.

i wholeheartedly agree about amada. politburo and i went this past saturday and the best thing i had that night might have been the dessert (banana torrijas). nothing was memorable, except the extremely saltiness of every dish we tried (boquerones, pulpo, patatas bravas, etc). the pato con datiles (duck confit flatbread) could have been any meat other than duck and it was extremely greasy. the hamachi special was seared too much, creating a rubbery, tough texture to the fish. and the dip brought before the meal was reminiscent of canned tuna and capers swimming in an excess of mayo and olive oil.

on top of the mediocre food, there was a very loud table at the front (next to the window) that almost started a fight with the table nearest to them (because they were asked to keep it down a bit). the waitress knew they were loud yet didn't do anything about it.

i'll give tinto a try, but i don't think i'll be heading back to amada any time soon. *sigh*

Although Don had a not so great dining experience at Amada, I would still recommend it highly. The bar is full service and there are seats right in front of the open kitchen which would make for great solo dining.

I went into Amada with high expectations, given that its chef, Jose Garces, was a 2007 finalist for the Best Chef, Mid-Atlantic James Beard Award.

Eleven dishes later, and $240 poorer, I can say with confidence that Amada - at least on this night - wasn't even as good as the downtown Jaleo, and considering that it's a much smaller operation, that's saying something.

The highlights of the evening were the Sangria, a glass of Godello, the dip brought before the meal, and the dessert. In between came an armada of courses, ranging from decent (Albí³ndigas ($11), Amada's Empanada ($12) Chipirí³nes A La Plancha ($5)), to mediocre (Pulpo A La Gallega ($11), Boquerones ($12), Piquillos Rellenos ($12), to poor (Gambas al Ajillo ($9), Entrecote A La Plancha ($15)), to inedibly salty (Patatas Bravas ($4), Caldo Gallego ($7)).

Last year, Garces opened a second restaurant, Tinto. Has this affected the performance of Amada? I don't know, but I do know that given my expectations coming in, I walked away from my dinner roundly unimpressed.

Compare and contrast with John's Roast Pork, where a large Roast Pork Sandwich with onions, peppers, sauteed spinach, and sharp provolone set me back all of $6.50. Scarfed greedily, this was one of the most satisfying sandwiches I've had in a long time. Unlike the vast majority of subs, this one actually needs and benefits from the hoagie roll. The sharp provolone is quite pungent, and as good as it was, it slightly dominated the mild pork, so next time I'm going to either get mild provolone, or add a few squirts of Tabasco, heretic that I am. Everyone needs to make a detour to John's Roast Pork at least once in their life.

Cheers,
Rocks.

Lunch Friday was a last minute decision to go to Amada, and despite going ten blocks in the wrong direction of our hotel, thankfully we hopped a bus in the opposite direction for the restaurant. Their lunch special allows you to get a soup and salad or sandwich (which also comes with spicy potato fries) plus a soft drink for $12.50. Eavesdropping on the table next to us really paid off b/c the woman asked the waiter if she could repeat something she had done the last time she was in: Get half the sandwich, half the salad, full cup of soup, full order of spicy potatos, and the drink for just $12.50. No brainer for me. My wife got grilled wild mushrooms (wonderful but overpriced at $14), olives, and a tortilla. The tortilla was enough to answer the question of how this place compares to Jaleo: Amada wins in a bloodbath. For example, it was a full tortilla (Jaleo gives you a quarter), served warm (huge bump up in my book), with a saffron aioli ('nuff said?). We rationalized our massive food consumption by calling this breakfast and lunch.

And Amada was a home run, with cheeses and meats and fried apple and all sorts of greatness. $80 before tip but we agreed we could have gotten by with maybe 6 dishes instead of 9, so it could be done for less.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you'd never been to Philly and only had one night there for a nice dinner, where would you go?

I would go to Amada, Jose Garces's authentic Spanish tapas restaurant. We've been there 3 times and every time it's been spectacular. If you can, do the 'Chef's Selection,' Amada's version of a tasting menu. It's worth every penny. I've been served foods from the tasting menu that I previously didn't think I liked and discovered that I absolutely loved them. It's all in the preparation. Service has always been stellar.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

post-889-0-47001600-1384658130_thumb.jpgpost-889-0-78603800-1384658138_thumb.jpg

(I don't know why my pictures are right side up on my desktop but sideways when I upload them).

I had a small lunch at Amada last Saturday.  I walked in without a reservation not long after they opened for lunch/brunch.  I only had two dishes - the black cod and the crab stuffed peppers - and they were both delicious.  The black cod had a crispy skin.  The peppers were stuffed with lump crab, and the crunch of the almonds really added to the dish.

I sat at the chef's counter.  I was there early so I mostly watched someone slicing cheese, but as things got busier, she was making salads and arranging cheese plates.  The hot food preparation area is further in the back so I couldn't see that area from the chef's counter.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...