Amada

[mrbigjas]

I'm almost at the end of my pregnancy (a little less than six weeks to go) and I'd like to have dinner at Amada for our last night out pre-baby, probably sometime in the first half of September. I have a couple of friends that have had to wait for their tables despite reservations and I can neither stand for long periods of time nor wait in a bar. What would be the best night/time to go to avoid a wait?

←

A Monday or Tuesday evening might be your best bet. There's a non-smoking bar in the back lounge area where you could wait and have a Virgin Mojito or Bloody Shame while you were waiting, if you even had to wait. Like in any busy restaurant, early reservations (7PM or earlier) always get seated on time. The later ones are at the mercy of the folks that won't get the hell out when they're done, and feel the need to nurse their coffee for an extra half hour.

←

or the folks like us who ask for our check, wait 15 minutes to get it and then wait 15 minutes to pay it...

... anyway, best of luck ladydisdain. i can't think of a better place for a final fling--we went last month for similar reasons and had a great time. maybe mention your situation when you make your reservation, too?

[KatieLoeb]

or the folks like us who ask for our check, wait 15 minutes to get it and then wait 15 minutes to pay it...

Is this a more general statement, or did you have this experience specifically at Amada? If you did, then I suspect TPTB would want me (you) to tell them. If it happened elsewhere, then that still sucks.

In a busy restaurant they want you to un-ass that chair ASAP. There's already someone impatiently waiting for it. I'd be very surprised if it took this long anywhere that really needed to turn over the table.

[mrbigjas]

or the folks like us who ask for our check, wait 15 minutes to get it and then wait 15 minutes to pay it...

Is this a more general statement, or did you have this experience specifically at Amada? If you did, then I suspect TPTB would want me (you) to tell them. If it happened elsewhere, then that still sucks.

In a busy restaurant they want you to un-ass that chair ASAP. There's already someone impatiently waiting for it. I'd be very surprised if it took this long anywhere that really needed to turn over the table.

←

it's happened to me quite a bit in the last couple years; it definitely happened at amada--this was back in early july. i was surprised because i thought the same thing you just said, that they'd want us out of there. but our res was at 8, and it was probably 1030 before we were done, so the crowd had thinned out.

but either way it was a very minor service glitch in what was a great evening. don't get the wrong impression.

[philadining]

I'd just like to go on the record as saying that I like the term "un-ass that chair" and I think we should all try to work it into our daily conversations.

[I_call_the_duck]

I'm game. Can I paraphrase, and say "honey, un-ass that sofa and take out the garbage?"

[Andrew Fenton]

Just gonna jump in here to mention that I tried Amada for the first time, at lunch the other day. Twelve bones for the lunch special is a heckuva deal, especially that outrageously good gazpacho. And the cheese balls, which put the "crack" into "croquette".

I fully intend to re-ass one of those chairs very soon...

[davecap]

We went to dinner at Amada on Friday and had a nice dinner. The place was full at 6pm so we had to wait a few minutes to pounce on some seats at the bar, but it was worth the wait. My wife started with the sangria tinto, which went down way too easy. I had a San Miquel. We thought about getting a pitcher of the sangria, but with someplace to drive, we thought a little better about it.

We had a limited amount of time to eat, so we did not delve into the chefmenus or some of the larger offerings. The people sitting next to us at the bar were very friendly,and appear to be neighborhood regulars. They suggested the parmesan artichokes. As an aside, this is one of the things that I enjoy about eating at bars in restaurants, or eating in european restaurants. In a restaurant like Amada, I think the dining community is adventurous and everyone is having fun and talking. I think the bar really aids this experience where you can share what you like and don't like. You casn easily look overand see what looks good and ask about it.

So we started with the manchego, granny smith apple and honey. This was a nice light start, and we both love Manchego. We ended up saving the last few pieces for dessert.

Then we ordered the marinated anchovies and the parmesan artichokes. I told my wife she had to trust me on the anchovies,as she is not one for oily fish. She was very surprised. I thought I would have to eat the entire plate, but she ended up eating half. I loved them. I think they were the best thing we had that night. Then we had the parmesan artichokes, which I thought were good, but not great. The parmesan was not as salty as I would have liked, and the dish needed some spice, white pepper even.

Round two was another glass of sangria tinto and I had the sangria blanco after having read the recipe from Katieloeb on egullet. Again, this stuff was going down way too easy. I guess with two glasses each, we probablycould have had a pitcher, but then I would have felt obligated to finish it if there were more than four glasses in it.

Next up was one of the specials for the evening, a seafood crepe with shrimp and scallops, mushrooms, red peppers over a shrimp seafood sauce. A small frisee salad was on top. This was very good and probably our next favorite dish. The flavors were on and I think they could offer this as a full dinner menu item. Thesauce was not too rich and with a bite from the vinaigrette, was very tasty.

Finally, we had the spicy potatoes, which were nice and smoky with paprika, but not as spicy as I had thought. The potato was cut into a "tater tot" shape and then fried. Nicely crusted on the outside and melting in the center. The only issue I had with these as that one would be mildly crunchy in the center, and then one would be melting in the center.

The bar tender was really informative and nice to talk with about the menu. He was very polite. The bar also seemed to have plenty of people working so that the bartenders could take food orders as well as drink orders. Often times, the bartenders barely keep up with the drink orders.

We had a really nice meal and will be returning as we did see a lot of things we want to try.

I kinda wish we lived in the neighborhood so we could be regulars.

[philadining]

It must be love....

[percyn]

Ohhh...I think this proves that it is...

[shacke]

Ohhh...I think this proves that it is...

←

This was after a pitcher of Sangria. He thought it was a fox.

[JanMcBaker]

Ohhh...I think this proves that it is...

←

This was after a pitcher of Sangria. He thought it was a fox.

←

I liked what Evan said about it.... "I got you Babe!".....

Wonderful dinner, by the way. Loads of fabulous tapas, then the pork and sides! Diann, thank you so much for getting this together! it was sooo yummy, and I got to meet some more eGullet members!

Eeek! Edited to add-- How could I forget mentioning the sangria! It was wonderfully refreshing and quite tasty. Nice job, Katie! Had a glass of red and one of the white. I'd have a hard time deciding which one I prefer.

Edited September 6, 2006 by JanMcBaker (log)

[philadining]

But first, some foreplay...

This was entirely too much Tapas, given the huge pile of pork that was to come, but it was well-chosen by our excellent waiter.

The Croquettas de Bacalao seemed like they had a bit more cod than previous versions, which is a good thing... But the winner was the shortrib flatbread, I could have eaten that all night...

[philadining]

Then, the main event...

accompanied by:

I feel like we barely put a dent in the roast pork that was provided, but then, there are worse things in the world than having leftovers to take home!

You'd think we would have learned after last time, but if I were to do it again, I'd suggest having much less tapas to start, maybe one or two things: a cheese plate or charcuterie sampler or something, so we could concentrate more on the roast pork, which was excellent, by the way....

Big fun, good food, nice seeing/meeting everybody. Thanks for making it happen, Diann!

[shacke]

yes, thanks Diann. It was an enormous variety of food in supra-gulleteer amounts. My personal favorites were the short rib flatbread and of course, the star of the show, Pedro's gal.

[I_call_the_duck]

Ohhh...I think this proves that it is...

←

I think he may even have taken our honored guest home with him.

Diann, thanks again for arranging this lovely feast. Come on y'all, that wasn't that much food was it? What are we all having for dinner tonight?

edited to add: I think we should make a book of all the Pedro photos.

Edited September 6, 2006 by I_call_the_duck (log)

[Jeff L]

Ohhh...I think this proves that it is...

←

I think he may even have taken our honored guest home with him.

Diann, thanks again for arranging this lovely feast. Come on y'all, that wasn't that much food was it? What are we all having for dinner tonight?

edited to add: I think we should make a book of all the Pedro photos.

←

Looks like you guys had way too much fun, I'm jealous. It doesn't seem possible, but I think you ordered more food than the first time we went!

Now may be a good time to report that Amada was just voted best new dining spot in Philly by the folks at Zagat.

[Andrew Fenton]

Yeah, it was great, and thanks to Diann for putting it together. I will say that I'm relieved that the pig head conversation went the way it did, rather than veering off into Lord of the Flies territory.

Too much food? Probably; the tapas were so good that by the time the pork came around I wasn't too interested, I'm afraid. I was too full-up on that terrific short rib flatbread, or flat-rib shortbread, or whatever it was. Yow. Still, my only real regret was that I didn't manage to snag that pig carcass, to lug it home and make some awesome roasted pork stock.

Edited September 6, 2006 by Andrew Fenton (log)

[mrbigjas]

man i can't wait till i can go out again. i'm heading back to amada post haste.

[percyn]

A few more pics from the other end of the table to suppliment Jeff's great shots.

Pardon the slightly large image size, but you can almost taste the food when the images are actual size.

Good job Katie

Iberico Chorizo

Hmmm...crispy skin

[KatieLoeb]

Thanks Percy!

The sangrias (both the red and the white) really are quite photogenic as well as tasty, even if I do say so myself. One of my favorite things is to serve a glass to a customer sitting by the window on a sunny day. It just looks so appealing with the light streaming through it. Many a glass has sold itself to another table that way.

[g_camper]

I had lunch at AMADA today and had the pleasure of Katie's company. The lamb albondigas were excellent as was everything else, including Katie's wine selections. I am only sorry that I missed the event - What a Babe!

[percyn]

After enjoying the steak flatbread, I decided to try it and home...it was quite easy and delicious:

Edited September 9, 2006 by percyn (log)

[KatieLoeb]

Percy:

We've come to expect nothing short of brilliance from you and you never disappoint us.

[Andrew Fenton]

Yum. What did you do for the flatbread, Percy?

Seems like this would be an ideal use for leftover short ribs. Guess what I have in the freezer? Guess what I'm going to cook, real soon?

[percyn]

Andrew, I used a store bought Tandoori Naan, which I toasted in the oven. Slather it with some aioli, herbs, grilled flank/skirt steak (or short ribs), caramelized onions and top with scallions, manchego or pecorino romano.

Katie, I thank you for your king words, but can't claim brilliance since I am merely copying this dish from a brilliant chef

Edited September 10, 2006 by percyn (log)