Amuse Restaurant

They work hard to be superior but I put it somewhere in the middle. Great service. Nice location but very pricey for what you get. My halibut was dry and the ribeye was over cooked. I think if they tried a little harder to not be so elitist and just focused on better preparation it would be a win.

Mediocre food and service at a high price. They seem to try hard but it really is not worth it. We had the sole and prime rib. Like I said it was ok but it left much to be desired.

Absolutely delicious !!! From the homemade charcuterie to the white chocolate mousse, The bread, the gnocchi, the soup the wine etc etc.
The service was also top notch. Probably the best meal we had on our Oregon vacation & the food has been amazing almost everywhere.
I will eat here every time I’m in Ashland. If you like good food, stop here for sure !!!

Erik and his staff gave our group of 16 a GREAT meal! I can’t recommend enough making Amuse one of your stops when you are in town.

We have had many special evenings here. The menu is always changing with what is in season and is always very imaginative and well executed. Wine list and pairings are thoughtfully selected and will not break the bank. Service has always been top notch as well, very attentive and warm without being intrusive. I would highly recommend Amuse for a special occasion.

There is a lot to like at Amuse, but it hasn’t translated into love.
I’ve visited for a pre-​show dinner this summer and last. My favorite items on the menu are the Parisienne Gnocchi (so colorful and delicate) and for dessert the Warm Bittersweet Chocolate Truffle Cake (
) is divine. The Heirloom Tomatoes starter was also delightful at dinner last week.
Unfortunately, some of the things that bothered me during my initial visit are still issues. The layout of the dining room is not ideal. The indoor space is tight and in an «L» shape with a few tables immediately to your left and then a main dining room straight ahead. There is also a patio out back. In my opinion, the best table in the restaurant is the corner table in the small room to your left. There is almost no space at the entry and tables are quite close to the host stand, so it just feels a bit uncomfortable at some of the tables.
The wait staff was quite sweet and asked in advance if we were seeing a show that night and we had no trouble getting served in a timely fashion. The table next to us (loudly proclaimed) that they were having issues. And due to the acoustics and spacing of tables, their issues were our issues.
The indoor décor is still a bit off for fine dining. Exposed nails here and there in the walls and some odd photos on the walls.
Positives — Light and local cuisine and a good wine menu. Love the amuse bouche and it was interesting that not all of the diners at a table receive the same bite.
Negatives — It is one of the pricier fine dining restaurants in town with a limited menu and minimal cocktail list. I feel like I get more bang for the buck and better ambiance at some of Ashland’s other notable fine dining restaurants.

One of the best meals on our trip! Atmosphere is nice and staff very pleasant. We both had their take on Caesars salad which wasn’t at all Caesar but was fantastic and so fresh tasting! The halibut was divine and did not even need the sauce that came with it which we knew because we had ordered the sauce to come on the side. The chocolate dessert and pistachio baklava were out of this world delicious! I would go there again on our next visit to Ashland.

Once again great food. They also did separate checks for our 4 couples. Very much appreciated.

Not really amused.
For my wife’s birthday we spent the weekend in Ashland and were going to try out some really nice places. We work hard for our money, we don’t mind paying money for nice things, but we will hold places to a certain standard that warrant it. We get a little grumpy when that standard is not met.
When our waiter arrived and we exchanged pleasantries his response to us was that he was tired. You know I understand that waiters are human too, but again I’m going to hold you all to a certain standard based on your product. That’s fine and all at an Applebees, but I’m not paying Applebee’s prices. I guess it was the polite thing to say to us to prepare us for the milquetoast service that would ensue (again, probably acceptable for a Chevy’s) Also, it would explain the lapse in attention when my wife mentioned that she had a nut allergy. More to come on that. Specials tonight… I guess we don’t get those. Many other tables were told them… not us. I tried not to take it personal.
We started with the mushroom salad. A big bite and it was definitely too salty. So we started picking apart the ingredients and each individual part was very good, but where was this salt coming from. Hmmm. I got the sweetbreads. It’s a perfect blend of flavors and textures. Best part of the meal.
For the entrée I got the shrimp with romesco. Lots of good flavors and textures. For some reason though each component was better individually. I don’t know if that’s how French cooking is supposed to be, but we noticed a theme.
My wife got the Gnocchi. If there is one thing that I hate is being reminded that I’m being ripped off. Her gnocchi was the same price as all the other entrees and was plated almost like an appetizer. It’s gnocchi for goodness sake, let’s pay attention to the price points here. Don’t punish her for being a vegetarian.
For dessert we got the Cherry calfoutis. It was really delicious. Basically the business end of a cherry tart. However it has an interesting texture and taste in the bottom of it. Almonds! I told the waiter that my wife had a nut allergy at the start. Good thing it’s systemic and not anaphalactic. Just a really uncomfortable night in the hotel room and not the emergency room, that’s the difference.
I have friends that really love to go here and I’m sure it has great potential, but based on our experience I doubt I’ll be back.
Oh that’s right I remember why I gave three and not two. The Beignets! Amazing flaming hot pillows of yummy dough. If I came back, it would probably be just for the beignets. They were so delicious. Best I’ve ever had.

Make no mistake — this is a full-​on linen-​napkin premium restaurant. You want cheap, go to a microbrewery or fast food. Service is exemplary — food is fantastic, prepared to perfection, every course. — desserts are wondrous. This is a special occasion restaurant, where life events are celebrated, hearts are bonded, and memories will be emblazoned in the heart and forever cherished.
The Artichoke Soup with Truffle Oil was incredibly good — wife and I both had it. Wife had the Slow Roasted King Salmon, and I opted for the Charcoal Grilled Cedar River Ribeye, with the so-​close-​to-​perfect-​it-​hurt Shoe String Fries.
Dessert was the Strawberry Shortcake. Now, strawberry shortcake sounds as common as brown shoes, but not here! The strawberries were a variety of flavors — fresh and pickled (sounds awful, tastes great!), along with fresh-​made shortcake and special Lemon Curd w/​Chantilly Cream. Insanely good!
Not a place for young kids — this is grown-​up territory, especially in price — but for those special memory kind of places, it’s perfection. No hyperbole here — just fact.

We weren’t able to get to Amuse on our last visit to Ashland, so we made sure to go there this time.
We started off with some bread and tiny, tasty appetizers, and the little gem lettuce salad. I had the Alaskan halibut with leeks, oyster mushrooms, and horseradish crème fraîche, and she had the grilled pork loin, baked beans, collard greens and onion relish. These were great. We decided to have the strawberry shortcake, which was unusual and really good. We were puzzled about what we were tasting, and found out that it contained strawberries three ways: fresh, pickled, and dried. We were even more impressed!
We were seated in the patio, which was quiet and pleasant. The service was extraordinary.
We spent a lot of time eating our way through southern and central Oregon. Amuse is at the top of our list of favorites.

For a special night out in Ashland, OR, Amuse Restaurant is the place to go. Well prepared, fresh and delectable foods of the region will please all. The desserts are outstanding. Our meal included appetizer prawns, the halibut and scallops worthy of high praise, adorned with light sauces and creatively prepared vegetables of the season. The chocolate truffle cake and the beignets are a must.

Michael & I enjoyed dinner at Amuse last night on their covered patio. My favorite item was the utterly delicious (20 Star) salad of wild arugula, shaved fennel, ruby red grapefruit, pine nuts & luscious creamy lemon dressing. Michael had the grilled prawns & loved them. Both of us ordered the grilled ribeye which was tender & flavorful. They were gracious in substituting scrumptious fava beans for shoestring potatoes (which I don’t eat). For dessert we shard the Warm Bittersweet Michael checked & found more:
For dessert, we had their Chocolate Truffle Cake with Coffee Ice Cream. Both of us found it to be somewhat boring. We found the Flourless Molten Lava Cake at Porter’s in Medford to be far more delicious (unfortunately they removed it from their menu). Even more we love the warm Flourless Chocolate Molten Lava Cake with Homemade Salted Caramel Ice Cream at Lark’s Restaurant in Ashland. That is utterly exquisite. If you really want to taste the chocolate, flourless is the way to go. In fact, I think we’ll go to Lark’s for dinner tonight!

Visit last summer was terrific with appetizer of fresh tomato, bleu cheese and bacon and a silky, flavorful squash soup. Salad was frisee with dates, peanut crumble, Asian pear and a sweet-​ish dressing that pulled everything together. Celery root soup was earthy and tasty with just the right texture and seasoning. Truffle game hen was okay (without the pan juice had really not much flavor), texture good, served with spinach and truffle potatoes. Roasted halibut was served with a smear of potato cream and it was heavenly.
Dessert was beignets with crème anglaise and homemade berry jam. They were just out of the fryer and were light, crispy and delicious!

Walked a block from our comfy hotel and stepped right into a deeee-​lightful French restaurant.
The staff was professional and friendly.
You can order first-​? courses with a scrumptious appetizer thrown into the mix. My daughter and I both ordered the scallops with couscous and a few vegetables. Along with a split baby lettuce salad we were quite sated.
There are plenty of other after dinner treats we elected to stay away from as we were catching the performance of Guys and Dolls right away.
It is really a date restaurant so bring your honey and turn up the heat. It is quite romantic, just not with my daughter.

We went to Amuse for my mother’s 80^th birthday and it was a terrific experience all around. I suspect we were lucky that it was Super Bowl Sunday since we hadn’t decided until that afternoon where we wanted to go but since we wanted to eat early we were able to get a table for 6 (even though it’s a pretty small place; they do have a patio for summers).
The service was great, timely and capable but not breathing down our necks. We ordered several of the crab and hearts of palm salad to share, which was delicious. But before they brought out the salads they brought out an Amuse Bouche of fresh potato chips with a stunningly good harissa sauce and fresh french roll epis and some amazing butter. I could not get enough of the potato chips but they did bring out a few extras for the birthday girl since she didn’t move as fast as the rest of us :-)
For the mains four people ordered the scallops, which were delicious, sweet and tender and the serving was four good sized scallops. The sides were very good as well. One person ordered the steak brevette (?) which is a cut I’d never heard of before (and my chef brother had not either), but it was delicious and very juicy and tender. I ordered the Truffled Goat cheese angiolotti which are small raviolis, stuffed with the goat cheese and cooked perfectly, the pasta was perfectly al dente yet the cheese was creamy and smooth, what a combination!!! I think it was the best pasta dish I’ve ever had in my entire life — it was truly amazing…
Finally we ordered several orders of beignets with cream anglais for dessert which were also perfect. They were warm and light with just the right amount of powdered sugar. Drenched in the cream Anglais and raspberry jam I was in heaven. The also brought the birthday girl a beautiful piece of cake with a candle.
Anyway, this was hands-​down one of the top five meals I’ve had in my life, and it was a perfect place for a special birthday celebration. It even wasn’t all that expensive, all things considered.

Dinning at Amuse was definitely a great experience but it’s luster definitely wore off the 2^nd time. My 1^st and 2^nd meals were basically the same even though it was a year apart. Service was top notch and food was still excellent especially the Beignet’s with crème anglaise and the Halibut!!! Buttery goodness!
One of my courses was a grapefruit salad but it could hardly be called a salad as it was just a slice of grape fruit with some additions on the sides. Also, I was not impressed by some of ingredients used as the focus of my dishes. That said, I would still suggest everyone to try it at least once but I would wait longer between dinning experiences. There are other great restaurants to be tried and I don’t expect to be back at Amuse anytime soon but mark my words, I will be back eventually.

We spent $ 177 for three people. Overall, we had two drinks, two appetizers, three entrees, and one dessert.
Pros:
Nice dining atmosphere
Delicious dessert options
Good location if you are seeing a play at OSF
Cons:
Food was not up to the standards of the prices
Staff seems overwhelmed, was not personable
Only one vegetarian option for entrees
Hadn’t updated their menu since we dined there four months ago
The takeaway: if it’s your first time here, I’m sure you will enjoy it. However, if it’s your fifth time dining here, go somewhere else.

The service on my recent visit was superb. The waiters and other front room staff were on their toes, moving from place to place, expertly giving advice and making certain everything was just right. The elegant décor increases the value of this theater-​close dining location. One could quickly see that these are professionals, running a restaurant in the best way possible.
The food, on whole, for a vegetarian, is quite fine and fairly imaginative. When asked to improvise, however, my main course lacked the real oomph that would put the entire experience over the top. The centerpiece should get a little more focus, as the entrée was merely a plop of rice with an array of simple and nicely julienned vegetables. This may have been well enough for some, but when I go out I want what feels like a complete meal. Even still, a welcome surprise to the meal was the buttered and sautéed beach mushrooms.
Both ends of the meal were very special — a cheese plate I ordered was phenomenal a real treat at only $ 15. We sampled three cheeses on this plate, including a variety of roasted nuts and an orange marmalade-​like spread that was a real plus. The dessert — a chocolate truffle cake — was equally mesmerizing.
Make a special request if vegetarian, but name your favorite vegetables and see what the chef and his staff can do. I suspect that if I would have been more specific with my request I would have been much more satisfied. I would love to go back to Amuse after we try a couple more of the fine dining moments of this quaint little city. I can easily see why many call Amuse the best.

We are down for our annual long weekend of theatre and dining. We have avoided this place because we had heard it was up and down. We are very glad we stopped in.
We started with a green garlic soup and a petite kale salad. We split and shared each dish; good choice. We then split the halibut. It could not have been better. The fish was moist with a wonderful delicate flavor. We then split a cheese sample for dessert. Good cheese, but the cheese knife should have been sharp.
We washed dinner down with a very nice Sancerre rose. It balanced our choice just right. We will be back; great start to the weekend.