Amada

I’ve been looking forward to coming here since the Atlantic City location shut down. The aged manchego with truffle lavender honey is a favorite, along with Piquillos Rellenos and the olive oil cake for dessert. The atmosphere is chic but cozy and they have a pretty good wine list. Can’t wait to come back!

Brunch date experience:
We ordered the Cheese plate. The best cheese was the aged manchego with the fig and cherry marmalade ¹⁰⁄₁₀
Spicy Potato tapa is ⁹⁄₁₀ (more sauce garnish could have nailed the dish).
Queso de cabra was the winner! House made marinara with baked goat cheese basil and almonds. And bread to dip. ¹⁰⁄₁₀
The Spanish Tortilla with saffron aioli had the best presentation but it was very eggy and tasted overwhelming with bland potatoes. It felt very dry. Hope the chef can re work on that recipe and add more sauce. ⁵⁄₁₀
Habas a la catalana Fava beans were also good. ⁷⁄₁₀
The house dessert on that afternoon which was a chocolate torta was one of the best ones we had, came with ice cream and orange. ¹⁰⁄₁₀!
A very good date place. Our server was very welcoming and treated us with gratitude.

Perfect. Only the grilled chicken was a little dry and bland.
everything else was great: octopus, lavender truffle honey…

The ambiance, the food, the drinks… everything is so delightful! We stopped in Amada for brunch during restaurant week after reading about it on numerous top restaurant lists! You cannot go wrong with anything on this menu!

Fancy, very cozy place and excellent service. Food was wonderful, and while I am aware that it’s a tapa place, the food portions are a bit small for my preference (i have a hearty appetite!). Still, the food left me pretty satiated. We were here for restaurant week, so 5 courses per person were definitely a pretty good amount of food. Now, without further ado:
1^st course:
Aged manchego cheese — it was okay, but my friends absolutely loved the honey.
Garrotxa cheese — delicious. Outstanding sauce.
Caña de cabra cheese — my favorite of the three cheeses we got
Chorizo pamploma — pretty good but nothing special. Not worth getting for restaurant week
Enscalivida — really delicious. The blend of veggies was perfect
Tortilla española — so tiny! But it was good
2^nd course:
Coca de costillas de ternera (beef flatbread) — like a white pizza. Good but a bit dry. Had a LOT of meat (good for meat lovers)
Coca de gambas con garbanzos (shrimp flatbread) — like a red pizza. A bit too much red sauce. Good but nothing special IMO
Hanger steak brochettes — OMG AMAZING. My favorite dish here! I don’t like steak much, but this was so juicy and quite salty (which I love!).
Garbanzos con espinacas — great flavorful sauce
Setas — delicious. A bit too oily but still wonderful and salty
Panceta (pork belly) — really delicious! Perfect crispy skin. So small though… sigh.
3^rd course:
Tarta de chocolate — very dense, decadent, and delicious (alliteration unintended). But boy, the portion is so tiny… I often prefer pure chocolate foods, but the orange sauce was great and complements the rich chocolate well.
Such TINY portions! If the portions were bigger, this’ll be like 4.5÷5 instead. Still, it was a pretty good deal for restaurant week, and I felt sufficiently full, which was important to me! I am a big-​meal lover, but Amada would be great for tapa lovers.

What an experience! Amada was the best way to end a weekend after being trapped inside for a blizzard.
My boyfriend and I ventured to Amada to enjoy their restaurant week menu and it was well worth it. Finding a vegetarian friendly restaurant week place is like a diamond in the rough but this place SHINES! The interior of Amada is very cozy feeling, while also feeling unique. They have a wall lined with lanterns and some tables that have rocks underneath.
We were quickly seated upon arrival and ordered water and drinks. I got the Tinto Sangra and my boyfriend got a Spanish Lager beer. Both of them were nice but I especially enjoyed my Sangria. It was spiced with Cinnamon and made me feel cozy after a weekend surrounded by snow.
Since Amada is tapas, the menu for restaurant week allows you to order two apps, two «entrees» and one dessert. It’s a lot of food and definitely a bargain at the restaurant week price.
We ordered the Aged Manchego cheese, Ganboxtna cheese. Ensalada Verde, and Gambas Al Ajillo for appetizers. Both cheeses were amazing but I preferred the Ganboxtne cause I am partial to garlic. Honestly, both cheeses are something that I will think about for a long time and are a definite pick! The salad was filling for tapas and very tasty. I didn’t try the Gambas (shrimp) but boyfriend said it was «good».
For entrees I ordered Espannagos con Trufas and Garbanzos con Espiancas. I preferred the Espannagos (asparagus and egg) and would definitely skip the Chickpeas and Spinach next time even though the smokeyness was a flavor I haven’t had in a while.\. Again, these were both large portions so if you are afraid of tapas, it’s okay to pick something a bit lighter. My boyfriend got a chicken dish topped with egg and steak dish. Overall, he said that they were both enjoyable but preferred the chicken dish (it’s pictured below).
Finally, we ordered both desserts available. I strongly preferred the Crema Catalana. It was such a light, fresh dessert. The lemon custard was just superb. I highly recommend this dish.
Overall, I HIGHLY recommend this as a stop for restaurant week. I left satisfied and happy to drop the cash on this meal. A lot of food for a tapas place. Just go!

Fantastic tapas, definitely much better than Tinto IMO. Had both Spanish classics and thoughtful new spins on existing ones I’ve seen so much of during a trip to Spain a year ago. I came here with friends during restaurant week, and the $ 35 menu got us a pick of 2 1^st course tapas, 2 entrees, and 1 dessert from a pretty large and diverse set of choices.
The cheese plate (aged manchego & garrotxa) w/​just enough complexity of flavors and sweetness + their accompanying honeys were a great start to the meal. I also loved the simple, classic jamon iberco, probably more so than the thinly sliced chorizo if I had to pick a favorite. The flash fried peppers weren’t spicy but not particularly flavorful, but dipped in the nutty sauce it came with, it wasn’t bad.
For the 2^nd course, I had a wonderfully tender/​fatty panceta (pork belly) with a perfectly crisp skin. The dashes of sauce and the drizzle of oil and other ingredients weren’t overbearing and gave the pork center stage in the dish. The calamari was also fantastic — fresh, delicious subtle grilled flavor, and was perfectly complemented by the light pesto sauce.
The garlic shrimp, crab-​stuffed peppers, and costillas de ternera (beef short rib flatbread), on the other hand, were skippable IMO. All of them featured high-​quality ingredients but were otherwise pretty ordinary and not much deviation from exactly as stated — the crab was also difficult to finish since it was so heavy on the cream.
Finally, both the desserts on the restaurant week menu: tarta de chocolate (chocolate torte) & toncinillo de cielo (some sort of pistachio, vanilla, and citrus pudding w/​a light cream foam on top) were absolutely incredible. The torte was incredibly rich and dark chocolate-​y and left me wanting more, although I disliked the blood orange sauce on it since I don’t like citrus + chocolate and had to scoop it off. The pudding featured a lot of different textures and was wonderfully creamy and complex.

I have to say that it was quite a surprise to me that I’ve yet to write a review of Amada. Afterall, not only did I stalk it for the first few years it opened but heck, I had my rehearsal dinner there!
Needless to say I love this place and after 10 glorious years serving food, they really haven’t missed a beat with their stellar service and delicious fare.
Here is a list of my all time favorites:
First, I’ll have to start with some sangria and I love their red. It’s sweet at first from the fruit but has a nice dry finish.
Ensalada De Jamon– A fig/​arugala and spicy nut salad wrapped in jamon… need I say more?
The beef short rib flat bread= this always a must between the salty cheese, tender pork and sweet onions!
The lamb meatballs– Ohhh the lamb meatballs. They’re heaven.
Grilled asparagus, truffles and poached egg– this dish is everything I love in one. Pop the egg, mix it up and the crisp on top adds the perfect texture
Calamari Linguine– this dish is rich. It’s loaded with seafood and super creamy with the perfect sweetness from the onions.
Spanish ocotopus– sooo tender and straight forward. The lemon wedge totally completes the dish too!
Lastly, if you’re looking to have a group dinner, go for the suckling pig. The dishes that come along with it are perfect and wow they know how to slow roast a pig!
Jose Garces really knows what he’s doing. I hope Amada is around for another 10 years!

Came here for lunch on restaurant week. Good vibes and relaxing atmosphere for casual conversation.
First course:
— aged manchego cheese — I found this to be one of the weaker dishes of the meal. It came in a set of sliced green applies, honey infused with truffle flavors, toasted bread and cheese. I thought it was a little bit of a confusing dish with flavors all over the place. Individually, everything was good but put together, not the best.
Second course:
— queso de cabra — a beautiful piece of melt-​in-​your-​mouth goat cheese. Beautiful presentation with 4 – 5 pieces of toasted bread for dipping. Came with a rich tomato sauce which you could mix with your melted cheese. Extremely rich and warm flavors.
— patatas bravas — this was recommended by the server and we were not let down. The potatoes were cut into large chips and sprinkled with paprika and another type of spicy mayo sauce. Really delicious, and also quite a large dish! Good for sharing.
Dessert:
— tocinolli de cielo — light and foamy, with a contrast of a few crunchy flakes on top. Very delicate!
— tarta de chocolate — very rich in dark chocolate. Complemented nicely with orange sauce on the side.

We went to Amada for the start of Center City District restaurant week. It was $ 35 per person for two appetizer tapas, two entrée tapas and one dessert. I’m always worried that tapas restaurants won’t fill us up but Amada did the trick.
For appetizers, we got two orders of garlic shrimp, white bean and ham stew, and croquettes. The garlic shrimp were in a delicious broth and came with bread to sop up the remaining sauce. The white bean and ham stew was a highlight for me. It had such great depth of flavor with pieces of chorizo in it. Would highly recommend.
For entrees, we got grilled calamari, shrimp flatbread, hangar steak, and truffle and egg chicken. All of the entrees were great but the chicken was the standout. It comes with a truffle mushroom sauce and an egg on top.
The desserts were the lower point of the meal. We opted for one of each. The chocolate tart is minuscule and a little too rich for my taste. I’m really not even sure what the other dessert was. It was mostly foam which was strange.
The service was very slow and at times rude. We felt like the waiter scoffed at us for getting two orders of shrimp. It took a really long time for our plates to get cleared and for dessert to come.
Overall, Amada shines with their appetizer and entrée tapas. Dessert and service need work. Still worth 4 stars.

I have yet to understand the devout following of Jose Garces’ restaurants in this city, and again, this latest venture fell short (and then some) of my expectations. I don’t mind paying a good dollar for food, but I was very disappointed in many of the tapas. Normally, I prefer to present facts and personal experiences in reviews, but it is a testament of their menu that I can’t recall any of the dishes brought to our table.

Had my birthday dinner here recently and wow what an experience!
Disclaimer: My review is entirely based solely on the amazing food, because that made up for the server’s snooty attitude towards us in the evening.
We started the night with wonderfully crafted sangria at the bar and a few plates off happy hour. The Ensalada de Jamon was surprisingly amazing and filling, for a girl like me who is not the biggest fan of salad. This salad consisted of spinach and figs wrapped with a deliciously cured ham. The vinaigrette was particularly sour and flavorful, paired with the sweetness of the fig. This left a mouthful of flavors — a tad too strong for my palate actually.
The flatbreads are great too. We got the Gambas con Garbanzos, consisting of shrimp, chorizo, and garbanzo bean purée. Tasted the shrimp and not so much the chorizo but the combination of flavors meshed well.
For me, highlights included the Croquetas de Jamon and the Pulpo la Gallega (octopus). The octopus at Amada was actually some of the best I ever had. They were grilled to perfection, with a lovely smokey, meaty flavor of the sea. Absolutely delicious! Croquetas were awesome too!!!
I did also enjoy the Aged Manchego Montadito! And definitely get the warm doughnuts for dessert!!! Sooooo good!

Went here for lunch and it warrants an update.
Previously graded as a five stars, my experience here was generally three, but a treat at the end pushed it over the edge.
First of all: lunch deal is great. Soup, salad or sandwich, for $ 14.50. Great. And the quality? Generally excellent. Two great soups (ham and bean & sunchoke and serrano ham). The duck confit in the former was mind-​blowing. Green salad (literally, verde ensalada) and ham salad (ensalada de jamon) were also great. Can’t ask for more in the food. Wilted greens in the green salad were a slight turn off, but forgiveable – it’s December, people.
Service was moderately slow and server seemed a little preoccupied. My soup came out late, but they compensated me for it. Literally the entire lunch was paid for. Amazing.
Less-​than-​perfect, but still recommended, highly.
Oh yeah, and refreshing glasses of Allagash White were spot on too.

Amada does a perfect job of blending Spanish tapas and Old Philadelphia. And the holiday trimmings are just the icing on the cake, it’s a lovely setting.
I sat at the bar, which is a great vantage point as long as you’re not on the end where you need a booster seat. It’s a an old building, I get it. And, thankfully, they moved me to a spot where the seats line up better with the bar.
You start off with crisp bread and a tuna spread instead of bread. I thought it was a nice twist. The tuna is creamed and jazzed up with capers and the crisp bread is a nice complement.
I had the peppers, which are served atop a romescu sauce. Both are very good, but I’m not sure if they are a perfect match for each other. You kind of have to eat your way down to the sauce and if you try to dip the peppers, they don’t really pick up much sauce since it’s pretty thick. It works though.
The chickpeas had a little more kick than this dish usually has, which was a nice touch. Crispy chickpeas on top add a little crunch. I’m used to a little more spinach in this dish, but it was still tasty.
Next up was the fideua, a mix of noodles, both crispy and in cream sauce along with shellfish and a large scallop. I would say this is perhaps better described as fideua meets risotto as the noodles are in a sauce reminiscent of that dish. I would probably prefer if they’d lighten the cream a bit and add some for crispy noodles. There’s also plenty of ham in the dish, although it really does not need so much, if any.
I had the sorbet/​gelato plate for dessert. You get to pick three. The chocolate and olive oil gelati are perfect together with the creamy olive oil balancing the rich, almost fudgey chocolate gelato. The lemon sorbet was like lemon ice and was fine, but I probably should not paired it with the other two.
The staff was very friendly. I appreciated that the host realized the chef’s counter was too tight for another person and brought me to to the bar, where the servers were totally on point.
This meal and Amada were a perfect welcome for a few days in the City of Brotherly Love!

What an awesome place! Had a really large group for dinner and it was wonderful!
The food is fantastic. Manchego with honey and apples was definitely the crowd favorite. Salad was absolutely delicious. Patatas bravas had the cutest presentation. Paella was really good too.
Overall, great experience. Service was on point, ambiance was great, there is happy hour… what’s not to like!

I’ve been here 3 times.
The first time was for RW lunch with a friend a while back. The place was hopping and seating was tight, but service was efficient and the experience was smooth. The Caldo Gallego (bean and ham stew), Ensalada Verde (very tasty salad), Patatas Bravas (spicy potatoes), and Chorizo a la Plancha were very memorable, which inspired my second visit…
…for my birthday, also a while back. Although I was really excited to celebrate it here, I was not wowed by this experience. I tried some highly anticipated items, such as the Pulpo a La Gallega (Spanish Octopus), Ensalada de Jamon (prosciutto-​wrapped salad), the shortrib flatbread, and Pernil Asado (roasted pork), in addition to some repeats from the last experience. The octopus dish was tasty, but I found that most of the pieces tasted like potatoes… because they were. The prosciutto-​wrapped date salad was OK, the shortrib flatbread was good, and the Pernil Asado, while deliciously flavored, was a bit too dry. The Mixto cheese platter was also underwhelming. While I loved the condiments, I barely remember the cheeses because the portions were microscopic. Also, the service was a bit off on this night.
However, I came back for the most recent Pig Out event and everything was excellent. To start off, I really think Amada makes the best sangrias in town. The service was great and all dishes were well-​executed, starting with the Spinach Salad, Padron Peppers, and grilled chorizo (which was a good as I remembered it). The sides of Rosemary White Beans, Roasted Fingerling Potatoes, and Garbanzos a la Catalana were also great — although this last one had way more chickpeas than garbanzo beans. Perhaps it could be renamed «Chickpeas a la Catalana.» The roasted suckling pig was very tender and was the best rendering of suckling pig I’ve had. The bacon doughnuts we got for dessert were also good, albeit a bit dry. However, they paired very well with the always excellent Garces coffee.
Overall, there were some hiccups here and there, but I would still recommend this restaurant.

The food here is delicious. Our service wasn’t good which is why I had to knock it down a star.
I went early on a Monday night with two other women. The place was pretty empty and most people were sitting at the bar. Tip– happy hour menus are only available at the bar.
I went to Spain this summer and was dying to get the Patatas Bravas. You get like 6 potato nubs on a plate served with a paprika aioli. Amazing! Tasted just like the ones from Barcelona. Loved these been wish there would have been more. (I also don’t know why some pictures on here look more like fries– they weren’t that).
We had the manchego with truffle honey which was yummy. Served with apple slices for a nice sweet thing.
Then our sever brought over complimentary crostini with a tuna cream spread. Odd combination and it sounded funky but tasted really good! We liked eating the cheeses with the crackers.
The Baked Goat Cheese. GET IT. So good. Served with some bread and this fresh tomato sauce. We loved it. Best dish.
The Wagyu Beef Brochettes were also a big hit. You get three skewers with 2 pieces of meat and a potato on each. We loved the sauce! The meat was on the medium rare side which was too raw for me but the flavor was awesome.
Lastly, we had the Shrimp Flatbread. The chef was able to do half without chorizo which was nice and we really like this.
For dessert we had the Olive Oil Cake. It’s basically a pound cake with olive oil. It was good when mixed with the cinnamon-​y ice cream but not amazing.
We also had a glass of the White Sangria. It was not good. It was not sweet and lacked flavor of fresh sangria.
We want to go bag to try more of the small plates!
The service:
Our service came over and we told him it was our first time. The only recommendation he has was that we should order 9 plates. We ended up ordering 5 and that was enough– maybe could have used one more meat but still satisfied. When we asked him questions he was rude and didn’t provide great answers. Can you recommend a dessert? «Well we have donuts those are donuts and an olive oil cake which is cake with olive oil.» Not really what we wanted.
Then he disappeared and we couldn’t find him. I had to ask the hostess to take our bill. On a slow Monday night it should not have been that hard to serve us.

Disclaimer– I’m a fan of Jose Garces and my favorite restaurant of his was Chifa. It’s now closed.
So I’ve been a fan of Amada for a long time but have not been in a while. I returned recently for dinner with a friend during their week long anniversary celebration. The food was as great as I remembered. If you don’t know, this restaurant is tapas styled, fashioned after the Spanish style of tapas. Sharing is the way to go to taste a variety of dishes and fill up. Tapas dishes that I recommend include; grilled shrimp, any cheese plate, the Serrano ham/​fig salad, flatbread with lamb and truffles. They have a great martini made with lemon and rosemary — called «Tie me up, tie me down». I have yet to try their paella but the descriptions look good. Bön appetit!

I think this place is my favorite Garces restaurant. I really do love the food here. The setting is also great. I’ve been here with family, friends for happy hour, dates and birthdays. It has a very sexy vibe and almost everything I’ve tried is great.
A friend and I stopped in yesterday (Saturday evening) to see if we could snag a table by the bar and order some tapas and drinks. Unfortunately, even though we showed up a little early all the high tops by the bar and seats were taken. However, we were lucky enough to get one last table outside and since it was a beautiful evening anyway. The wait for a hightop table was going to be 30 minutes.
My friend started with the Datiles Con Almendras (bacon wrapped dates). It looked so good I had to try some even though I’m not a fan of dates. It was really good and the flavors were a good mix of sweet and savory. Comes with a drizzle of blue cheese.
I ordered my favorite garlic shrimp. It’s perfect every time. Garlicky, fresh and the bread that comes which is perfect to soak up all the leftover sauce.
Next, came the fideos con mariscos. Almost like short angel hair pasta in a sweet onion cream sauce top with one seared scallop and clams. Delicious.
And finally, my friend wanted to try the Revuelto which looks like scrambled eggs topped with shrimp but you have to love the wild mushroom truffle oil spread that comes with the side of bread. Solid dish. I’ve had this both for dinner and brunch and it works both times!
Other dishes not to miss: Croquetas De Jamon (ham croquettes) and definitely try the Wagyu beef if you like red meat! The other reviews are also right about the sangrias. The white sangria is the best I’ve ever had!
We didn’t get dessert last night but I loved the complimentary fortune cookie like dessert they gave us along with the check.
Service was a little spotty last night but I think it’s because we were sitting outside. Definitely make reservations if you’re trying to get a table on the weekend. Happy hour is also great way to try different dishes because you get smaller portions of tapas for $ 4 – 5 and the usual $ 10 glass of sangria is half off!

It was late afternoon
Girls night out
A cold, sweet treat was needed
Sangria?
Sangri-​YEAH
Four girls and a pitcher
Four dishes and a dessert.
We went on a restaurant Week, and it was a good excuse to give Amada a second chance. For $ 35 we got five choices including one dessert. It was simple, with an understated sophistication.
–First Course: (choice of two)
1) TORTILLA ESPAÑOLA: Spanish Tortilla, Saffron Aïoli. DELICIOUS.
2) GAMBAS AL AJILLO: Garlic Shrimp. Yum Yum…
–Second Course: (choice of two)
1) BACALAO: Black Cod, Tomato & Pepper Stew, Potato Confit, Fennel & Olive Escabeche. It was too fishy.
2) MADRE E HIJO: Chicken Breast with Truffles, Fried Egg. Really good. you won’t be disappointed.
— Third Course: (choice of one) AkA dessert.
CREMA CATALANA: Traditional Spanish Custard. TASTELESS. Worst desser I ever had.
Overall, the ambiance was lovely, the service was great and the food was good– other than the fishy fish and tasteless custard.
Four solid Unilocal