Ama’s

Really enjoyed my visit to Ama’s.
Although, yes, it is extremely small, we intentionally went early since we knew that was the case and had a group of 5. The place was empty. The bartender/​waiter was insanely friendly and stood around chatting with us for awhile since there was no one else there. They have a great selection of beer for such a small place, including Sapporo on tap and a bunch of varieties of Hitachino in bottles. The atmosphere and décor are rather exquisite.
The menu is somewhat limited, and the prices might seem high to some for the portion sizes. In a way, it’s like a French restaurant that serves Japanese food. The portions are smaller, but from what I tried, the quality is better. Really enjoyed my bento box with inari (rice wrapped in fried tofu pouches), carrot and daikon salad, shitake mushrooms, and noodles.
I would like to come again, but would either come early as last time, or with only one other person. It’s too bad they don’t have a bigger space, although I suppose it wouldn’t be quite the same place then.

Went here for the first time the other day– so good! Bento boxes are perfect for a healthy and light dinner option! Loved this place!

The food here is very good. The Bento Box is a great option, because it allows you to try four different tastes. There are a lot of options to choose from, all of which are excellently prepared. The house sake is good, too.

What a fun place! I love sitting at the bar with the ice trough where my oysters can happily wait for me. The bartenders have always been friendly and helpful.
Food-​wise, I’ve had oysters, some of their bento boxes, and the fish & chips. All have been top notch though the portions on the boxes are a little small. Prices aren’t very steep though so adding an extra app or sharing an entrée is very doable.
I love any reason to go to Ama’s. The Avery across the street for a before or after drink is an added bonus.

The place is very small but cute inside. Perfect for a date with your lovah.
The boy and I came here solely for the oysters which were yummy and fresh. We got seated quickly but it took a while to get the food because the poor bartender was the only server in the place. We didnt mind though, he was friendly and apologetic about it all. I’d definitely come back.

I really wanted to enjoy this place. I am a fan of both oysters and bento boxes so I was expecting a home run. The oysters saved this meal but the bento box truly mad me frown. The fresh panko encrusted fish was something that I could have easily picked up at Stop and Shop with more salt then one dish ever needs. Every little piece of fish was the exact shape which leads me to believe it is not very fresh at all. The soba noodles had much to be desired and the zucchini tasted as if it had been sitting in the back waiting to be prepped for the last week. The atmosphere is great and if you are going for just oysters if you want a meal from a bento box I suggest finding somewhere else to eat.

When I say, «I love Ama’s,» I don’t think it adequately describes how much I actually LOVE Ama’s. This is quite possibly my most favorite little spot in town, and here are the reasons why:
— Fresh, delicious, unique and beautiful food. They daily oyster selection never fails me, and they’re presented so beautifully on a bed of ice with nary a piece of shell nor a single grain of sand to ruin the beautiful texture of these fresh little kisses from the sea. The bento boxes are superb — I adore that you can choose your own combo of four items to make up the best meal for you in that very moment. My fave? Those shittake mushrooms — my god, those are good. Also, they’re only $ 15 a box — not bad for dinner, kids. The fish ‘n’ chips are simply delicious — not heavy, greasy or messy, it’s actually a well-​portioned plate of bite-​sized, panko-​breaded white fish and great shoestring fries. Totally wonderful.
— The atmosphere and ambience. I feel like I’m on an old world-​y ship in another country where politeness and respect for everything is standard. The staff here are so kind, so knowledgeable and so good a what they do that there’s not reason to do anything but relax and enjoy. The bar staff is well equipped to make you a drink based on simple descriptions like, «I like gin, but not martinis,» or help you select the perfect beer and, again, they can shuck an oyster PERFECTLY. The restaurant is a little jewel box — small, lovely, warm and pretty. Perfect considering Ama’s is an absolute gem.
— Location. A quiet spot on a quiet (cobblestone) street on an awesome block. I love this teensy square in the PVD, as it feels very old and cool and historical, not to mention hidden. No riff raff here, kids.
In closing, go to Ama’s. Sit at the bar, and get some oysters and a Hitachino Japanese Ale. Have a bento box, and share the fish’n’chips with your companion. You won’t be sorry.

I enjoyed my experience, especially the Japanese-​style noodle dish I ordered, but I left slightly broke and still hungry after ordering a half-​dozen oysters, appetizer and a main entrée.

Ama’s is small with seating for about 14 – 16 people. That said, on the particular night that we went, we walked right in and were seated immediately. There’s also a bar area where food was being served. The décor is similar to louie fuller (I think it’s the same artist), and has a neat nautical/​fantasy appeal. And yes, there’s rope. not sure what’s so offensive to other reviewers about the rope, but I thought it was neat.
My hubs and I went to Ama’s for NYE. It really fit the bill for what we wanted — something intimate and quiet (but not fake-​romantic), and something without long lines, rushed service and a NYE prixe fixe.
the menu is not extensive, but with plenty of options. We chose to do a tapas style dinner, sharing and trying almost everything on the menu. We actually loved the service and found it relaxing — things came out as we ordered, and we snacked and chatted our way through dinner.
My favorites were the steak with miso butter and the seaweed salad. Delicious!

I went to Ama’s some months ago, but am just getting around to writing this review now. Like everyone else says, the place is small. And very dark. So dark that I had a hard time reading the menu (and I do not need to wear reading glasses).
The food was actually quite good, some of it was even remarkably good. But not good enough to make up for the lack of friendliness and service. (Sitting at the bar with an empty glass is one thing. Being one of three people in the place and still sitting there with an empty glass is ridiculous.)
The overwhelming flavor of this places is: we don’t need you to validate that we know what we are doing here. If you don’t like it, no one is forcing you to come here. We do not care about your business.
Going out to dinner is more of an experience than simply having a meal. I found the experience at Ama’s very disappointing. The level of snobbery, condescension, and exclusivity was more than I care to deal with.
I really wanted to like this place since it is right in my neighborhood, but as soon as I stepped out of the door, I knew I would never step back inside. Sorry, Ama’s.

Nice little place with nice décor. Love their little sake sets, though it turns out I do not like sake lol. like drinking lighter fluid. Nice staff, will come again to try the food.

Nope.
Rest of reviewers have it pretty correct: it’s tiny, the food’s tiny, it’s cozy, it’s Japanese, it’s open late, and it’s full of ropes. Yeah, ropes.
The collective Unilocal,however, surprise me by not identifying the fact that a) the food’s not very good b) the service is worse than the food.
They do have bento boxes, which is nice to find, but they demanded a twosome sit in the middle of the place «in case a three some shows up» and made us rather uncomfortable (the tables are way too long for an intimate date and wouldn’t let us move around chairs). They missed on the order a bit, and were super condescending regarding drinks. Perhaps 99% of this can be traced to the dude with the fro and the attitude, so maybe this review is warped.
Other places survive with these issues. Hell, what is french food without borderline abusive service? However, they fail where they must excel: the food wasn’t that good. Go elsewhere.

Ama’s is a tiny, beautifully appointed hidden gem of a restaurant with a menu focused mainly on fresh and amazingly well made bento boxes and Japanese seafood dishes.
Both the menu and the restaurant are small but excellent. I’m not usually a fan of seafood, and even I thought that what I’ve had here is amazing (though last time I just had steak, so I guess that doesn’t count).
The food, the atmosphere, and the almost hidden location make Ama’s probably the best place to go to impress a date. Especially if it’s followed by a walk across the street to The Avery.

On the one hand, I’m loathe to share this quiet, little neighborhood gem with Eastside interlopers; on the other hand, it deserves recognition; on the third hand, yes, come spend your money here. Ama’s is a lovely little jewelbox – intimate yet casual, gracious, comfortable. The main focus is on oysters and bento boxes. Prices are very reasonable, portions are decorous, and the experience is one of genteel sufficiency – if you’re leaving hungry, then perhaps Twin Oaks is more your style. The oysters are always fresh, the entrees are flavorful and earnest interpretations of Japanese cuisine, if not overly ambitious or complex. I’d like the food to be a bit less salty, but I find myself saying that at every restaurant. And, of course, the night’s not complete without a digestif at The Avery next door.

Ama’s is a tiny little space with beautiful décor and good food. Designed with a nautical motif, one of the main draws here is the raw bar, which always has an assortment of super-​fresh oysters and occasionally clams. If you sit at the bar, they’ll serve them to you in the trough of ice that runs the length of the bar… clever and classy!
The bento boxes are a great deal, and also a great way to sample the menu. Also good are the noodle soups and the selection of sakes. For a hidden-​away spot, it’s worth checking out for a casual, intimate dinner.

This place was deeeeelicious! My boyfriend just moved from the East Side to the West End, so all of our usual spots are still on the E. Side. Tonight we made an effort to try something closer to home– and I’m so glad we did!
The place is tiny, so I’m not sure how fun it would be to wait for a table over the weekend, but it was the perfect Sunday night dinner spot. I got one of the box deals for $ 15 mentioned below. I got seaweed salad, cold noodles with a dipping sauce, the tofu pouches (sound weird but they were tasty– seasoned really well and filled with yummy rice) and some amazing sauteed shitake mushrooms. The flavors of all four dishes were unique and so tasty. I also got a glass of sake for $ 5 and despite my best efforts didn’t finish it by the end of the meal, so that was a good deal.
My boyfriend got the shrimp and pork udon noodles (rabbis, steer clear! :)) and said the shrimp were simply fantastic.
Definitely recommend checking it out!

Stopped here after visiting The Avery to grab a bite to eat Saturday night. They had loads of boring bottled beer and Sapporo was the only draft. The oyster selection was impressive and reasonably priced. I also got the steamed duck bun. The steamed bun was quite good but the duck breast had obviously been of the frozen sort and was as tough as rawhide. My friend had some sort of mushroom dish and loved it though. The service and price was ok and the place was pretty cozy. If you are looking for a quiet spot near The Avery, this is an ok spot, though Julians is not that far away.

If there’s one reason why I won’t come back, it’s THE SMELL.
I know this is a little vegetarian-​friendly japanese place, big on the seafood, but the smell of low tide is overwhelming.
There are five tables here. One can seat about 6 or 7 people, the other can seat four. The other three can seat two. That’s 17 people. There are also about 10 stools at the bar. So if you come in with a group and the big table is taken, you’re pretty much going to be looking for another place to eat. This place is TINY.
I’d actually call it almost a romantic dinner type of place if it didn’t smell so awful (sorry I’ll stop complaining now). But one more thing, our wet, greasy waiter also smelled like he just came off the fisherman’s boat. Was he the cook AND the waiter? Possibly.
On the plus side, he was very jolly and attentive. Super nice, besides him almost not letting us eat because there were four of us with the POSSIBILITY of a fifth person, and the big table was already taken.
So while I was there, I got a bento box. Steak skewers, noodles, slaw and edamame. The steak skewers tasted a little funky, like they were cooked along with the fish. So I only ate a few bites of those. The noodles were not good. The edamame was very undersalted (if you want good Edamame, go to Ebisu!), and I’d have to say the best part of the bento box was the coleslaw. For 15 bucks.
The portions for anything else were TINY. My friend got the shrimp plate and got, I think, four or five shrimp. I think it was 8 bucks or so.
The one redeeming quality of this place is that they have crushed ice, which generally excites me.
I won’t ever come back here. It wasn’t the service or even the mediocre food, but the smell of seafood in such a tiny place was just nauseating. Sorry Ama’s.

Ama’s is Japanese food with a New England sensibility. There can’t be more than 8 tables, mostly 2 tops. This place would be ridiculous if it were crowded, but on a Friday it was prefect. It cute and cozy inside, and a great place for a date.
Girlie and I both got the bento boxes. A choose your own combination of 4 menu items. For $ 15 it is a good value, and I left feeling satisfied, but not stuffed.
Jeff Chu had oysters from all over the northeast. They looked good if you are into that kind of thing. We went out for a beer after and the girls were all over him, so something worked.
Rob recently returned from Thailand and delicately had 3 scallops on a plate. No where near enough for a real meal, but he was dealing with some stomach issues.
The servers were hip and effective. Our edamame came out at the same time as the meal and I would have preferred it as an appetizer, but beside that we all left happy.

I went to Ama’s after hearing about it from friends of friends of friends… This izakaya style (japanese style bar with bits of food) hole in the wall, had great ambience and décor. It’s a good place for one-​on-​one seating as space is limited.
I decided to get the udon noodle soup. I love asian food, especially soups. And Ama’s lost a star due to the «eh» factor of this soup. Sure, it had all the ingredients but the broth was EXTREMELY oily, the noodles too stiff (not to mention was a pasta noodle), and a bit too salty.
In contrast, the little appetizer items were pretty delicious. I’d recommend the raw oysters and inari pockets… Prices for alcoholic drinks were good and even my diet coke came in the glass bottle.
Overall, I would rate this place a 3.5. i wouldn’t recommend this place for dinner, but if you want to drink and snack, this is a great place to go.