Philadelphia: Amada (December 2012)

My spouse and I dined at Amada for lunch in late December 2012. We arrived at the restaurant at 2:00 pm, and we were (not nicely) informed that there was no space available for us, despite the restaurant being rather empty (it was New Year’s Eve day). We asked if we could sit in the bar area (again, we were told there was no space, and that at least was true; all the tiny tables were occupied). Our last request was to sit at the bar (the bar-bar, not the food-preparation bar) and were told that it was acceptable. As it turns out, we think lunch service ends at 2:00 pm; we wish the hostess would have just mentioned that, instead of giving us the cold shoulder. Amada serves lunch on weekdays, brunch on weekends, and dinner daily. You can reserve a table using the Open Table reservation system. (We tried to use Open Table to book on NY’s Eve day, but the system was set for the evening meal which was a set menu for about $75. When we e-mailed the restaurant to find out whether their regular menu would be served for lunch, we were told that it would be, and that they would make the necessary changes on Open Table to reflect that at lunchtime; however, they never did. So we arrived without a reservation.)

We ordered the La Mesa de Jose, the chef’s-choice tasting menu ($35 per person), which was not as easy to eat at the bar as if we had been seated at a table, but we wanted to eat at another Jose Garces restaurant after dining at Chifa a few years ago, so we made do with the bar seating. The bartender provided good service, and our tapas dishes were delivered one-by-one as soon as they were prepared. It was a good opportunity to try several different dishes; however, none of the menu items that we truly wanted were presented (such as the shirred eggs and the fava/lima bean salad). Some of the menu items that we did get, we would not have chosen for ourselves (like the crab-stuffed peppers, mushrooms, chicken brochettes), and yet they were delicious. We also had one meat, one cheese (with lavender honey), hanger steak, the fig salad, and the Spanish tortilla - so we probably tried at least 8+ dishes. Some of the hand-crafted cocktail combinations sounded interesting, although we opted for beer instead.

We appreciate all the various Garces restaurant options in Philadelphia, and plan to try another restaurant the next time we are in town.