Amada

Amada
217-219 Chestnut St, Philadelphia, PA 19106 (215) 625-2450 | philadelphia.amadarestaurant.com/
Hours: DINNER Sun—Thur 5:00pm—10:00pm Fri & Sat 5:00pm—11:00pm BRUNCH Sat & Sun 10:30am—2:30pm LUNCH Mon—Fri 11:30am—2:30pm.

With extensive hours and lots of offerings, it is easy to see why this Garces restaurant has become a Philadelphia favorite. Opened in 2005, this is Chef Garces' flagship restaurant offering diners a taste of Andalusian tapas.  The restaurant offers a private dining area, a bar area reminescent of a Spanish bodega and a dining area with intimate seating and dimly lit tables. On that note, perhaps a little too dim, though I am biased as I wanted better lighting for my food photography. We decided to get the: ESPECIAL—65 Enjoy a special selection of inspired Andalusian tapas from our dinner menu alongside original off-menu, interpretations crafted by our Chef.  With the tasting menu ordered, the food began to arrive.

Complimentary garlic bread served with tuna, capers and black olives.

Pretty much instantaneously, a tray of meat arrived so I am not sure of the exact description of the items here, but Amada offers the following charcuterie options: CHORIZO PAMPLONA 7 JAMÓN SERRANO 9 LOMO EMBUCHADO 9.5 CHORIZO BLANCO 7.5 SALCHICHÓN 7.5 JAMÓN IBÉRICO 27.

The meats above were served with pickles (left), a honey mustard dressing (center), and peppers (right).

I can't recall for the life of me what this dish was.

AGED MANCHEGO Truffled Lavender Honey

10 minutes into the meal and our table looked like this.  Dishes came out entirely too fast and from a food blogger's perspective, it was a nightmare.  Dishes were dropped at the table sometimes without hardly a single explanation and it was hard to understand the ones that were explained sometimes due to how quickly the servers talked.

COSTILLAS DE TERNERA Beef Short Ribs, Horseradish, Parmesan, Bacon 14.  This was tasty and the horseradish gave it just the kick it needed.

PULPO A LA GALLEGA Spanish Octopus 12.  Potato rounds and paprika.  Served with a lemon wedge.  I didn't think I was going to like the octopus but it was surprising good and not really chewy like I was expecting. Lemon wedge served up just enough sour to balance out the spice of the paprika.

TRUCHA A LA NAVARRA Tasmanian Sea Trout, Artichoke Purée, Toasted Pine Nuts, Chorizo 19. Probably the best dish of the night.  Trout was tender and the pine nuts added sweetness. Little pieces of sausage (chorizo) added just the right amount of spice.

BERENJENAS Roasted Eggplant, Whipped Goat Cheese, Raisin Escabeche 9. Very good as well. I especially liked the whipped goat cheese- both creamy and delicious. The raisins added sweetness as well to this vegetarian offering.

 Lamb Chops: A LA PLANCHA (from the grill). Tender and juicy and perfectly adequate though I would argue just a tad salty.

Olive oil cake, figs, lemon custard, chipped cheese, honey/cinnamon ice cream.

Complimentary cookie after dinner.

Of note:

Interior of the restaurant (large dining area).

The bar area complete with hanging Spanish Serrano ham.

The hanging hams.

A view from the opposite side of the dining area.

A table lantern detail.

The back dining area where we ate. Quite dark back here.

A candlelit hallway to the restrooms.