Amada

Jose Garces was born and raised in Chicago. He worked at kitchens in Europe and the US before settling in Philadelphia in 2001. He opened his first restaurant in 2005 and has since built some renown round Philadelphia and his restaurants regularly feature on Best Of lists for the city. The group currently has eight restaurants in Philadelphia, four in Atlantic City, with more further afield in Scottsdale, Palm Springs and Chicago as well as a planned New York City opening in 2015. However, based on the unconvincing experience at Chifa and his connection to the execrable Local Tavern (probably not helped by its airport location) Garces restaurants weren’t high on our list of must-visit restaurants.

Being in Philadelphia on Easter Sunday meant loads of places were already booked ahead of our trip set up at short notice. Sunday lunchtime meant that brunch menus dominate the list of possibilities so finding somewhere a bit different became more of a challenge. And that’s how we found Amada. The menu is listed as a brunch menu but the restaurant’s emphasis on tapas meant that there was a good variety of dishes on offer.

Amada is on Chestnut Street in the old town part of Philadelphia. As you step in the front door, the space is divided into a bar to the left and casual restaurant to the right. The back end of the dining room is dominated by an elevated open kitchen. The large shopfront windows at the front lets in loads of light although that is negated by the black ceiling so I’d imagine the room is much more pleasant on a sunny day than in the evenings unless the lighting is cranked up to 11. The table settings are simple with a white plate, brown linen napkin, water glass and knife and fork waiting for each customer. At least on Sunday lunchtime, the room has a pleasant feel to it.

Starting with drinks, I’m driving so ginger ale is as exciting as it gets but my wife gets to try the white sangria. It’s a blend of white wine, fresh fruit, herbs, orange liqueur and brandy served over ice and is a lovely refreshing lunchtime blend.

The tapas approach means that we order a number of dishes and sit back while they arrive in no predictable order. I much prefer a structured approach because that gets way from the flurry of dishes turning up at once before a long wait to the stragglers.

First to arrive are the croquetas de jamon with romesco and they’re fabulous. The hot croquettes have a good crunchy outside and a wispy light filling that is bursting with flavour. The pepper-based romesco sauce is an excellent compliment. My biggest mistake is not immediately ordering another plateful of them.

The ensalada verde with asparagus, fava, avocado and green beans is a thoughtfully constructed salad where the main impression is of fresh Spring flavours helped by the light vinaigrette dressing. The greens include watercress, dandelion and rocket where the fine slicing keeps any inherent bitterness from the leaves under control. The thin triangles of cheese add the hint of creamy richness to help elevate everything.  

The revuelto combining soft scrambled egg with shrimp and wild mushroom is another really nice dish. The lightly cooked shrimp are deliciously tender and the egg is gorgeous. However, the accompanying truffle butter bread is a bit of a letdown due to the sprinkle of lemon being much too dominant for the truffle.

The patatas bravas with their generous covering of spicy aioli are fine but ultimately just an average accompaniment to the other dishes.

The Esparragos con trufas is indulgently lovely. Five tender spears of asparagus retaining a nice crunch are combined with a poached egg, smoked bacon and marinated black truffles. If I was being picky I’d want a fraction more cooking time on the egg. The asparagus and the cheese sauce are a wonderful combination yet the silkiness of the egg yolk elevates the combination further. The crunch of the Parmesan tuile was a wonderful garnish.

We opt for dessert but on reflection it’s a poor end to things. The chocolate cake with pistachio cream, pistachio ice cream and cherry caramel suffers because the cake itself only offers a sense of chocolate rather than any real taste. The ice cream and chocolate crumbs are much better but there’s no overcoming the poor main feature.

On a sunny Sunday, Amada plays its role very well as the idyllic spot for brunch. By steering clear of brunch standards it has come up with what I find a much more appealing menu, with the croquetas de jamon worth a visit by themselves. Thankfully the food mostly backs up the appeal of the menu and it will definitely be somewhere we’ll return to (although in that dark room I question whether I want to go for a late evening meal).

Moreover the experience at Amada means that we’re more open to trying some of Jose Garces’ other places. Success here means that our list of places in Philadelphia that are worth a visit is slowly growing.

Overall Rating – 4/5