Amada Philadelphia — Restaurant in Philadelphia

Overall 3.5 stars - juusst making the cut.

I was really excited about this place, and wish I could give it more stars. I just don't think I will be hurrying back anytime soon mainly because I feel l may have exhausted all of their veggie options in one sitting. With that in mind, I do think it was still, overall, a good experience.

To start, parking around Old City is always a headache! Plan well in advance (at least an hour) to grab a spot. I parked about 5 blocks away in 2 hour parking and had to move my car midway through the meal to avoid ticketing - such a pain!

Once inside, it's actually quite spacious. The decor is trendy and modern, with dark hardwood, exposed piping, butcher block tables etc. Once I entered, the hostess readily lead me towards the back room where my party was being seated.

Everything is served family style. So lots of large portions were being brought out throughout the evening, and we all grabbed at things as they were passed around. The waitress was very attentive asking for drink orders and dietary restrictions. I ordered the white sangria (pretty good!) and let her know I am a vegetarian.

While people were arriving, there was already a cheese board available for picking - awesome sauce! It had a variety options, including a few cheeses, this scrumptious hazelnut spread, and a truffled fig and lavender honey. I mixed the bleu cheese with the honey and made a makeshift spread of it to apply to the supplied bread. So good! It was a nice balance between the sharp cheese and the sweet honey!

Next, we were served the ensalada verde. The dish consisted of of fresh salad greens, steamed asparagus, fava beans, avocado, and green beans topped with manchego cheese. It was dressed with this raspberry vinaigrette. So good! The raspberry vinaigrette was savory and sweet and really cut the sharp taste of the cheese.

For appetizers, I was served a dish of roasted mushrooms over truffle oil and empanadas. The mushroom dish was forgettable. It was just a little too much mushroom going on in one dish. Not a fan of mushrooms as it is so the overload definitely didn't help matters. The empanadas were a nice surprise! Consisting of spinach, artichoke, and manchego cheese over flash fried peppers. I really liked this dish! I inserted the peppers into the filling of the empanada - very filling!

For my entree I ordered one of their flatbreads. This was another good dish with repeat use of the same ingredients - artichokes, wild mushrooms, black truffles, and manchego. I thought this was pretty good, but nothing stellar. Admittedly at this point I was getting tired of the same ingredients being reused in different dishes. I did ask for some red chili flakes to increase the spice level.

The dessert was rather anticlimactic :/...I was served a collection of caramelized fruit - whomp whomp! I think a few liberties could've been taken here and the fruit only dish was just not exactly rising to the challenge. Although enjoyable, I know I can get this at home, so was expecting something more.

I would say the experience was decent, but nothing stellar. If they can increase their vegetarian options I may return, but not in the...

TLDR: Excellent tapas experience. Perfect for a group of 4+ who are looking to sample a wide range of foods! Come for the paella and various seafood tapas.

Vibe: 5/5. Located on the outskirts of Chinatown and right off I95, Amada has a convenient location for those not looking to go deep into Center City for dinner. We were attending a concert at the nearby Seaport Museum before dinner, which was conveniently walking distance from the restaurant. Inside, Amada is broken up into 2 large dining areas. One being the bar area, which has several high top tables as well as bar seats and the main dining room which has a dozen or more low top tables. My party of 4 had no problems comfortably sitting at our high top, however it looks as if the restaurant can accommodate larger groups if necessary. Decor is fitting for the restaurant, with ambient lighting and dark colors used throughout both dining areas. During our 7pm Friday dinner, the entire restaurant was booked solid, buzzing with energy from both the date night and after work crowds. Overall, a very inviting restaurant that can be suitable for numerous occasions.

Service: 5/5. Amada was very accommodating during our dinner service. We were running bout 15 minutes late to our reservation, however Amada was able to hold our table for us, so we were seated immediately. Our server was quick to greet us at our table and explained the menu in its entirety since we were first timers. In addition, he was very transparent with certain dishes and their prep time, ie. the paella, which takes 40 minutes from the time ordered to prepare, so if you want to go that route it is suggested to place the order upon arrival. Drink orders were taken and served promptly. We opted for the tapas to come out as they were ready vs all at once, which ended up being the right move. Pacing was spot on, with a fresh tapa being brought to the table almost after we finished the previous. All in all, a wonderfully run service that compliments the food 100%.

Food: 5/5. My dinner party of 4 thoroughly enjoyed everything we ordered at Amada. We opted to order around a half a dozen tapas as well as the traditional house paella. With some tapas only having 2-3 servings, we had to order doubles to make sure the whole table was able to sample. Tapa highlights included the caviar scallops, garlic shrimp and their unique take on patatas bravas. Every dish came out perfectly prepared, hot and decent portion size for a tapa style dish. The grand finale table shared paella did not disappoint. Served on a full sized cast iron paella pan to the table, the rice was perfectly cooked and seasoned with generous portions of chicken and seafood. It was truly the best way to end an already fantastic meal. For a table of 4, the amount of food we ordered was the perfect amount for all of us to leave happy and satisfied. If you ever find yourself in the Chinatown or Riverwalk area in the mood for some Spanish food, Amada is the perfect place to...

In Philadelphia, the Stephen Starr empire rules the restaurant scene. There are only a few restaurants that can truly compete against them. Amada is one of those few. First off, they have a good location, in the Old City, almost right across the relatively new Museum of American Revolution (which by the way, is awesome and i would totally recommend you going there before coming to eat in Amada). Street Parking is obviously almost non-existent at this part of Philly but it's only about 10 minutes of walking from 8th & Market St PATCO station. Then the ambiance, excellent. It's not super formal but you're expected to look presentable (think business casual, although you can get away with a nice pair of shorts in the summer). Service is very professional although slightly slow with the drinks and refills. Now finally the food, all of them are excellent, I've tried maybe half of them on the few times i came here, but I'll concentrate on the ones that i think are a cut above the rest (yes I've been waiting to use that pun). The Mixto Carnes y Queso are a good assortment of cheese and meats, I particularly like the ham and honey. The Caulini (cauliflower) is a must try, very flavorful. The shortrib flatbread is an excellent combo of sweet and savory. They have 2 paellas: Valenciana (rice based with different meats) and Rossejat (vermicelli noodle based paella with squid ink and different seafoods). I think you should try both if you're patient enough to wait (takes them 35-45 min to prepare). And for the grand finale, the Conchinilla! The roast suckling pig is totally worth the price! You can either order half or a full pig. Half pig feeds about 6 adults and full pig feeds maybe 12 adults (and it comes with 4 other large 'sides'). They cut it up right in front of you and that is cool to see. The meat is very tender and flavorful, you just have to have it. Just remember, you have to ORDER IT 3 DAYS IN ADVANCE before your reservation date for them to prepare it properly.

The drinks are good and they have a strong showing for gin-based drinks, sangria, and their classic cocktails.

The only weakness that i can think of? The Paella takes a long time to prepare (approx 45 minutes) and for whatever silly reason you cannot order it in advance so it can come out earlier (despite the fact that they put a credit card hold charge for your reservation). It's truly a shame. I would order their Paellas everytime if it wasn't for the...