Amada
“They do have a pretty good Happy Hour if you are looking to try it out and not break the bank :).”
“Try the Serrano salad, lamb meatballs, patatas bravas, chorizo and the pork entree.”
“We had the following (in order of my most favorite to my least):
– piquillos rellenos: so tender and flavorful!”
Amada
Takes Reservations: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Bike Parking: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Happy Hour: Yes
Outdoor Seating: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
PokéStop Nearby: Yes
Price range.
$$$ Price range $31-60
8 reviews
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This restaurant is serving really delicious, well-prepared dishes from an impressive menu with a lot of variety. But the rest of my experience was unfortunate. It's a large restaurant with tons of things going on: a hopping bar scene, outdoor seating, a sprawling dining room, and a kitchen bar in the back. This orchestra needs a conductor. There's little to no awareness of how long a customer has been waiting. I hope this just a side effect of being new and adjusting to the location & crowds. Watching the orders come through the kitchen, it was pretty impressive how many dishes are prepared at a given time. It seemed (to me) that the kitchen was quite organized but it just took so much time to find your server, ask for a menu, wait for the server to return, order drinks, ask for status on drinks, receive drinks, and then wait for server to come back to order food. Once your orders are in, it's all good as long as you don't need anything else. In fact, I didn't bother ordering another drink because I was sure that it would arrive after I've finished eating.
So the takeaway here is to order everything as soon as possible, as soon as you have someone available to help you. Otherwise you will be here for a long time.
A large restaurant never feels large when the service is attentive. That's all this place needs – more attentive service. Everything else is terrific! I'll definitely go back for the amazing food…during a less busy time… and perhaps sit at the bar.
Hm, can't believe this is #1 on the eater heatmap right now. Seriously was not impressed.
Came here with the bf on a date night on a weekday, we had heard about this place (celebrity chef!) and had wanted to try it but reservations were full whenever we asked. It was pretty empty the day we went and we got to pick where we wanted to sit. Ambiance is really nice and romantic, and they have both outdoor and indoor seating. Here's what we ordered to try:
CROQUETAS DE JAMÓN (Ham Croquettes) $9
The filling wayyy too heavy and dry. Came out lukewarm which made it worse. I usually love croquettes too…Comes with 5 pieces.
PIQUILLOS RELLENOS (Crab-Stuffed Peppers, Toasted Almonds) $12
Not bad, I really liked how you could still taste the crab meat on top of all the sauce and peppers/almonds.
PICADO (Lamb Tartare, Romesco Verde, Idiazábal) $13
Wanted to try this since I've never had lamb tartare before. Honestly tastes like any other tartare haha. Comes with a huge chip that I think might be a chicharron haha.
COLIFLOR (Roasted Cauliflower, Pickled Mustard Seeds) $10
Most interesting dish of the night – it was so pretty to look at with pops of purple, orange, and green. Taste wise, I like the acidity from the pickled mustard seeds, but I wish the cauliflower were cooked a little longer, it was too crunchy for my taste.
WAGYU BROCHETTES (Skewers) $16
Not as tender as I expected it to be (maybe because it's wagyu I expected much more?). Comes with 3 skewers with 2 pieces of meat and one potato on each.
NAVAJAS (Razor Clams) $16
UGHHH I usually love these too. THESE WERE SANDY. ALL OF THEM. Terrible, terrible, terrible. I think they would be better off serving these raw and DEFINITELY more well cleaned!!!
ALCACHOFAS Y SETAS (Cocas / Flatbread with Confit Artichoke, Wild Mushrooms, Black Truffles, Manchego) $14
This was good, love the aromas of the mushrooms and truffle oil. Came out hot and crispy.
Also paired everything with some sangrias, they have 3 iterations. Not bad!
Everything completely underwhelmed me, there wasn't a single dish that made me go "omgggg sooo goooddd." I kept comparing this to other tapas places, and kept thinking how I could get much better tapas at cheaper prices at a place like Alta. If you really want to try this place, I would suggest coming at happy hour from 5-7pm on weekdays where you can get most of these things for $8!!!
I must say the service was really good and the waiters were all incredibly nice :).
Some decent dishes, but pricey and the service was not quite to my liking.
We stopped by on Friday evening at around 8 PM, and we were quoted a wait of 15 minutes, which seemed reasonable until we used the restrooms and asked to sit at the bar over there. When asking about it, we were given a fairly curt reply of asking us to wait the 15 minutes, and it took asking a server whether those seats were available before actually being seated. I'm not sure why they were so snooty about it, but it is what it is.
Upon being seated, we ordered drinks, but our server disappeared after we signaled that we wanted to order food, saying he needed "one minute" to attend to another table. Taking a minute or five to tend to another table is fine, but not returning at some point thereafter seemed a bit off. The drinks were generally quite good, and the among the dishes we had that were good were the crab-stuffed peppers, the meatballs, and the short rib flatbread. We also had the mushroom flatbread and the garlic shrimp, which were also decent. We would have considered the paella, but the cost and the service resulted us shying away from it. It's a decent space, but not a place I'm necessarily going out of my way to try out on my own.
We were excited to have dinner here as it had recently opened & had glowing reviews. This was my first visit to a Jose Garces restaurant but one my friends & dinner partner had visited his restaurant in Philadelphia and enjoyed it. Our small group of four wanted to try many items & ordered a dozen items in addition to a carafe of red sangria which was delicious.
We had a delicious variety of tapas:
Ham croquettes
Mixto cheese platter
Flash Fried Peppers
Garlic shrimp
Patatas Bravas (our favorite dish of the night)
Lamb meatballs
Bacalao (fish)
Wagyu brochettes
Butifarra Flatbread (our least favorite item)
Roasted pork & white beans
Seasonal mushrooms
Lobster paella
Churros with hot chocolate for dessert
We over ordered a little bit & probably should have skipped the paella since we ordered so many other tapas.
Service was very attentive & helpful. They have a large outdoor seating area but we sat indoors and enjoyed the air conditioning.
I thought Amada was pretty good, not sure why the lukewarm reviews. Yeah it's a big corporatey and souless but at least it's big, can host a lot of people and have nice al fresco dining. My sister and I made a 515 res (well we sat closer to 530) and sat outside without a problem. Servers were polite, prompt, and informative. We samples the tapas happy hour menu (a plus) and had:
– Shishto peppers, the usual, in a tomato nutty salsa which they used for complimentary crackers and such
– Ham croquettes, good, standard. Not too oily or big and too filling
– The Spanish chorizo, very delicious, well cooked and flavorful
-The patatas bravas, these were sad. Def not well fried or flavorful, too starchy
-Tomates with iberico ham (so thin!) and lardo and other good things, very tasty.
-Amada's Empanda- cheesey, aritchokey and spinach – DO NOT MISS. So good. Very flavorful and light surprisngly.
-Sardines, not my favvy but not bad in oil and pinenuts
-We got the black cod which was so tender and poached in an amazing sauce- recommend
-For dessert we had the napolelan type of thing which was made with puffy pastry. It was a good hazelnut flavor
I would have also done the more classic upon another visit- the gambas in garlic, the tortilla espanola, And some things in the plancha (grilled meats and such)
There are so many other choices besides tapas- I'd say Amada is pan Spanish because Chef also does a lot of paella, and whatnot.
Worth suggesting – the Philly flagship is probably better, it's nice for Battery Park to get another good spot. I don't know that i'd go out of my way to return again and since I am a tapas fiend, I will say that i have liked other spots much more..
KenScale: 8.0/10
Battery Park City is one of the buzziest neighborhoods in Manhattan these days. Despite the distance from everywhere else, it has started to undergo a sort of new era where Manhattanites, especially those with family, who are tired of the craziness in Midtown Manhattan can feel a little bit more relaxed on the riverside. It also helps that a lot of residential and commercial real estate developments have sprung up in recent years (no wonder NY Times took notice when it listed Downtown Manhattan as one of the places to go in 2015 in its travel section); chief among those developments is the Brookfield Place, a sprawling complex of expensive shops and restaurants, cafes and bars that offer a true one-stop shop experience. Lately, a big-time chef from Philadelphia decided to make a move to the Big Apple at Brookfield Place. I've heard of chef Jose Garces as an acclaimed chef for Spanish food, and was very intrigued when I heard an outpost of his Philly hit Amada was opening in Battery Park City. On a leisurely Sunday evening, I decided to pay a visit and had a lot to like about the food coming from the kitchen.
The menu at Amada will not be particularly inventive; what you see in the menu is probably what you have already seen in countless other Spanish places elsewhere. The virtue of Spanish cuisine, however, lies not necessarily in what fancy ingredients or techniques you use (although there are a ton of haute cuisine restaurants in Spain), but in how simple looking ingredients come together for well-executed dishes. And Amada's level of execution has been very consistent throughout my meal. I've probably eaten octopus at 100 different places in the city by now, but the texture of Spanish octopus at Amada was quite nice, and the flavor wasn't too salty while displaying spicy kick that I immensely enjoyed. Crab-stuffed peppers with toasted almonds were just as memorable, with a very nice balance of flavor. The empanada with spinach, Manchego cheese and artichoke escabeche, one of the dishes that the original location in Philly was apparently known for, also had very nice touch with a blend of ingredients working harmoniously for another satisfying bite. My dining companion and I decided to forgo paella options and instead went for the flatbread with beef short ribs, horseradish, parmesan and bacon that had the hearty feel to it. Not all dishes worked quite the way I had hoped. I had no compliant on the absolutely juicy and tender meat of the lamb chops, but had to wonder why the seasoning had to be so aggressive as to kill the texture. Despite my anticipation, roasted cauliflower with pickled mustard seeds also didn't come together quite the way I had imagined; the flavor turned out a little funky and not necessarily in a good way. On the other hand, churros with spiced sugar was a delightful dessert, although my dining companion complained that the Spanish hot chocolate on the side wasn't sticky enough.
Because of its location (despite all the buzz in the neighborhood, Battery Park City is still not the popular choice for anyone for serious dining experience) and the spacious dining space, getting a reservation wasn't too difficult although it was by no means empty. There is full bar with a lot of Spanish-centric wine options that you can choose from. Amada has a weird vibe where it's not really catered to family friendly atmosphere but wasn't quite sexy enough to be considered a romantic dating spot. Perhaps that's where Battery Park City is heading in terms of its identity? Anyways, for a satisfying meal of Spanish classics, Amada has done very well and I hope to come back soon to try other dishes that the kitchen puts together.
I think it's in the makings of a trendy restaurant. The decor is different and nice, the food looks aesthetically pleasing.
My friend and I came Wednesday at at around 1:30-2pm and it wasn't too crowded. It's good for groups if it's not too busy.
My friend and I got the Chef's Choice Tapas for 2! (6-7 dishes) We were stuff and satisfied after our meal!
-3 different varieties of Cheese with 4 pieces of baguette, sliced apples, 3 dipping sauces
Honey, Pistachio, and chocolate.
The good old fruit and cheese combination with a twist. The Pistachio sauce was interesting.., I didn't dislike it, but I wasn't drawn to it either.
-Ensalada with thinly slice parmesan
This salad was acidic, tangy, and vinegar-y. Either we were really hungry or this was some bomb salad, dressing was also not the typical or traditional
-Fried Ham and Cheese (I want to say Boquilla de Jamon)
Crispy, perfectly fried, and seasoned well, paired well with the sauce underneath
-Garlic Shrimp
Shrimp were small and sauce was divine.
-Mushroom pizza
This was goood! I'm a sucker for cheese. It has a white sauce base instead of the usual Marinara. Good bread texture.
-Sausages (3 pieces a stick) It has snap from the casing because of how it was cooked. It was also a bit oily.
-Chicken Skewers
These were cooked PERFECTLY! It was super juicy, tender, and seasoned very well. Comes with a lemon to squeeze.
-Cauliflower
Covered in bread crumbs, purple and white cauliflower shines through. There's a nice balance of sweetness to it. It was a good way to end the meal.
The service was a bit slow. I think we had 3 interactions with different servers. One particular server was really nice and ask us if we had any questions about what we were eating, if we missed it the first time.
There were some familiar ingredients but I think the flavors was different from what I've previously experienced or seen before. Maybe I'm not completely familiar with the variety of Spanish Tapas.
Oh Amada I wanted to like you! Your nice outdoor city, cute decor, and barrel of sangria – all sound like a great option. Unfortunately, much like the saying 'remember the Alamo' I will remember Amada and will not be back.
I'd like to think the restaurant is new and is working out its kinks, but what I tried isn't enough to bring me back and tempt fate again. Shall we begin:
Staff: unaccomodating – we waited 45 mins past our reservation despite there being plenty of tables open, once seated our server told us he was 'tired' and sat down next to us to take our orders (I used to work in service, you're not allowed to sit!).
Food: So as a group of 4, they said 5-6 dishes would be enough, which wasn't the case. The portions are small and the fact they ran out of bread was disappointing. They sent us 'extra' crackers to accommodate, but I would have preferred to have known this prior to ordering a cheese and charcuterie board. We tried the following:
Cheese & Charcuterie – hard to mess up, when all you're doing is slicing food and displaying on a board – see bread and small portion comment above
Flatbread – ALCACHOFAS Y SETAS with Confit Artichoke, Wild Mushrooms, Black Truffles, Manchego: if flatbread means paper then this is an apt description. Very thin crust with little flavor or toppings
Bacalao (cod) – decently flavored and nicely cooked, this was the best dish we tried
Croquetas de jamon – these weren't bad, albeit the size of tater tots (you get 5)
Randomly, they sent over churros with chocolate for dessert. A nice surprise but then the waiter asked if we'd like coffee/tea. Would have preferred he asked this prior to providing the churros but at this point we were so tired from waiting to sit, then waiting to eat, waiting to see if they had more bread etc etc we were glad to have the check and call it a night.
Don't go, unless you really need a reason to go to Shake Shack for a proper meal after.