amp 150 - so good, but.... what do you mean but?????. i had finally gotten the chance to dine at amp150 - the most talked about restaurant as of late. it was killing me that i hadn't had the chance to dine here yet; but finally, my opportunity came last night! i made reservations for a table of 2, way ahead of time, i believe maybe 3 weeks ago (yes, i was that excited) and had even made a request for a quieter table. the hostess at that time had suggested i reserve booth #32 as she told me it was much more quieter; and as i had requested, it would not be right in the middle of the lobby as some of the tables would be facing. perfect. i requested booth#32, for two, 6:30. i was so excited (call me a crazy) but i even called in to confirm my reservations two days ahead of time to make sure i had my times correct, and i double checked to ensure i had the coveted booth#32. i was assured everything was in order!
so i arrived at amp150, not a minute too soon; spot on 6:30 and reported to the hostess. my first reaction i got was, the hostess....wasn't too "amped" to see me and my date for the night - but i dismissed it as; me being too excited to enjoy the food i was expecting. but when she started to lead me to a table right in front of the lobby; i politely informed her that we had requested a more quieter table, in fact on near the back, and if fact, we were suggested and confirmed for booth#32. to my surprise, she without even checking the computer looked at me and reported "that's not possible!". she let me know that they don't do that and that it was fully booked that night and booth 32 had been reserved. i was a little taken a back - yeah; booth 32 was reserved - for me, i had reserved it 2 weeks ago; and had confirmed it 2 days ago. i told her of this but she dismissed the notion, but after some very polite pleading ( i was still very excited for the food so i was still very excited to just get seated nicely) she sat me down next to booth 32. in reality; it was no problem, and i was still happy - i mean, i still got a decent table; inside; away from the lobby, but i was just surprised by her reaction, and way she dealt with the situation. but small bump on the road; onto the food!
we started the dinner off sharing the chicken liver pate on grilled bread and sweet jam. this was said to be the amazing! i would say, it was good! the grilled bread was good; good quality bread, grilled well, toasted, with great chunky sweet jam to cut the chicken liver pate. i think the flavors worked very well put all together. i would have asked for a little, just a slightly stronger taste to come from the liver pate; but no complaints - i rather enjoyed the appetizer and would definitely suggest others to try it.
next, we decided to share a plate of the kimchee spicy soy and peanut wings. they were said to be wings from free range chicken. now, i loveeee wings; and although i've had wings from all walks of the earth; and enjoyed wings of all types; i'm not picky. but, i know good wings when i taste them. i expected these to be out of the world, because of the reports i had been getting from fellow bloggers and foodies. so when i tasted these - i would say...they were ....decent. they were not ...that...flavorful...or special. they were pretty much...wings; fried; with a little bit of peanuts chopped on top and soy sauces flavor. sure, kimchee was tasty; but i could have gotten that from any korean store in asian town. now - don't get me wrong; there was nothing wrong with the wings; they didn't taste bad; nope. they were just very, regular fried wings. to be honest; i was disappointed because people had made me expect more; but they were pretty standard run of your mill fried wings you could get anywhere. although i found nothing wrong with them; i wouldn't suggest getting these just because you can get these anywhere else.
next, we decided to get both the calamari salad and the chopped salad and share both of them. stephanie our servers was nice enough to split our two salads into half orders, so both me and my date could have half an order of each of the salads. these were good. great in fact. i especially loved the calamari salad and would definitely recommend everyone to get this. the fried calamari was done perfect; small rings of calamari fried perfectly; to keep them still tender; and crunchy batter; mixed with a frisee salad that was cut with a sour lemon vinagrette and some speck ham i believe. the flavors played together so well with the small fragrant cubes of cheese incorporated into the salad. very nice. the chopped salad was, for a lack of better description; sooo fresh. very good. i was scared that the salad would turn out too bland since it was just purely veggies without too much to compliment the veggies; but the white vinaigrette it was dressed with; was tremendous.
next, came the entrees. these were highly anticipated. i ordered the marinated flank steak. when it came out, i was......a little taken a back. i mean....i've eaten at expensive places and have had small portions, but.....this was slightly laughable to me. my portion of the steak was...as you can see from the portion as respect to the baby carrots...were pitiful. the entire portion of steak ran the length of one and a half baby carrot. maybe 3 ounces of steak? but portions aside; i was ready to taste the steak. unfortunately....and this is were the big part of the but from the title came in. the steak....wasn't that great. i was still a fan of chef ellis. i still am. really. but this steak was a let down. no flavor. medium rare; sure. giving me flavorless flank steak; when yourmenuis telling me its; marinated flank steak was disappointing. the sauce didn't help; and the portion size just, didn't make matters any better. big let down.
but; like i said, i was a huge fan of chef ellis from before; and so....i decide; hey, i'm here at amp150, lets give it one more chance right???? so call me crazy, but i put in another order of the braised lamb.
now, when the lamb came out; what hit me was...two things. the smell was tremendous. it smelt wonderful, and secondly - the portion was normal! it was a generous portion of braised lamb with normal sized sides. i think the flank steak order was a mistake. they may have given me an accidental, tasting size or something because it was just pitiful. now the braised lamb...good portion; amazing smell. and the taste? wonderful. i was definitely impressed. the meat was so tender and flavorful. not too strong of the gaminess, but enough to impart the lamb flavor to you. enough fat to give you flavor, but not too much to overwhelm and take over the dish. what was even better was the sides. the creaminess of the couscous on the side and the fruitty salad really cut the rich taste of the lamb when taken together. i was super impressed with the lamb dish; i loved it; and would suggest anyone who goes to amp150 that likes lamb; that they must get it.
we decided to end the night with some sweet dessert. we chose to get the chocolate panna cotta. oh gosh was this the best choice we made. this was amazing. so good. sweet; but not overpowering, so fresh and light and just amazing.
so in the end, i would say, amp150 was great. i enjoyed myself. the food was good. but there were problems, serious problems, but the good things shone through that i would have decide by going one more time. they may have had an off night; maybe there were just the once in long shot mistakes with the flank steak and wings....but the lamb and calamari and dessert really shone through. so in the end; i challenge amp150 with this. i will come again. definitely come again. the lamb/salad/dessert is too good not to, and i hope the issues i had this time; were just an off night!!! oh, and i hope the hostess doesn't lie next time either. if you're going to give me booth#32 when i reserve, and someone special comes in last might (someone that chef ellis knows) please don't tell me that i didn't reserve it. i did. just tell me the truth; i'll understand. =)