Amuse

It was three-​day weekend, and we needed a day of freedom. At Amuse, Kathleen D, Brian (her brother) and I earned an easy & relaxed summer evening.
Located inside Le Méridien, Amuse is a great place to take a first date. I promise you, you won’t be disappointed with this French bistro. I would bet on it. After you pass the pretty pink glass door, sit back on one of the chrome & white leather seats, and relax as you look at City Hall’s illuminated clock through the dining room window. You’ll find the chic décor is casual, yet glamorous & very sophisticated, (i.e: those glass bubble chandeliers: Love, Love, L.O.V.E,) as is the menu, with a signature Steak Frites dish for dinner. Hmmm Mmmm!
After bitting on warm baguettes — served in white paper bag, we were given complimentary amuse-​bouche, I think we had duck confit. We’d have enjoyed it, if it wasn’t Duck. Why?!
My Steak Frites was extraordinary; cooked to perfection, beautiful and juicy medium-​well — just the way I like it. Brian was satisfied with his traditional French Onion soup, and Kathleen enjoyed her pommes frites as well. However, I totally regret passing on dessert. Totally!
I’ll be coming back for more Steak Frites, and try some French pastries and/​or desserts. If you think the prices seems a little steep, look out for Groupon deals. Now that’s a steal! $ 32 for $ 50 worth of French dinner!
Four and Half Unilocal

Wow! Very haute cuisine! I came here to meet a consultant and review some drawings over dinner. I was not only impressed by the overall design of the restaurant (minimalist) but the food was outstanding. I ordered the organic chicken and was blown away. The veggies they used were extra fresh and the chicken was out of this world. The skin was so crispy but not overdone. It was honestly my favorite part of the chicken. The meat of the chicken was very juicy and you can taste the organic-​ness of the chicken. If you’re looking for a super high end place to eat come here. You will not be disappointed. Also, you have amazing views of City Hall.

The ambiance is amazing as well as the food delightful. I’d kill for their house made charcuterie board with fresh black currant jam and french bread! The service was bit slow but the wine last is wonderful. I am hoping to come to philly more just to some ay Amuse

We came for an early 5:30 pm dinner on Valentine’s Day and it was pretty empty at that time, which was actually kind of nice. We were able to get seating by the fireplace, and treated to an herbal infusion Amuse Bouche by the chef.
Some highlights:
1. Duck parppardelle: Amazing! Succulent seared duck breast, squash, and pearl onions tossed with hand-​made pasta in a creamy yet surpassingly light sauce. Just fantastic. The pasta was cooked perfectly and very tender.
2. lamb shank with potato purée, ciopollini onions, and squash: This was a huge entrée was but the lamb was very juicy and tender, and the au jus was perfect with the potato purée. The vegetable side gave it a nice flavor boost with a hint of tomato and garlic.
3. Chocolate molten lava cake: served with creamy vanilla bean ice cream and a small side of strawberries and whipped cream. Decadent chocolate cake that meshed perfectly with the ice cream.
Service was just okay, though, as our server forgot about us. However, the rolls are served with freshly churned butter, which is a nice touch. A great date night option, albeit a pricey one. Entrees are around $ 32 – 34, and desserts around $ 10. They do served Illy coffee, as well. If you aren’t coming on a holiday (ie. Valentine’s Day), they do accept Groupons (there’s one for $ 32 for $ 50).

This place was disconcertingly empty right in the middle of lunch. We were one of only 3 tables in the place.
Now 3 stars is A-​OK and that is exactly what this place was. It wasn’t great or bad. It was truly OK. The Potato soup (special) had me a bit worried — I’m not sure I ever found any potato in it, it tasted lemony (?) and wasn’t great. The Steak Frites was better — nothing wrong or outstanding. The Bernaise sauce could be improved upon. Desert was «chocolate mousse» which came out as cake (?). Excellent cappuccino. Great service except the waiter was bit hard to understand — perhaps the reason my chocolate mousse ended up being a slice of cake.
So 3 stars, and let me tell ‘ya there are plenty of place in Philly I wish we’d gone instead — but it was worth a shot.

Ordered Alaskan halibut and that was great although sauce was over buttery-​cream-​salt tasting. I was staying 2 night in a row and ordered it twice, so it was a favorite. The kale salad was good. Nothing extravagant or hard to make or mess up. The organic chicken was good too.
The steak frites; however was a disaster. The dipping aiole was a weird congealed glop nap not so much creamy or saucy. Trying to dip the soggy fries into it was not satisfying. The steak was ok but needed salt or flavor. It definitely missed the mark of a perfect steak frites like Parc or dandelion.
The dessert was even more of a disaster than the steak. I love crime brûlée and this was over cooked, and over burnt. The pudding was not soft and was weird and chunky or over baked. As if I was eating a scrambled egg. The sugar totally burned and not pleasing at all, making the whole dish taste burnt.
I hope I can post pictures next if you don’t believe it
Def staying away from here and returning To my beloved restaurants

This place was just ok, which was rather disappointing. I had purchased the Groupon a while back for dinner for two which included 2 drinks, 1 appetizer, and 2 entrees.
First, the service was kind of slow. Our waiter was very kind, but I think I tad overworked. He was the only waiter I saw and while not a huge place, not a tiny place either. There should be at least two waiters at this place. Maybe there are and the other one called out — I didn’t ask.
The drinks were very strong. They did not cheap out on the liquor, which on one hand is nice if you’re looking to get smashed. I wasn’t looking to get tanked, so I didn’t really like mine all that much. I added a little water to it and it was fine. I prefer not to have to do that though.
They brought over a small baguette which was delicious but oddly served in a paper bag. Were we in a supposedly nice french restaurant or were we on a street corner? Felt like like latter.
We ordered the mussels as the appetizer. They were good, but some of them were bad. This also doesn’t usually happen at higher quality restaurants. We had a steak and halibut, and they were pretty good, although they did take a long time to come out. They both came with some vegetables/​sides that were fine.
The star of the show and the reason for three stars and not two is the dessert. They had a sweet potato cheesecake that was phenomenal. I might return just for that — and maybe coffee. If you are staying in the hotel and want dessert, order this.
There are plenty of other options if you walk south a few blocks toward Market St.

Such a romantic spot inside the Le Méridien! The restaurant is right across from City Hall. Came here with friends for restaurant week on a Friday night. The ambience was great and the service was perfect. Our waiter was really friendly and accommodating! It’s a quiet place with just a few seats, so be sure to make a reservation.
The restaurant week menu is actually really small and the food was just okay, nothing special. The portions were pretty big for a French place though. Their full menu also has a lot more choices that sounded really good. We had a chef’s welcome of slightly salted tuna, which was pretty good. For the first course, we tried the smoked tomato bisque and the fresh caesar salad. I actually hate both tomatoes and salads in general but they both ended up being really tasty! The second course took forever to come out even though the place wasn’t even busy, so that was a bit annoying. We had the half roasted chicken w/​whipped Yukon gold potatoes and the Scottish salmon w/​seasoned parsley risotto. Both dishes were presented really nicely but they were SOO salty that none of us could even finish our meals. For dessert, both the tiramisu and sweet potato cheesecake they offered were not that great either.
Overall, the quiet romantic atmosphere and our friendly waiter is what I loved most about this place. The food could be better but I’m not sure if I would want to come back to try their full menu. It was still a great experience though!

The bartender was wonderful made the drinks which made our stay great citrus martini ! Absolute citron with a dash of simple syrup lemon don’t drink to many !

Three stars for service ! Sherrod was excellent it’s a shame they don’t have a kitchen to back up such s great server! Drinks were good! Food not so much! Mussels were the best thing we had! Followed by my steak frites! Halibut came out over cooked! Sent it back & asked for my steak to be kept warm while my husband’s halibut was made over! They missed the mark again! Thank heaven I had a groupon because they’re over priced for what you get which would be ok if it was good!

– /​/​The Place \\ –
Quiet place with just a few seats, tucked away beside the hotel lobby. View of city hall at night is nice. But, service here was pretty slow.
– /​/​The Menu \\ –
Menu was surprisingly simple (just 1 page), yet tasty. Not too overpriced depending on what you get. Would highly recommend the pretzels and the well-​seasoned fries.
– /​/​The Food \\ –
— Free bread: slightly stale tasting, wasn’t a fan. Used to freshly baked and warm bread though
— Pretzels: bite sized and piping hot, buttery with a slight baked bite on the outside, soft and chewy like a German pretzel on the inside. So tasty.
— Kale salad with chicken– grilled chicken was charred crispy, yet still juicy. Liked the texture of the salad: crunch with the apples, mixed with the chewy softness of the golden raisins.
— Lemon sorbet wasn’t anything out of the ordinary but still tasty nonetheless.

One word, Awesome! This place is awesome top to bottom. The steak, cooked perfectly. The salmon, I will order next time. So beautifully prepared and presented. The staff are amazing as well. Sherod, if he is on, ask for him. He knows his stuff. Drinks, strong but not overpowering. Just go and thank the reviewers later. Lol.

I didn’t actually go into Amuse, but I was staying at Le Meridien and Amuse prepares room service meals for the hotel. After a tiring day a work, I just didn’t have the energy to move from the room so I ordered the sweet potato quiche and the steak frites (a $ 7 portion of French fries, so my expectations were pretty high) I was exceptionally disappointed when the meal arrived and the majority of the fries were overcooked, crunchy sticks of grease! Ugh, don’t get me wrong, I like a nice crisp fry that crunches when you bite into it, but I could’ve broken a tooth on these pomme frites! I’m assuming they fried them, let them go cold, and threw them back in the fryer again to heat them up. Disgusting!
Not only that, the quiche was made with puff (flaky) pastry instead of the usual hard crust. Which would have been a nice twist other than the fact that the pastry was completely raw! Not exactly what I was expecting! The hotel kindly removed the cost of the meal from my bill, but I shall not be trying this place again.

We had two really, really bad meals here during my work trip to Philly. It is such a shame because the dining room itself and the service are both fantastic. The wait staff especially were friendly and quick. Helpful with the menu and good at making recommendations.
The food was absolutely abysmal. I hope it was just an off 24-​hours, but my feeling is that whoever was executing the menu was not very experienced. The French Onion soup was cold, the cheese on top had not been fully melted and I was not able to even finish it. The Flounder was over cooked and the lentils that accompanied it were undercooked. The pomme frites were oversalted and overcooked, yet cold (a theme for this restaurant, unfortunately)
We were rushed in the morning so tried it again for Breakfast. Hotel breakfasts are usually good. No so here. My potatoes were cold and had an artificial taste to them and my bacon was over cooked /​burned but still cold. It was actually inedible so I sent it back and went to Starbucks.
Very disappointing because this is a good hotel in a convenient area for where we have to work in Philly.

Holy yums. I’ve been here twice now, both with a groupon, and it was fantastic and pretty much empty both times.
Most recently, we got the charcuterie board, steak frites, and the lobster bouillabaisse. This was one of those meals that makes you comment after LITERALLY every bite how majestically delicious it is. Kind of drooling just thinking about it. The steak was cooked to a perfect medium and came with a bernaise aoili which really took it to the next level. The lobster chunks in the bouillabaisse were sweet, succulent and abundant. Not to mention the other variety of seafood swimming around in there, aaaand the broth was drinkable. As in, give me a straw and just let me go to town on this bowl of heaven. We had leftovers for lunch the next day and it was still amazing the second time around.
A hidden gem for sure.

The food was good here, but I was furious by the time we were seated. We had an 8:15 reservation, but were not seated until 9:05. My boyfriend was starving and had a headache by that point. For this reason, I will not return to this restaurant.
Anyway, we had a certificate from Philly Dealyo (TravelZoo) for two entrees, an appetizer, and two cocktails or glasses of wine for $ 65. This is about half the usual price.
We greatly enjoyed the mussels appetizer (normally almost $ 20) which had a delicious garlic sauce with which my boyfriend filled his empty shells and then slurped voraciously.
I had a Patron cocktail and my boyfriend had a really tasty Californian Chardonnay. My drink normally costs $ 12 and his $ 18.
We both had the salmon with carrots and broccoli and risotto (normally about $ 30.) It was very good.
We opted to get dessert even though it wasn’t covered by our certificate. I had a chocolate molasses tart with hazelnuts on top, and he had crème brûlée. Both delicious.
My overall opinion of this restaurant is that their food is good, but they should not advertise if they cannot accommodate the additional customers that advertising brings in. Or they should only allow patrons to use the certificate Sun-​Thurs, if the weekend is too busy for them.

Tucked into the corner of a hotel lobby, I could have walked past a hundred times and never thought to step in. It all started with a travelzoo voucher — basically half off a dinner for 2 plus cocktails. Hey, we like food and we like cocktails, and it’s right in the neighborhood. win-​win.
As soon as you walk in the lobby, a small swanky bar greets you. I, of course, decided to start my evening with a dirty martini — and hooray, the bartender knows how to make a good drink! It doesn’t stop there.
We get a table and are very pleasantly surprised not to get a limited ‘voucher menu’ but to have full access to any appetizer, any 2 entrees, and any drink we like. I ordered the lobster bouillabaisse — if heaven had a signature dish, this would be it. Lobster, clams, mussels & shrimp in a sauce made by the gods (and most likely a pound of butter, but seriously, wow). My boyfriend got the steak frites, cooked to perfection.
We have been back 3 times since and still haven’t been disappointed. Oh, did I mention it’s never been crowded or noisy? (all with a view of city hall) Seriously, this place is a hidden gem that only guests of the Le Méridien stumble across.

Tried this place out for restaurant week. It’s a restaurant that’s in a hotel which was very modern and chic. I loved the interior! The dining area is small yet spacious. Tables are a white marble, which was a nice change. I was in a party of 5, on a Wednesday evening. And although we had reservations, it took a while for us to be seated. And there was only one waiter and I believe a hotel employee who was bussing tables…
The bread and butter was seriously the best part! I think the restaurant made it themselves. They also gave us a spoon with a sample, which was good!
Overall, the wait time between plates was long. But it’s a French place. We waited probably 45 mins for our entrees so we assumed something happened in the kitchen. The waiter was very apologetic and offered us a round of drinks on the house, which we took! Haha
The overall experience was alright.

Groupon experience review:
I came across a Groupon the other day and snatched it, perfect for date night! $ 72 gets you 1 appetizer to share, 2 entrees and 2 cocktails total.
I had perused the menu prior and was excited to try the crab and lobster salad — come to realize they had a new menu and website was not up to date. We settled for the Lobster bisque which had two nicely cooked pieces of lobster in a rich bisque — interestingly enough it was brown rather than that typical orange you expect. I thought it was great. Also went quite well with the bread that they serve you while you wait. The «perfect amuse bouche» that they served us was a spoonful of goat cheese paired with grape and beet — such a nice refreshing start to a meal.
Cocktails:
— My boyfriend got the Rock dove (patron, grapefruit cordial, lime, soda) that usually runs you $ 12/​glass. I had a sip — a really well made cocktail as was mine
— I got the Old Fashioned (Knob creek, blood orange, pomegranate, star anise simple syrup and angostura bitters)
Both were a perfect balance of each ingredient — strong enough that I definitely felt the drink but very balanced. Honestly — their cocktails now that I think are pretty damn good even comparable closeee to Franklin Mtg /​Tippling place. Not a bad idea. since it’s never crowded!
Food
— I went with the Lobster Bouillabasse which usually runs you at $ 32. The flavor was very well developed in the broth. 3 well cooked shrimp, piece of lobster, a few littleneck clams — although one of them didn’t open and I was surprised to see it served on my plate.
— Boyfriend went with their steak frites — and I had a piece — perfectly cooked at a medium rare as requested. One of the best steak frites I’ve had — simply seasoned but well cooked.
Tip: Our bill would have been $ 108 without tax and $ 118 with tax if we hadn’t used a groupon. I think this place is 100% worth the groupon — pretty steep otherwise.

As Restaurant Week approaches, consider Amuse for your next dining adventure with your friends. Frankly, I was surprised at the quality of food from a restaurant housed within a hotel, regardless of whether it’s Le Meridien.
So with a friend in tow, the GF and I stopped by. Spacious and well-​designed, there’s plenty of comfortable tables at Amuse.
Rock Dove ($ 10)
Patron, grapefruit cordial, lime, soda
The GF and our friend went with the tequila-​based tipple (go figure!). Smooth, with some subtle sweetness from the grapefruit cordial and some nice tartness from the lime, this was easy drinking.
Liberty Bell ($ 12)
Woodford Reserve, merlot, simple syrup, fresh lemon juice
I went with the bourbon-​based drink, which was mellowed out by the merlot and the freshness of the lemon juice.
Amuse Bouche
Pomegranate, apple, mint
An amuse of pomegranates, apple, and mint offered a fresh bite to whet our palates for the meal.
Bread Service
Bread service featured a fresh baguette that was pre-​cut, along with some perfectly room-​temp Vermont butter with fleur de sel. Nice.
Foie Gras Torchon ($ 12)
Gingered apple purée, preserved pear, cranberry walnut bread
I had to order the foie a la carte, which was deliciously rich and creamy. The gingered apple purée and preserved pears helped to provide that countervailing element you’re looking for. The cranberry walnut bread added texture and heft to withstand the richness of the foie.
Harvest Greens
Tea poached squash, etorki, fig vinaigrette
To start off the RW meal, the GF and our friend went with the well-​dressed harvest greens salad. The tea-​poached squash was light and fragrant, with the Etorki cheese really coming through with each bite.
Sweetbreads ($ 6 supplement)
Chicken fried, frisee, salsify purée, marrow jus, horseradish froth
As a supplement, I opted for sweetbreads for my first course. These were executed nicely, with the chicken-​fry offering great texture, reminiscent of cracklins. The sweetbreads themselves were tender within and the horseradish foam was surprisingly light, yet cut through some of the richness. The marrow jus had good essence as well.
Striped Bass
Organic spelt, harvest squash, cider carrots
For the GF’s main, she opted for the bass. The farro was a bit dry (to me, it always is), but the meaty fish was well-​cooked and moist. The sweet cider carrots had nice acidity to brighten up each bite.
Steak Frites
Marinated black angus hanger, pommes frites, bernaise aioli, bordelaise sauce
I went with a medium-​rare steak frites. Unfortunately, the steak must have been on the pass for awhile since it was served a bit cold, but the beef itself had decent marbling and was well-​seasoned. The fries were crisp and also well-​seasoned.
Strawberry Tart
Whipped sweet crème fraîche, compote, mint crystals
To start off our desserts, we had the strawberry tart which was beautifully baked and had an abundance of macerated strawberries on top. The sweet crème fraîche had a light texture and the mint crystals offered some brightness.
Illy Mocha Espresso Mousse
Macaroons
The macaroons were fluffy, light, and pliant. It was paired well with a dark chocolate espresso mousse.
Mignardises
Our meal ended with mignardises — dark chocolate, milk chocolate, and a truffle mousse as well.
Our server Megan was friendly and informed. And for the most part, our meal was on point. If you’re a Starwoods Preferred Guest, you get 10% off as well, which makes the RW meal an even better deal! So while Amuse may not be on the tip of everyone’s tongues for Philly’s dining scene (likely because it’s a hotel restaurant), I would definitely check it out.