Restaurant Ambra

Ambra is described as a modern Italian restaurant, located in the Queen Village 'hood.Note that this is a prix-fixe menu at a fixed price per person, in which the meal includes food, beverage, service, and tax.Our menu included: Summer Mosaic, Insalata Rossa, Skate & Local Rice, Spaghetti & Crab, Tortellini & Chantrelles, Dry Aged Beef, and Panna Cotta.Everything was aesthetically pleasing and plated well; unfortunately, the dessert was the only item that we enjoyed from the course. The items, in general, were bland and underseasoned.Service was very friendly and attentive.Reservations are required in advance, made through Resy.+prix-fixe menu

Ambra remains a shiny beacon of great, careful, & thoughtful food in this city. I would say even more so now than when we visited pre-pandemic. Each dish comes with loads of backstory if you want it, and an insane level of technical know-how. The wine pairings are fantastic, and we were lucky to have an extra glass or two of some fairly unique bottles. Sitting in the kitchen watching food preparation for both Southwark and Ambra was exhilarating and certainly worth doing for date nights, or just spending quality time with a friend. Just don't take any photos of the actual kitchen (it's a rule!).The dishes were well rounded and fulfilling - however I can't help but feel the plating and / or combinations could be even more inspired. They're clearly striving to do some of the best culinary work in this city, and are succeeding, but some dishes could use a tad more oomph. The pasta could have used a bit more acid (more lemon perhaps), and the sauce for the brined fish (I don't recall if it was mackerel) was a tad too light. The radicchio was less bitter than usual but still a chore to eat. We could have used regular bread for that course to mop up the oil / butter - but what I really wanted was for all of it to be grassier. The sauce had very little taste considering it's vibrancy. We recently had a dessert dish at Story in London that was almond and dill prepared in various ways. The dill oil looked similar, but was miles more flavorful. I wonder if the oil needs to be worked on - because the fish was outstanding.It might be that the kitchen has mixed focused on Ambra since they're having to do Southwark plating as well...but I expected a few more surprises. Breaking the structure of a tasting menu since we were literally in the kitchen would've been nice. A surprise taste of some extra thing that they whipped up, even if that thing was for Southwark. I'll tell you one thing, we left quite confident we need to come back and try Southwark after seeing the chefs make those lower priced dishes. Very exact and professional work from this kitchen. A solid choice for a very consistently good dining experience...though not quite as ground breaking as I know they have the skill and passion to be. I just noticed they totally listened to (or at least intuited) the concerns from my previous review on Google maps. Ambra now leaves you with a bag of something to take home. For us it was granola, the most delightful house-smoked almonds, two scones, and lemon curd. A VERY lovely reminder of the wonderful night we shared in the kitchen. Thank you for being in Philly and striving for excellence.

Best meal in Philly. Service was impeccable as was Chef Chris explaining each dish with humor and grace. Such a fun dining experience!!

This is hands down, one of the most top notch culinary and fine dining experiences you can find in the city. The elephant in the room is, the plates are small, so do not expect to head there and indulge in one big heart plate. It is a prix fix menu though, so you will get a lot of small dishes, and they are adventurously plated. We loved our time there, tried a lot of new things and the service and knowledge provided by the wait staff is unparalleled. They really heighten the experience, and guide you through each plate, explaining all of the details and providing suggestions. The menu is ever changing, so nice to know you can go back and try to new things.This is a very intimate setting, perfect for a date night.They also have a wine pairing option to go with the meals. We didnt get this, but if you are willing to spend on it, it seems like it would make for an even better experience.

We were confused by the fact that every Yelp reviewer gave Ambra 5 stars but Craig Laban gave them only two bells. In this case, we agree with Laban. The positives: 1) The service was impeccable and it's nice and quiet in there. Waiters were informative and well paced without being overbearing. 2) The desserts, especially the panna cota were delicious, original and seasonal. 3) Plating was beautiful 4) the homemade pasta textures were perfectThe negatives:1) Except for the pasta and ox tail ragú, everything was under-seasoned. The ragú was so salty we had to send it back (which they promptly remade and was perfect). 2) Some elements in some dishes were just flavorless or disappointing For example, the burrata and nettle pasta (which sounded and looked so good), ended up being monotonous in flavor and a let-down3) Several dishes were hard to understand: they worked when you combined all the elements together but were plated in a way that suggested eating them separately. For example the fish with crema foam and endive. For $320 (with a shared wine pairing and 20% tip), we would likely not go back. We feel that if the dishes had a little more "pop" to the flavors instead of being so monotone, this would have been much better.

I had the pleasure of dining at Ambra with my husband last night. It was a special occasion and they wrote us a little welcome message on top of the menu - very nice personalized touch, and we plan to keep it :) The restaurant is tiny, only five tables, but it's elegant and beautiful with rustic elements that tie everything together. It was a 4-course prix-fixe with optional wine pairing (we decided to go for it), and each course had two options. Between hubby and myself, we tried everything offered because we didn't get any of the same dishes. The wine pairings were incredible and Michael was a wonderful waiter and sommelier - equal parts knowledgable, funny, and quirky. He told us not only about the wines but about the wineries, the towns they come from, what the grapes' names mean, and why they were selected as the pairing for the course :) Did I mention that they started us off with some sparkling wine and refilled it multiple times before the meal truly began? Rob was our other server -- we saw him a little less than Michael, but he was also very friendly and informative. Before our actual first course, we were offered THREE different amuse bouche courses, which I thought was an amazing idea, and they were delicious. We started with a chicken liver, apricot jam and savory pizzelle, then a smoked salmon on fennel cracker, and finally an eggplant parm bite. All were fantastic. Then they brought out two more dishes: a plate of olives, anchovies, and charred escarole, and a focaccia that was amazing. THEN the first courses were brought out!I chose the house-made burrata, which had an amazing amazing (x2!) basil pesto, while hubby chose the veal/tuna/egg/beet dish. I think the burrata dish was one of my favorite appetizers ever. So amazingly fresh and the smell of that basil was SO DELICIOUS.For our second courses, I chose the lobster fazzoletti (pasta) which was served with fresh Maine lobster, lobster mushrooms, and fava beans. It was unbelievable. My hubby's smoked spaghetti with zucchini was out of this world, too. Then we got a surprise course! It was house-made cavatelli with a lamb ragu that reminded me of my Italian grandmother's cooking. The lamb was so tender, the flavors were unbelievable and the pasta just melted in your mouth. I think this may have been my favorite dish and it wasn't even on the menu.For our entrees hubby had the pork loin, which was served with a polenta-stuffed pepper, pork belly, onion and green beans. I had the salmon which was served with corn, chanterelle mushrooms and squid. This was probably my least favorite -- I love salmon and I love squid but together I think the combo was a little too fishy, especially with the squid ink accompaniment. Least favorite doesn't mean bad though... I still ate and enjoyed it :) Dessert for me was an amazing chamomile panna cotta, which was served with fresh strawberries and a delicious CANDIED SOURDOUGH crumble. So yummy!!! Hubby had a blueberry olive oil torta with a rosemary sformato and lemon curd. Both desserts were great. Afterward, we we served a rabarbaro digestif (an amaro made from rhubarb), which was extremely bitter but grew less so as you sipped. This was served with two little bites: a hazelnut cannoli and... a tiny gelatinous cube coated in sugar that I now forget what it is... Marina (manager?/owner) and Chris (chef/owner) are super friendly and fun you get the chance to talk to them. We found out that our little handwritten message on our menu was from Chris himself! I'd highly recommend dining here if you're in the Philly area, or going next door to their sister property, Southwark (we had some drinks there after dinner). An amazing meal!

Really good experience overall. Was here with two others; bought a Crozes-Hermitage wine and had a 7 course tasting menu. Some of the food was better than others, but all was at least very good. Some was sensational (pasta with lamb ragu I think, as well as venison carpaccio).Service was very good until we asked for photos to be taken of the group. They seemed to be rather annoyed and gave us one very quick photo (it was not good) and that was it. Probably because the place was small and another party was at the door, so they wanted us out.

Contemporary Italian dining experience, thank you for the wonderful meal!Restaurant Ambra is located just next door to its sister restaurant (Southwark, which if you haven't already tried, you need to) We called around 6:30pm on a Saturday and were confirmed for a 9:30pm reservation (Pescatarian accommodation without issue)The ambiance is quaint and comfortable. Service was attentive, noting the hostess/waitress and waiters seamlessly sharing table service duties. Menu/Maggio1 Frutti di Mare - "Seafood salad" included citrusy/fresh shrimp, raw tuna, scallop, roe, crisps, frothy and light, favorite dish of the night***2 Scripelle in Brodo (Sweet potato accommodation) - Thin, light and creamy sweet potato broth, the most underwhelming of the night (Wine) we opted for a glass of Rosato, pink Italian wine. It was delightful.3 Aglio e Olio - Delicious, thin pasta smothered in a creme sauce with Parmesan. There were small white flowers in this dish. Though the peas were unevenly cooked, I was impressed with the thin consistency of this pasta4 Sweet Pea Tortollini and (Lamb substituted for peas?) - Savory, light tortollini filled with peas. I wish they had substituted a protein for the lamb (or something different than peas, which were now used in two dishes) I appreciated the work that went into these and enjoyed them despite.5 Halibut, Asparagi, Uovo - Presented beautifully on a bed of sliced potato and asparagus medley. The uovo (egg) sauce paired well and acted as an undertone, yet added depth to this dish. Halibut skin lightly crusted, silky/buttery inside6 Vitello, Carciofi, Cecci (substituted veal for salmon) - salmon perfectly light/buttery/pink, potato croquet was larger than comparable others and different in that the "outer shell" skin remained crispy with a contrasting soft/buttery potato inside, fava bean/lentil salad, dressed with 20 year aged balsamic7 Rhubarb "Cassata Siciliana" -!!!! Sweet, silky in all the right places!! The marmalade and cookies were a highlight, perfectly sealing this dish as a 2nd fav of the night8 Affogato - hot espresso and vanilla iced cream, what's not to loveDelicioso!! From beginning to end, thank you for the beautiful experience, Ambra and their staff are highly recommended!

Everything was fantastic!It was such an amazing experience. The food was what we went for and it was worthy of the of all accolades! The experience added so much. If you can get a reservation; RUN

What an amazing experience! I needed a restaurant venue in which to propose to my girlfriend. I was faced either with proposing in a room full of people or renting some expensive private room. Then I found Ambra and met chef and owner Chris D'Ambro. He has such a special room at Ambra, and he was so accommodating. He set up the room before opening so I could be alone to make the proposal. Then we enjoyed the tasting menu at the chef's table with wine pairing. The food was fantastic, the presentation was amazing, and the service was spectacular! In fact, we forgot the goodie bag that Chris prepared for us to take, and he came over the hotel he knew we were staying at and celebrating in the lobby with friends and family to bring it to us, which included a personalized printed menu of the night. They were fantastic!