Amali

New York, New York, United States

Amali in Midtown

I first heard of Amali as being a farm-to-table Mediterranean restaurant. While they do support sustainable farming, I found the menu to be heavier on the meats and seafood than I would have expected for a summer farm menu.

The food was good quality. The appetizers we ordered were excellent, but the entrees were disappointingly plain.

Dress

Smart casual - people were slightly dressed up

Cost

Entrees were around $25-$30

Reservations

We made reservations, but it wasn't necessary. The restaurant was mostly empty until later in the evening when it started to fill up a bit more.

Items Ordered

Eggplant

Eggplant

The eggplant was a really nice dish. The eggplant was a little bit crispy on the outside and had a delicious slightly spicy sauce on it. Mixing it with the yogurt on the bottom cooled off some of the spice, making it a great combination.

Buffalo Ricotta

Buffalo Ricotta

The ricotta was a really nice soft and creamy cheese. The cheese was mild tasting, but the pesto added a nice strong nutty taste. I often find in these types of dishes they don't bring enough bread, but in this case there was just the right amount of bread for the cheese.

Roasted Chicken Under a Brick

Roasted Chicken Under a Brick

This dish was disappointingly plain. The chicken was nice and moist and had a light sauce around it, but the sauce tasted mostly like salt. The potatoes were also plain roasted potatoes covered in the same salty sauce.

Lamb Porterhouse

Lamb Porterhouse

The lamb looked like a huge piece of meat, but there was a large bone in the middle. It was still a lot of meat, but it was also difficult cut out from around the bone. The peas were really delicious and fresh, but the proportion of vegetable to meat seemed meager. There was a creamy and also salty sauce on the bottom and a sweet roasted onion.