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Nice environment in SoHo, with good service and real Italian ownership. The food portions are "French style" (i.e., on the small side), which is fine, but the prices are also "a la French" (i.e., exorbitant). A dinner for two can easily set you back $140, which I don't think is worth it. Still, a good experience once in a while, or you can just have a drink at their bar and move to one of the other eateries nearby.

This is a restaurant for people who truly love food, not over-glamorized and flashy dishes. We have eaten there often. The chef owner is devoted to allowing one to taste the beatuy of the ingredients, not disguising the food. The pasta is always fresh, carefully prepared, and delightful. Everything is tasty among main course, and true to the meat or fish itself. Genuine European sensibility. When we go somewhere else, we usually find ourselvess regretting we didn't go to Ama. And it is not stuffy at all! And the Ama namesake dessert is wonderful. Can get noisy when crowded.

Walked in without a reservation on a Friday night at 9PM and we were able to be seated. Having never been to this restaurant and having walked in as a fluke, we were pleasantly surprised. A warm atmosphere and great service were a plus. For food we had the branzino which was full of herbs and olive oil and the halibut. Dessert was the panna cota and a bottle of Gavi wine. This is a place to return to.

Last Friday I planned to have dinner with friends in SoHo and we decided to try Ama. Because of the rain, they stayed home, but I went anyway. I found an attractive room and a warm welcome. On the wine list there was a bottle of Gutturnio, from Emilia, which I ordered. It’s a blend of bonarda, which is often blended with others, and barbera, which easily blends with others as well. Though it is no lightweight, it’s easy to drink, and most enjoyable. One of the evening’s specials was scallops, available as either an appetizer or an entree. I chose them as my appetizer and then, when I asked for sweetbreads as my main course, the owner got this anxious look. He said the preparations of both were similar, and asked if he could have the chef make the scallops differently. Of course I said yes. Two large sea scallops arrived shortly, lightly sautéed and full of flavor. Soon after, the sweetbreads appeared, done to perfection, attractively presented on a bed of spinach. My friends were sorry to hear what they missed, and will be coming to Ama soon. A cautionary suggestion: I don't think this would be a restaurant where I would go with a large group.

Ama is terrific. I eat out a lot in NYC on both business and pleasure. Ama has rocketed into one of my 4 or 5 favorite places to go. I have found the entire menu to be excellent and normally I am the type to have a "favorite" dish at every restaurant. I would give them a 4.5 for "value" if they would expand the wine, it is hard to find a really good bottle of wine on their list without paying a big price. Turibio and Lisa provide a fabulous atmosphere, and again the food is just fantastic. GO!!

A man who seemed to be a manager or owner (not dressed like a waiter) took drink orders from the first four of our party of ten to arrive, and then practically had to be tackled to take the rest of our party's orders. He would only take one at a time, then try to escape before anyone else could ask for anything, and had to be physically stopped so the others could order. One of the drinks was completely wrong, and when it was sent back, he gave my friend a nasty look and said nothing as he took it, like he couldn't believe she had sent it back. I waited tables for eight years, and especially for such a big party, I would have expected better (at least polite) service. But I guess it wasn't his tip on the line. I got the pork chop, which came with a delicious mushroom and cream sauce, but the meat itself was at least half fat. Mashed potatoes came with it, but no vegetables at all. I won't go back. There are plenty of other wonderful Italian places in the city in the same price range, like In Vino on 4th.

I'm not the most adventurous eater, so I thought I wouldn't enjoy anything on the menu, but I was happily surprised that the mushroom ravioli with blueberries was just that (three blueberries were served with the ravioli--no weird mushroom and blueberry amalgam in the ravioli). My fiance, who's very picky, enjoyed his dish, penne with marinara and bacon, very much. The salad we had was way too salty and the dessert and appetizer portions were laughable (the chocolate molten cake was literally-no exaggeration-the size of about five quarters stacked on top of each other and the calzones, which were amazing, were small and there were only three of them). We sat at the chef's table, a booth in the corner, and it was cozy and comfortable for our party of 9. We had heard to ask for the complimentary almond cookies, but when we did, we got a bit of a tongue-lashing, which was not cool. They gave us the free cookies, which were hard, but delicious, anyway. I think it's a perfect spot for a date...when you're not paying.