I take brunch very seriously and am having a great time exploring Philly’s brunch choices. We are so lucky to live in a such a great Food city – really, we can eat at a new brunch spot every Sunday and not repeat for months!

My most recent stop in the Gayborhood was Amis. I’d been for dinner and have heard people rave about their brunch.

I decided to tackle brunch with 3 of my favorite foodie friendz, The Cape May Contessa, Robby H and The Tri Guy.

Amis was A MISs for brunch.

The disappointment started with the Warm Waffle w. Rhubarb syrup and continued on through the entire meal. The waffle was rumored to be "stupid good" – Eh, not so much. We ordered the waffle as a shared appetizer for the 4 of us. There were 3 sections of waffles – each was slightly smaller than a credit card. All 4 of us looked at the plate and just shrugged. It was a resounding disappointment. While the waffle was crisp, it was really boring. Give me sizzle, some pazazz, some sparkle, something, nope, just a waffle with rhubarb syrup. B O R I N G!

The Cape May Contessa ordered a bruchetta. It "looked" beautiful. A bed of cheese, with a chopped cucumber and tomatoes in an oil with a hint of dill. The Contessa was disappointed, she kept saying, "It needs something." I tasted it and agreed, saying "It needs flavor." Rule #1, salt may be a pedestrian seasoning, but there’s a reason we common people use it – um, it works! It brings the flavors of spices to life!

Robby H and I each ordered the sunny side up duck egg with grilled guanciale and pecorino fondue. It took a dissertation from our server to explain this dish. Guanciale is pork belly, I’ve had pork belly at an amazing restaurant in New York (yum), love sunny side eggs, love polenta! All really good ingredients, but somehow the execution of this dish totally flopped. I asked for bread to soak up some of the liquid. I ate it with a spoon. The "guanciale" was much more fat than meat, I couldn’t eat it, it was so gross. Buyer beware – when the menu says duck EGG, just know, they’re not kidding that’s ONE, ONE LONELY EGG!

$14, for 1 egg, 4 slivers of "guanciale" and some polenta. I was really disappointed.

The Tri Guy was really excited to try the Cockles and Scallions with scrambled eggs on toast. He found only one major problem with this dish. The chef took the description all too literally. The menu description was also the recipe, there were no seasonings. The consistency was also an issue; it was really wet, when he specifically asked for it to be a little more on the dry side. After brunch, he begged me to get him to a convenience store for some gum, he was desperate to wash the taste of scallion from his palet.

If you’ll note the bread on the plate with the cockles, scallions and eggs. This bread was the absolute most delicious thing on the menu! The Cape May Contessa asked where they got the bread, the server replied, "We bake it in-house." After the server left, The Cape May Contessa leaned over to me and said, "There’s no way they make this bread here, it’s too good."

I think the entire brunch was summed up perfectly when Robby H said, "Brunch at Amis is a miss, can we please go somewhere else for brunch after we leave here, I’m starving."

Amis Restaurant
412 S 13th St
Philadelphia, PA 19147-1157
(215) 732-2647