Amp 150

As with many of the places I want to go, the build up happens for weeks and sometimes months.  I usually examine the menu several times, read reviews, look up pictures and learn about the chef.  I had heard about Amp 150 sometime in the Summer.  I read good things and the menu looked interesting.  I did however make one mistake that I'm sure more of us have made.  I discounted it's credibility because it was located in a hotel right off the highway on 150th near Lakewood.  Now recently, I have driven past this location quite often and something just told me to give it a try.  So Saturday, I did just that.

Apparently the theme is Amplifier as in music.  I did not get this.  The hotel has large guitars around the area and the restaurant plays mild rock music.  It is a completely open dinning room, which takes up a large section of the lobby.  It's upscale yet comfortable and inviting.  There are several small tables and then about 4 big round booths in the middle of the dinning room that are lighted by loud, unique chandeliers, they really set the tone of the restaurant and I loved it.  There is also a nice size private room which I regret not utilizing for my birthday party the night prior.   

The best quality of this place was the waitress.  She was polite, energetic, attentive and knowledgeable about not only their menu but food overall.  If every restaurant had one of her eating out would be an even better experience.  The bus boy and the lady that filled our water and the woman that brought out our meals were all also overly polite, I enjoyed every second of being there.

The menu is broken down into small plates, apps and entrees.  This is my favorite kind of set up because it makes it so much easier to try the many things that usually jump out at me and not be uncomfortably full.  There was a lot of seafood on the menu, as well as the special of the night which was sting ray.  I very much wanted to try that and several of the other seafood dishes, but narrowed it down to just one. 

The seared scallops small plate.  This was accompanied by spaghetti squash in a basil pesto and topped with dehydrated olives.  This dish melted in my mouth.  From the perfectly cooked scallops, to the just right amount of seasoned lightly spaghetti squash all in the pesto and ending with the bite of the olives, it just worked.  Behind that you will notice that I also ordered the house made chips.  I had see like 3 people already order it already and the malt vinegar aioli, dortmunder aioli just sounded so good I needed to try it.  Let me just say, this was one of the best appetizers I have ever had.  The chips were a nice balance between kettle and original chips.  They were crunchy and sweet and each of the aiolis just seemed to make the whole dish go from just a potato chip to upscale dinning.

For my entree, well I was a bit worried because even though the vegetarian pasta dish did sound good, in most cases basic pasta dishes at restaurants seem to lack creativity and even worse flavor.  I was pleasantly surprised as I began to eat my entree that the flavors were there and the creativity was achieved to some degree.  It was called Pasta Al Ceppo.  It was zitti like pasta, in a balsamic like thin sauce with pine nuts and cheese and topped with an eggplant confit.  Like I said, it was super flavorful for a basic pasta dish, the eggplant confit had to grow on me however, because I was thrown off by the meaty like texture. 

I would probably not order this dish again, but I would recommend this to a picky eater.  There were so many other things on the small plates and apps sections that I would like to try next time.  There will be a next time though, because the atmosphere was for sure my style and the menu was creative and I would go back for those chips any day!

Lesson learned, do not underestimate a restaurant in a hotel!