Authentic Spanish tapas, great drinks in the heart of Old City

It's restaurants like Amada that make the trip to Old City worthwhile.

Located in the heat of the bustling neighborhood, the traditional yet funky Spanish eatery offers a wide variety of delicious tapas - appetizer-sized dishes that allow diners to order multiple dishes for a single dinner - and other Spanish fare.

To fit in, you'll want to begin with some drinks.

Amada offers 44 different wines, from reds to whites to roses, from $6 to $20 a glass. The sangrias, however, are the stars of the drink menus. $28 pays for a pitcher of Tinto sangria with apples, oranges and cinnamon.

Beers and specialty cocktails (with names like Tie Me Up Tie Me Down) round out the drink menu, allowing you to move on to more important things, like the food.

For groups ordering tapas only, about three to four per person should provide more than enough food for everyone. For starters, order the cana de cabra ($7), a small cheese platter with apples, bread slices and a fantastic cherry-fig marmalade.

The melon con jamon ($7) should also be on your list. Sliced rectangles of fresh cantaloupe are topped with prosciutto, then drizzled with sugar. The entire dish is then briskly baked, caramelizing the sugar and creating a wonderful mix for your palette.

The piquillos rellenos ($12), crab-stuffed peppers, are not to be missed. The two peppers come in a small bowl, still sizzling from the grill and sprinkled with almonds. The insides are overflowing with crab meat, aioli, herbs, manchego cheese and creme fraiche.

For something a little different, try the pulpo gallego ($11), better known as Spanish octopus. The mix of Idaho potatoes and octopus chunks makes for a very unique and original dish.

Lastly, finish up your tapas with something more filling; the reveulto ($11) or any of the flatbread dishes ($9-11) will do the trick. The former - shrimp, mushrooms and shirred eggs - is essentially soft scrambled eggs with garlic, onions and scallions. The flatbreads are a great choice as well, offering a wide range of styles and ingredients, from beef shortribs to artichoke.

For dessert, be sure to try the manaza rellena ($8), a former dessert special that was added to the menu permanently due to popular demand. It's a mouth-watering flour-and-almond-crusted stuffed apple, covered with warm apple brandy and accompanied by goat-cheese cream. For chocolate lovers, the chocolate flan ($6) is also a winner.

Once finished and full, you'll be happy to know that the owners of the Amada are opening up a new restaurant, Tinto, at 20th and Sansom. If the food is remotely as good as the current restaurant, it won't be long before Penn students begin flocking.

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