Potatoes, potatoes, potatoes — if that’s your mantra, here’s a restaurant you should try out: Amadeus, home of ALL THE POTATOES.
But seriously, Amadeus is incredible — in food, in service and more.
It’s located on the corner of the bustling E. Washington St., and the second you walk by, you’ll find yourself transported in front of a homely Central-European restaurant. Amadeus Restaurant, which has been in the Ann Arbor area since 1988, is truly a unique, one-of-a-kind experience.
From an incredible menu featuring items from Poland, Hungary and Austria to their amazing desserts and coffee, Amadeus is the place to go if you’re looking for something fun and exciting to do on a Friday night.
We first checked out the restaurant during October of 2020. Due to covid-19 precautions, all indoors seating was closed; so we sat outside and practiced social distancing with the other tables. We felt comfortable with everyone around us wearing masks, but if you would still not prefer dining out, Amadeus does offer takeout.
We were quickly seated, and our server bought us lovely bread rolls and butter, which we paired with some tea. For starters, we ordered six Pierogi to split. I’ve actually never had these before, but they’re essentially Traditional Polish dumplings filled with Potato-Farmer cheese and topped with sour cream. Now, you know I love my dumplings, and I definitely love my potatoes, so this was probably one of my favorite things to eat — I could probably eat just Pierogies (is this the correct plural form?) forever.
Between the three of us, we ordered the Budapest Pancakes, featuring two potato pancakes topped with Paprikash (chicken stew in a white-wine cream sauce) layered with another two potato pancakes, and garnished with a side of Roma Artichoke Salad and sour cream. Next was the Grilled Kielbasa, featuring Amadeus’ famous flame-grilled Polish sausage served with sautéed onions, red-skinned potatoes, and Kapusta salad. Last was the Salmon-Ski, consisting of sautéed wild salmon topped with herbed shrimp and served with red-skinned potatoes, Kapusta Salad, and homemade dill cream.
I can’t speak for the last two entrees, but personally, I absolutely loved the Budapest pancakes. They were chockfull of flavor, and the chicken stew in between the pancakes provided the perfect contrast to the pancakes, ensuring each bite was just the right texture.
Of course, there’s always room for dessert. (Apparently, there’s a scientific reason for the “dessert stomach” — it’s because our taste buds get bored of savory things, but when we’re presented with sweets, our taste buds are re-awakened.) Anyways, two of us ordered the Roasted Hazelnut Torte, with ground-roasted hazelnuts layered with semi-sweet milk chocolate, and the person ordered the Apple Torte (an elegant take on the traditional pie, whipped cream and cinnamon topping). I also got an order of Viennese coffee (coffee with caramel, whipped cream and cinnamon) to top it all of off.
This was one of my favorite coffees, as sweet coffee is definitely my guilty pleasure. It’s definitely a lot if you get it in addition to another dessert, but it’s wonderfully creamy and smooth. The Hazelnut Torte reminded me of Nutella, and was a beautiful texture. I avoided the whip cream because my coffee already had a lot, but the whip cream helps offset a bit of the dryness from the torte.
Of course, this was definitely a HUGE meal. I ended up saving one of the pancakes for dinner, so you certainly get your money’s worth of food. All in all, Amadeus is an absolutely amazing experience tucked away in Ann Arbor, and will transport you to an elegant land of delicious food.
Hungry Mind, Hungry Stomach 