Sampan Cafe

Welcome to Sampan Café, home of the one-​legged chickens. I wonder what kind of tax relieve you get for using handicapped chickens.
Ordered a whole garlic fried chicken, went home, ate half of it, pretty good, had it before, and it tastes like what’s expected; then I realized it’s missing a whole drumstick. Now any other piece it would be impossible to tell but come on a drumstick? Called the restaurant back, not even look for a refund or order replacement, but just to let them know that this is happening in their kitchen and the response I get is «some of the chickens have no legs?» I hung up.

This place is horrible. We came here for mother’s day and there was a short line. The hostess was nowhere to be found and the server looked lost. After 10 minutes someone finally came and put our name down. They had 5 big empty tables reserved and a long line of people waiting. We waited 20min and ended up leaving.

Found on Unilocal and ordered pickup. Food was excellent and great value. Sarah was a wonderful hostess /​waiter. Was our first time, but will certainly come back and have to eat in to enjoy the ambience. Charming little restaurant inside. Certainly surprising given the outside and surrounding places.

Went there last night for dinner. Some of the best chinese food i have had ever. Staff was very friendly and fast. I recommand the sesame balls. Heck get some to go home too for a sweet treat later. Only down side long drive for dinner frim WV

Called on my way home to pick up my favorite entrée, one of the «chef specialty» items — crispy sesame beef along with wonton soup and spring rolls. When I got home, it was the wrong entrée –crispy beef (which was schezwan style, too spicy and loaded with green peppers, no noodles for the wanton soup which was too salty to eat. So, dinner was the spring rolls. I called to complain and was offered 20% off my next order. No thanks. Maybe there is a new chef but I will find someplace else for future orders.

The food is so authentic and delicious! I recommend everyone go try! I normally have a small appetite but everytime when I go there I order a lot and I finish them quickly!

The food is definitely above average. I’d even go so far as to say it’s good. But the service is another story… There’s one hostess who is always super sweet/​accommodating, and in all honesty she is the main reason why we continue to return.
My 76 year old father went in to order carry out yesterday. He was confused by the menu board bc it’s handwritten & the dishes didn’t line up with the prices, so he asked the girl at the counter for clarification… She responded by rudely pointing at the board and saying, «It’s right there! Can’t you read?!»
Seriously? WTF? Why would you work in customer service if you’re just going to be obnoxious?
The aforementioned nice hostess intervened when my Dad started yelling at the girl, and once he calmed down he apologized to the girl. I would’ve stormed out and called it a day.
He ended up ordering a peking duck and lo mein though. I had the leftovers for dinner, it was pretty good.

Living around the area, there are not that many good chinese restaurants to eat at. Moving from New York, I did not expect the food here to be authentic or close to what I normally eat.
To my surprise, Sampan offers authentic chinese cuisine which rivals what I normally love and remember from authentic restaurants in New York. My favorite dish is the Beef Chow Fun. The normal chow funs I get from nearby restaurants usually either has too much oil or lack of flavor. Sampan offers a generous amount of food and is served by a group of friendly and hard working staff.
I definitely recommend this to people who are looking for good authentic Chinese food.

My family was at the restaurant for the first time on Saturday and it will be our last. Foods were a bit below average, dim sum were below average, service was below average… Won’t be back for sure.

Terrible delivery service.
2.5 hours arrival from ordering, and food was cold.
I dont mind the occasional delay, but the driver is a complete asshole.
I had been nothing but cordial, yet the attitude I receive is completely unacceptable!

Average Cantonese food. Came here with my parents on my dad’s birthday and wasn’t impressed. The rice was hard and dry and the food was bland. Service was mediocre at best.

I came here with a party of 10 and we were able to get a table right away as they were not busy on a Wednesday night. We ordered eight dishes and a soup. To keep it short, only the crispy chicken out of all the dishes was considered good, everything else was just average.
The place was also understaffed, only one waiter and a «helper» serving the whole restaurant because other people «called out». Our waiter, nonetheless, was working hard and trying to do everything quickly.
I won’t be likely coming back to this place as the food was not worth the price.

My family has been coming to this place for 5+ years because the food in this place always great! Their customer service could be improved and their place could also use a little upgrade so to speak. I could give the food 5 stars, but the customer service of this place just tanked. I don’t even know if it is legal, but THEY AUTOMATICALLY TAKE 18% GRATUITY even if you’re just dining in for two. I asked why are you charging me 18% right away, I was just told it’s our new policy. I will give even 25% for an excellent service, and won’t deny an at least 18% for a huge party, but what they’re doing is just uncalled for.

I wouldn’t come here again. I would’ve given this place 3 stars for the food, but the service really dropped it down to 2 stars.
We ordered the:
–salt and pepper pork ribs $ 13.95
–salted fish and chicken tofu casserole $ 13.95
–triple delight $ 10.95
The pork ribs were way too salty. The meat had a lot of tendons that were really difficult to chew. I will say that the portion sizes here are decent!
The salted fish and chicken tofu casserole was pretty good If you like how salted fish tastes like. My parents enjoyed this dish, but I’m just not a fan of ALL fish. Most of the dish was tofu though, so definitely don’t order this if you’re looking for more meat.
The triple delight was just canned/​frozen vegetables + meat drenched in oyster sauce and sugar… it was too sweet for my taste, but that’s just my preference. I would say this dish is very Americanized and you should order this if you enjoy dishes like sesame chicken.
The service was really pushy. We came an hour before closing, but since they were clearing all the tables, they asked us if we needed the condiments on the table because they were clearing the table. We said we still needed it, since sometimes we add it to our food… then, a different waiter came back 5 minutes later asking us the same thing, and took them away. Umm it’s 1 hour before closing and you won’t let us keep the salt, pepper, or spicy sauce in case we need it? Ok then.
I took my credit card out towards the end when I was ready to pay (was waiting for the bill anyway). It was weird because the waiter grabbed my credit card on the table before she even brought the bill… so she charged me before I got the bill. What?!
And they came back in less than a minute to check up on whether or not I tipped yet… it’s like they were trying to kick us out. I know it closes at 10 pm. Please have some patience — I had my pen in hand ready to tip so please stop rushing me.
Overall, I wouldn’t come back here again. Most authentic dishes here are around $ 16, which is pricey for me. I’m not from the area, so I don’t know what the cost of living here is, but back in Dallas and California Bay Area, I can find most authentic chinese dishes to be around $ 14.

Finally, a close encounter with the best dimsum this side of the DMV area. It’s a 15 minute drive from home, so for certain this will now be my GO TO place if I am craving for ha cau, xiu mai, steamed roast pork buns and chicken feet… Did I say their pork fried rice is legit?
My only regret is I never knew about this place until today!
I recommend you make reservations as the place fills up fast with regular customers.
Now I no longer have to travel to the Bay Area in California to have authentic dimsum… It’s now within my reach … Fast, inexpensive and delicious.

No.
Starter was crab rangoons which were horrible, just chives and cream cheese with what tasted like bbq sauce.
We ordered bean curd and sesame chicken as our main dishes. They were both awful. Sesame chicken was just bread, and the bean curd was just giant blocks of tofu and no vegetables.
The only thing that was edible was the rice.
And my fortune cookie accused my boyfriend of cheating… rude… :p

WORST CUSTOMER SERVICE EVER.
A friend and I came in at 1PM on Friday. Barely anyone here during lunch. We ordered lunch menu Wonton noddle ($ 6.99) soup and Gerneal Tso’s chicken ($ 5.95). The bill came out to be $ 10.99 for the chicken and 6.99 for the soup. The owner (i assume) said «when you eat in we charge you Dinner menu’. I had never heard of that??? He started to raise his voice where everybody at the restaurant was looking at us. This is really EMBARRASSING .
I suggest the owner needs to work on his customer service skills, There is no reason you should fight with customer over $ 5.

Worst service for a restaurant when there are no other customers during Monday at 1245pm. Ordered a minced beef over rice and the seafood pan fried noodles. I complained to a waitress (who was cleaning the chairs with windex) who told another waitress (who was scrubbing the fish tanks) who told an older man and the man said,“that’s what it’s supposed to look like, what do you WANT me to do?!?” Seriously. Not apologetic at all. The minced beef with rice was a gelatinous gloop over some chunks of beef. It was beyond appetizing when my two year old said it was «yucky.» And not once did the older guy or the two waitresses ask if everything was ok. Service was horrendous and so was the food. Shape up or ship out. Well I guess the lack of customers should have been my clue.

The lobster is really damn good. It’s a flash fried and then steamed from what I understand. Since the lobster is fresh, the meat is tender and falls off the bone nicely. The sauce that comes on the top of the lobster is delicious. The restaurant is located in a non-​descript strip mall but don’t underestimate this place!

Pros: food tasted decent (shumai, bbq pork buns (char siew bao), chow fun noodles, sticky rice (lo mai kao)).
Cons: way under staff. 2 workers for the entire restaurant. Thus the service was slow. Came here for the dim sum and they werent even pushing the cart around. It stood at the exact same place for the entire time we were there.
Overall: i feel like someone else supplies their dim sum and they just heat it up. The dim sum used to be mediocre here but not anymore. The regular food is pretty good. If its dim sum alone, this place would be ¹⁄₅. But since im puttong the regular menu food with the review, its ³⁄₅.