Sampan Chinese Restaurant

Been going to this place consistently for some years now. Their Sesame Chicken, Boneless Spare Ribs, and Chicken w Broccoli have been my go-​to. Food is always on point and the people who take orders are really nice.
Pro Tip: DONT play the quarter game they have set up in the restaurant. No you will not win the 20 dollar bill «so close» to dropping

I am disappointed. The reviews suggested that I would enjoy the food, and I was wrong. I had the chicken with broccoli and pork fried rice combination with the wonton soup. The rice was OK, but everything else was not to my liking. I will not be back.

We decided to try this spot after reading the reviews. We probably won’t order from them again. The shrimp dumplings smelled so fishy. I asked for the green beans to be steamed with sauce on the side for my little one and they were barely cooked.
We will stick to our regular spot. :(

Gotta give Sampan another star. Ordered Szechuan Wonton, Egg Drop Soup, and Beef Lo Mein last night. All were good, with the soup and noodles being on POINT! Solidly locked as my go-​to Chinese take out in the ‘hood (presuming this awesome keeps up)!

My go to for Chinese food delivery, hands down.

My family has been ordering from Sampan for over 15 years. The original owner Danny was a great guy. I’ve never had a bad experience here. Keep it up

Great food! My go to Chinese take out. Everything I’ve tried has been very good.

This was my go to Chinese spot since I was like 15. Now I’m 22 and they finally let me down. I ordered some chicken wings with pork fried rice. I have no idea what was wrong with the wings, but it was very soggy instead of fried. I’m not sure if it was just old wings they microwaved to reheat. It was just gross. I’m saddened by this. I’m not ordering again and have found a replacement. #sadlife

Really awesome spot. $ 6 for a small that was actually pretty large. I got the shrimp and broccoli. Good flavor, big sized shrimp w/​the broccoli just right. Can’t believe I haven’t eaten here since living so close to it!
I had their vegetarian tofu + veg meal. That was a miss, the sauce was not too flavorful. Along with their wonton soup with too thick of wrap with little meat. However, I would venture to say that their broccoli + protein is a solid.

I got my order like 20 minutes ago, and it is so bland and flavorless and generally disgusting that I was compelled to write a review. I couldn’t even eat half of what I ordered. Worst cheese wontons I’ve EVER encountered. I won’t pretend to be an expert on Chinese food. I mostly order from those little Americanized places that devote half of their menus to things like french fries and chicken wings.
But even I know what bad Chinese food tastes like. No flavor, no spice (isn’t the name «General Tso’s» before a menu item supposed to imply some sort of heat? Am I wrong here?), barely any cheese in the cheese wontons, and the egg drop soup tastes weirdly meaty and horrible.
The only pros that I can think of are that the price is fairly cheap and the delivery is relatively fast.

If you look around you, you will notice that 50% of the people who now reside in NYC are not from New York. On that note these people who give Sampan five stars must either have been serving time in prison, or come from some third world country where slugs and maggots are a delicacy. Since the previous (original) owner sold this place I only ate there one time, it was awful. About eight years past and I tried it again, their food is gross, it doesn’t even taste like Chinese food’ Their fried rice is yellow prepackage garbage. The chicken dish was also prepack. Two forks full was all that I could bare, STAY AWAY FROM THIS PLACE. I will never eat there again.

Never fails. I have lived in NYC for just about 7 years now– 3 years ago I moved to Astoria and fell in love with Sampan.
Delivery is always within 20 minutes of placing my order on Seamless.
PROS:
Sesame Chicken (Mild): AMAZING– odered back home in Long Island from my go to place for nearly 20 years, and Sampan crushes the competition.
Pork Fried Rice: perfect combination of ingredients.
Wonton Soup: Originally from Long Island, I spent the past 7 years looking for a wonton soup I enjoyed. Nothing compares to Sampan’s wonton soup, nothing.
Crispy Cheese Crab Wonton: I had my first one at my boyfriend’s place, and now it’s become a staple in our order whenever we order (about once a week).
Mozzarella Sticks: Insanely good for a Chinese food place.
The House Combo is a great portion, enough for my boyfriend and I to share or good for two dinner for myself. I love how you also get to choose your free side!
CONS:
Sesame Chicken (Mild): I just wished, that when you ask for «all white meat» that is was as crispy as the mixed meat platter.
Delivery Man: One time I had a delivery man complain to me when I only gave a $ 1 tip (I usually give at least $ 2)– little did he know I had a $ 5 bills because it was raining…
OVERALL:
Order, tonight, please.

This place has certainly gone downhill in the last couple of years and I’ve lived in Astoria for about 25 years. I’ve known the previous owner before he sold due to the movie theatre being torn down.
The picture you see is NOT at all what this place really looks like. It’s filthy; boxes everywhere and tables were dirty. There are no pictures on the wall !! The owner’s kids are running around and all sit at the front table eating and reading books.
I walked in to order and I sat down. Some tired looking woman comes up to me with a paper menu and tells me to order at the counter when I’m ready. I look up and see a cardboard sign that says «order here». So much for service.
I pick out my order and ask for pork egg foo young with bottled water and I paid. You used to get a snack while waiting for your food; those crispy noodle things with duck sauce. Well; I guess times are hard or they’re just plain lazy. Not anymore !! You just sit there and look at the boxes stacked all over the place. I started counting them.
The order comes and I’m just «amazed». There are 3 large egg foo young on a Styrofoam plate, white rice on another Styrofoam plate and the gravy in a plastic dish and to top it off… my so called silverware are plastic !! Now; how’s that for a well served meal !!!
I nibbled at the food; it was just so gross… the rice tasted old and the egg foo young was so greasy I just couldn’t stomach it anymore. I got up and left.
This place USED to be my «go to» place when I wanted Chinese; but sad to say they will no longer be getting my $$$.
The ambience, service and food is horrible.

We got delivery from here and it was great. They came quickly, which is always good. Their dumplings, sesame chicken, and wonton soup were all great! I was pleasantly surprised that my pint of soup had 5 wontons in it. Overall, we were very happy to find another great Chinese restaurant in Astoria.

Ordered from them on Seamless. There was nothing particularly terrible about it, but the food was pretty bland, even for a neighborhood takeout place. Will order again if starving during a storm, but not going bookmark it for future orders.

I’m pretty sure this place is not what Confucius meant when he said, «Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.» Judging by the spiteful and sullen faces of all the employees, it looks like these people are working every minute. They all have an anger and roughness that goes beyond the usual Chinese food employee ilk — they’re kind of mean.
Their dumplings were nothing spectacular. The ambience was pretty gross — cardboard boxes stacked next to the tables, dirty tables, and this random coin pusher machine with free pixie sticks and candy in a compartment above it.
Stick to your halal meat, Steinway folks.

I hate to give less the 3 – 4 stars, but I have to here. I would give it one star, but I’m giving an extra because they were the only Chinese place on Seamless that was open to deliver during the snow. It’s also cheap, but that’s never good if it shows in the quality of food. I had the tofu sesame lunch special which was drenched in the thick brown jelly sauce. Very unappealing and not at all tasty. I had to throw away the entire plate after only eating the plain brown rice, and I’m not one to throw away food. The mei fun noodles were completely bland. The chicken in the fried rice looked boiled or that it still needed to be cooked. It had to be picked out of the dish before eating, which is not what you want when you order chicken fried rice. Bottom line, I’d try another Chinese place next time or just opt for a different cuisine.

The best fast food chinese place I’ve ever been. I choose their bbq spare ribs over any other ribs even from the fanciest bbq places.

YUM
CHEAP AND GOOOOOOOOD.
I have ordered many things here and you can’t really go wrong. Thank god for Sampan Chinese.
Itadakimasu!!!

One of the better Chinese take outs (and dine in) in Astoria. The spicy dishes are actually spicy. Will order again!