Sameem Afghan Restaurant

We were short on time to make it to a show at the Fox, but wanted to try this place since it was on our way. Street parking was a breeze and the hostess/​server was cheerful and kind about our short dining window. She didn’t seem to know her menu, and contradicted it outright, which was confusing and made us unsure about what to order. We ended up selecting butter chicken and lamb curry. The food was out almost immediately after we ordered it. The lamb was delicious and tender; the butter chicken was unlike butter chicken my companion had had in the past and he said he’d not order it again, but it’s hard to tell if that’s because he’s used to a different region’s butter chicken. There were a ton of exciting things on the menu I’d like to try, so we’ll be back. And we made our show with time to spare, which we really appreciated!

Service was pitiful, given that the place is small and I was sitting in full view of the counter. The smoke from the kitchen was so intense that it triggered the smoke detector… no lie. I probably won’t be back.

Holy crap, this food was delicious! My husband and I were staying just down the street from this restaurant on a recent visit to St. Louis. We had our dog with us, so we grabbed a large assortment of things via carry out from Sameem to eat in our hotel room. What a feast. I’m not a huge lamb fan, but I must say that I have never seen lamb meat fall off the bone like the lamb from Sameem. Everything was cooked perfectly. Here’s a sampling of what we got, if you are interested in really going all out like we were:
~Aash soup
~Falafel
~Pakowras
~Eggplant
~Hummus with Pita
~Pashtoon Salad
~Lamb Qabelli Palau
We had a lot left over to snack on throughout the rest of the trip. I highly recommend this place.

Vegetarians: they have a separate menu with several solid options on the back! Not to mention many appetizers that are vegetarian friendly.
Really great service, I can see why they have such solid reviews!!!
Their portion size might be a little on the small size if you’re a very hungry hippo but otherwise should be fine. I needed a little more sauce on my food (for spice purposes) and the owner very quickly accommodated my request. The basmati rice is SOOOOO good
Note: gratuity added for parties of 5 or more

The frontage is a little indistinguishable from other Manchester Road shops; inside is a tiny, plain dining room with a few Afghan portraits on the walls. There’s more room on the second floor. The whole two-​floor premises are bright and clean, with paint work of red bricks (maybe they are indeed exposed bricks), heavy wooden furniture and artworks tucked in the corner featuring murals depicting Persian myths.
The menu reflects weighted influences on cooking — fairly heavy from Arab lands, the Indian subcontinent to some extent and traces of further afield in Asia. They show up in forms of combinations of rice and kebab or grilled meat, plus some mid-​eastern specials. Spicing is subtle rather than fiery. In the Emperor Platter we tried, a few bite-​sized chicken, lamb kebabs and one sausage kebab encompass the seasoned rice bed, topped with grilled tomato and diced potato, together with sides of salad and eggplant.
The service was swift with sunny smiles. Dishes we had were all very generous in carbohydrate but quite miserly in protein, which is the only moan we had. Meat lovers may have to order additional meat.

Food was just OK. Th hummus was average and the eggplant was cold, although it was tasty. All entrees were average. Service was good. The rice pudding was simply terrible. Having something that tasted almost like lavender body lotion is never good. The baklavas were alright, but they seemed to be store bought. It’s unfortunate that we came in with such high hopes and, in the end, left disappointed. We will not go again.

My boyfriend and I came here for the first time a few weeks ago, and our second time was tonight. It’s now a new favorite of ours — this is the kind of place where there’s no bad choice you could make. The food is great quality, the portions are generous, and the prices are affordable.
We started both visits with the Mid-​Eastern Feast — falafels, pakowras, eggplant borani, hummus, and pashtoon salad. All very good, a variety of tastes so nothing gets dull. They got our entrees to us pretty quickly both times. I’ve gotten the Chicken Tikka Masala and the Butter Chicken, both good choices (with the Tikka Masala being my favorite of the two). My boyfriend has gotten the Afghani Muntoo, which was so delicious and different! Tonight, he got the combo chicken and beef plate, also a nice meal, especially if you’re having trouble deciding what plate to get! We finished it off with a mango lassi and kheer, a rice pudding/​custard like dessert. Both were very nice — the mango lassi has the sweetness I love, and the rice pudding was a mildly sweet dish to clean your palette of the curries and spices.
We’ll be back to try something new here again soon. Highly recommend!
TL;DR: Get the Mid-​Eastern Feast, Afghani Muntoo, Chicken & Beef Combo or Chicken Tikka Masala, and the mango lassi or kheer

Well I have to say this was a surprise. It was a birthday dinner chosen by my S.O. otherwise I would not have been here. I have never been a fan of curry or anything spicy but the meal I picked was outstanding. We started with an appetizer of Sambosa and Pakowra, it came with 4 of each. The Sambosa were pastry dough triangles filled with potatoes, green onions and herbs, they had a little kick but not terrible. The Pakowra were patties of onion, spinach and potatoes dipped in a chick pea batter and fried, it was a little spicy for my taste but good. For entrees, I had the Butter shrimp, Oh Man! This was awesome! It say’s it a butter, curry garlic sauce but the curry flavor was very very light. It was delicious and came with a huge portion of basmati rice cooked perfectly. The other entrée was Lamb Qabelli Palau, a braised lamb shank that fell off the bone with basmati rice cooked with carrots and raisins in a lamb stock. It had vermicelli with the rice. Plenty of food and very tasty. The owner came out to check how we were liking things. After we finished he sent out a delicious custard flavored with cardamom and what tasted like something citrus, also very good and refreshing. A perfect palette. It is a small place when you walk in (maybe seating for 20 but behind the register is a pathway to another dining area in the next building.
I have to say it was a pleasant surprise in a great location (The Grove). I will be back.

What can I say that hasn’t already been said? This place is fantastic, the hardest part is deciding what to order! Everything we’ve tried here is SO GOOD, so do you go with what you know, or continue to branch out? Luckily, we live in the Grove, so we can keep coming back again and again!

Extremely good food and service. It was our first time trying Afghani food, and the staff was very patient in helping us pick out the essential dishes to try. Once the food arrived, it was fresh and delicious.

Never having tried Afghan food, a friend and I decided to dine at Sameem last Thursday. We arrived at 7pm without a reservation, there were only a few other tables taken in the dining room. We were welcomed at the door and our server was very nice.
We started with an order of Sambosas ($ 5). These were just «okay» to me but the friend I dined with loved them and couldn’t get enough of their chutney. She even ordered more chutney to go with her meal. For the main course we both went with the Mixed Grill, which offered a mixture of lamb, beef, and chicken with rice and naan ($ 15). It was great way to try a variety of their meats. I really liked everything on the plate. It was enough food that we couldn’t finish everything on our plates and left feeling full.

I ate here with my boyfriend last night (Tuesday). We didn’t get reservations but fortunately got there early enough that it was OK (6:00ish). By the time we were finishing up, all the tables were occupied in the little room we were in, and they were taking some large parties up to another room. Lots of people were also coming and going with carry out orders. We got lucky, but it seems like reservations are always a good idea for this place!
We had the sweetest server who was so helpful to us since it was both our first time at Sameem and our first time eating any kind of Afghan/​Middle Eastern food. Based on the Unilocal reviews, we started with an order of the Sambosas and Pakowra combo as an appetizer. Delicious! The chutney served with it had an excellent and refreshing spiciness. I especially liked the sambosas, but the pakowra were fantastic, as well.
For dinner I ordered the Lamb Qabelli Palau and my partner had the Chicken Beriani. Both were excellent. The lamb was so tender and pulled off the bone easily. The raisins in the rice gave it such a unique flavor, adding a really pleasant sweetness to this dish. But we got so much food between the appetizer and our meals that I was pretty full when I was barely halfway through my entrée. The chicken beriani was also delicious. The rices were somewhat different in the two meals, and what really gave the beriani spice, according to the BF, was the chutney served with it. He loved the chutney so much he poured it into his take out container to bring home while I rolled my eyes at him. It was quite good though. When we asked what was in it, our server said she only knew a few of the ingredients, but that the chef has his own special recipe.
We finished by trying the rice pudding and baklava for dessert. I’m not a huge fan of rice pudding in general, but the flavors were very nice. The baklava really won me over. I’ve had baklava before but I feel like it’s usually incredibly sticky. Their baklava was not quite like that.
As we were finishing up, we overhead our server tell another couple that they are a BYOB restaurant. Another table had carried in a bottle of wine to share, so that was kind of cool. The place is small so avoid peak hours or get a reservation. Overall, we really enjoyed our experience and are already exciting to go back!

Outstanding food and great attentive service. We had the Butter Chicken and Chicken Masala, both excellent! We want to try many more food options here.
I Iove small start up businesses like this that excel via their hard work and commitment to excellence! We will definitely be back.

Amazing! I had the Muntoo which was great and my girlfriend’s Butter chicken was the best I’ve ever tasted, we were enjoying it so much the owner brought us a dish of Tikka Masala sauce to try and it was fantastic. He also sent us a dish of Kheer for dessert with our Turkish coffee (both were excellent). The friendly service and awesome food means we will return very soon.
A word of warning, we sat down in a fairly empty restaurant at 7 on a Saturday night and by eight every table was full with people still trying to get in so a weekday might be your best bet to try it out. But you definitely should.

I started with the Mid-​Eastern Feast. The pakowra and eggplant were definitely the standout items from the sampler.
Lamb palau was awesome. The meat fell off the bone and didn’t have too strong of a lamb taste. The rice is rich and super flavorful. It is a fantastic dish that I highly recommend (from someone who usually isn’t a huge fan of lamb). Chicken and beef kabobs were nicely seasoned and well cooked.
There was so much food we couldn’t finish our entrees and had no room for dessert. Will have to go back to try the rice pudding or baklava.
Service is outstanding and very responsive. All of the employees/​owners clearly take pride in the restaurant and genuinely want to make sure you are enjoying everything. Their hospitality is phenomenal and they make you feel like a guest in their home.
This restaurant is going to be one of my go to places in St. Louis for reasonably priced delicious, flavorful, and unique food.
If it is this consistent after repeated visits and the desserts are as good as the rest of the menu, I’ll change my four star review to five stars.

I had a party of eight and I made reservations through Unilocal.I recommend using this app if available. It is the only app that worked for me and I even updated the amount of people and still was accommodated.
I had my 7 month old grandson with us and the owner seated us in an upstairs room that gave us some privacy and we did not feel we were bothering any other dinners.
Funny how you read a review you wrote over a year ago and I see I ordered the lamb kabob. Well this time I ordered the lamb shank. Yikes this was one awesome dish. The shank was covered in rice and the it was like a hidden gem underneath that mound of rice. Curry is something that just does not agree with me. This dish was spiced but not heavy. It was one fantastic piece of lamb.
From the owner to the server this is a great place for service and outstanding food. I also had a taste of my nieces mixed grill. Outstanding.

Unilocal sets us up for the win once again!
This place is boss! We were looking for a date night spot with something a little out of the ordinary and we loved what we found.
The digs here are humble and as a result warrant reservations as they only have seating for 20 or in the dining room. An upstairs area supposedly exists, but looks like it required some special know how which we did not possess.
We started with a Mango Lussey, which was awesome, and the Dough (less awesome). The Mango beverage was effectively a mango smoothie — excellent. The Dough is an Afghan drink that was water, yogurt, mint and salt… this is one you need to develop a taste for. Worth trying to say you’ve had it and in case you ever need a brainteaser about dough you drink. It was the only thing we had I won’t order again and just because it wasn’t my dig, not because it wasn’t done how it was supposed to be.
The food was LEGIT! Our waitress was a delight and gracefully guided us midwesterners through what would be a middle eastern feast! After an attempt to order and being told I had basically ordered two of the same things, we were directed to the Sambosa & Pakowra combo — Word to all — Start with the Sambosa & Pakowra combo! Both were delicious and super flavorful — served with a chutney, it was one we were picking the crumbs off the plate for after we were done. We also tried a bowl of Aash — a traditional soup. Noodles, veggies and meatballs graced a delicious broth with yogurt on top — awesome to say the least.
For mains, we shared the Lamb Qabelli Palau — an amazing dish with fall of the bone lamb, veggies over a bed of rice made in lamb stock. Note to self — obtain lamb stock. Lamb is always good, this lamb was boss! I had the Soltani — grilled lamb and Afghani beef over the aforementioned lamb bathed rice. Again, incredible — this was seriously good enough that I would have eaten it off the floor. Finally, the Lamb Karahi was procured and again did not disappoint. I imagine this lamb felt like a king as it was simmered with a menagerie of accouterments prior to being buried under a bed of delicious rice. What higher compliment to pay your food than to simmer it’s bed in it’s own stock — it’s like using bacon grease to cook your sausage, but I digress.
The night cap was the Kheer — a rice pudding that was pure bliss. Great flavor, hearty enough that it meant something, but light enough to finished the meal nicely rather than making me want to good to sleep on the drive home.
At the end of the meal, we were so impressed, I gave the owner a hug (seriously). Sameem’s was a complete treat and somewhere we were excited to try and even more excited to come back to — A+ my friends!

Restaurant is the best middle eastern food. The service was excellent and friendly. I highly recommend you come out with your family and friends. Fresh and savory food.

I’ve been dying to try Sameem especially after reviewing the Unilocal reviews. We went last weekend for my husband’s birthday.
The ambiance was authentic. We felt like we were no longer in St. Louis with the décor and look of the inside (meant in a good way).
We started with the sambosa. This is a must order for any first timer! I love these and they were great here at Sameem and the sauce was superb.
For dinner, I ordered the chicken masala & beef koobeda combo because I wanted a little of both since it was my first time. The chicken in the masala was huge chunks of breast. It was served on the speciality rice which was so flavorful especially when mixed with the tikka masala sauce.
I had baklava and turkish coffee for dessert. I’d probably skip dessert next time and opt for only coffee. It was standard baklava. I’d put more savory food in than sweet!

Made a reservation for 7:30 on a Saturday night, but that turned out not to be necessary. There were other patrons in the restaurant at the time, but it was not crowded at all.
Our server was very friendly and attentive.
The food was fantastic (and filling!).
Sambosa (samosa) & pakowra (pakora /​pakodi) platter — Get it. Delicious.
Butter shrimp — I want to get fat off of this.
Lamb karahi — Nicely spiced, and the lamb was so tender. This wasn’t my favorite dish of the night but I still enjoyed it very much. Had enough for leftovers.
The basmati rice my lamb karahi came with was so good, I could have eaten a plate of just that.
I hope to return soon to try other items on the menu!