Samsi

Came here for lunch, ordered a bento box. The food took an exceedingly long time to come out, and when it did, very little was cooked correctly. The dipping sauce for my gyoza tasted like water, and the miso soup was essentially just broth – little to no wakame seaweed, tofu, or negi. I was especially offended that the rice was overcooked. The service was disinterested. The bill would not have been bad if our food had been better, but as it stands, I can’t see myself ever coming back. The pickles were good, though.

I went at lunchtime with some colleagues and have to say that I though it was fantastic. We got the luxury bento boxes, which were excellent value for money. You’re looking at around about £9−10 for lunch and while I wouldn’t necessarily spend that every day it made a lovely mid week treat.
The bento box included tempura veg, katsu curry, rice and gyoza and was more than filling. Despite the fact that the restaurant was very busy and we hadn’t booked the service was excellent, the food came quickly and the waitress was very friendly.
The only reason that I have not given Samsi five stars is that unfortunately there was a piece of tempura chicken in with my vegetables. Not good when you’ve ordered the vegetarian option. Still, the waitress was very apologetic and I just couldn’t find it in myself to complain — despite the chicken surprise I’d definitely recommend this place for a tasty midday treat with friends

I’ve been here once before for take out where they got our order wrong which put me off a little but when I found out they did Sushi making lessons I jumped at the chance.
So on the busiest day I am guessing Spinningfields has ever seen due to the duck race where every bar and restaurant was packed, we wandered in and there were only about 6 other people in the whole restaurant.
We could see the diary from our side of the receptionists till and could see we were the only booking of the day. We were seated and some miso soup was brought over. Then about 15 minutes later she came over and told us she had forgotten to tell the chef we had booked in!!!
Anyway, the chef being a professional and all, he sorted everything out within 5 mins ready for a vegetarian and a meat eater to make fish free sushi!
It was fun learning how to do it, however I feel we weren’t given the full sha-​bang because of the lack of preparation. We made three kinds and once finished we were given our plates to eat. There was too much to eat so we asked if we could have it boxed up to take home. The lady came over and handed us two take out boxes and we had to do it ourselves.
There seemed to be a lack of service which dampened my experience and didn’t encourage me to come back in the future,

I am giving this place a 5 star review for the level of service and fun I had at this place!
I booked in for a group (including myself) to learn how to make sushi. It was £20 each and it may have phased me at first but it was worth EVERY penny.
I took my mum, my aunt and my brother’s girlfriend for my mum’s birthday — something a little different than a usual meal with the family.
When we arrived, the staff were lovely, offered us a drink before we started, took our coats and bags and provided us with plastic aprons to put on before we started.
After thoroughly washing our hands and lower arms, one of the chef’s took us to our fully prepared counters with all the tools we could possibly need;
Chopping board, rolling matt, knives, bowls of rice, sheets of seaweed paper, fish, sauces, herbs, you name it — I felt ready and excited!
The chef ran us through how to prepare sushi and what we would need to do to prepare what they had. We learnt important tips such as what kind of knives to use and how to prepare the rice to make the ultimate sushi rolls!
My catastrophic mess of the first sushi roll made myself and my family laugh far too much and I was impressed that the chef managed to hold himself and help me correct it!
I was thoroughly impressed with the level of teaching we received, nevermind the tips and fantastic service too! The chef was so helpful and not for one second condescending and made it fun and enjoyable.
Oh, did I forget to mention? YOU GET TO EAT THE HUGE PLATE OF SUSHI AFTERWARDS! And it was brilliant! If I do say so myself: P
The head chef even gave us a complementary bowl of green beans!
Fantastic place, brilliant service, helpful and friendly staff and a fun place to go to learn!

Very quiet place, got good hot food, but since so quiet, no fresh sushi at all! So sushi lovers should avoid.

Went to Samsi tonight with friends. I enjoyed my meal. I usually go for terrayaki but went for the O-​Bento meal. Basically its a box meal — the food comes in a tray with different compartments. It was good value as well with the O-​Bento costing £9.50. (A standard Teriyaki Chicken O-​Bento is only £6.50). O-​Bento seems good value when compared to other dishes e.g. Teriyaki Steak with rice and mixed veg which is £14.25
Mine was the Luxury O-​Bento meal — Salmon, Beef + 1 yellow sushi dish. You get the sushi from the conveyor belt and then the rest is in the «box». It took a fair while for the food to awhile and it wasnt massively busy.
The food was very tasty and actually very filling. As well as Salmon and Beef, you get cooked veg, rice and a salad — all nice. The salad I think had some sort Japanese vinegar/​dressing which was very tasty. Only negative thing was I asked for beef as medium but it was more well done. Only a little bit of it was still a bit pink but it was still nice and tender.
One reason I am making it 4 out of 5 and not higher is my friend ordered a seafood udon noodle dish. After 3 of us had got our meals, the waiter said that they had just run out of prawns so she had to choose something else (which she didnt really like — too sweet). Surely when you order something, they check they have the ingredients and then set it aside or something. If waiter took order and then straight away they realised had run out and had to re-​order then fair enough.

Spinningfields. Drenched with chain restaurants, awash with recognisable names… how refreshing is it to wander in and see something that’s not a Pret, a Nando’s, a GBK, a Carluccio’s, a Café Rouge, a Giraffe… yeah, you get the picture.
Samsi is the place to come for more authentic sushi, superb Japanese noodles and perhaps the most tempting offer ever — chicken skewers and a pint for £5.95? Who doesn’t want that? Their takeaway lunches are pretty legendary too. When I arrived for my teriyaki salmon O-​Bento lunchbox takeaway it was an icy cold day and they offered me a complimentary miso soup to warm me while I waited for my food. Awesome!
The staff are lovely and I’d definitely do a proper evening meal in there. It always seems alarmingly empty… maybe it’s crammed at lunchtimes due to the office workers all around, I was on a leisurely late lunch at the time but next time I pop in for a quick bite I’ll be trying the seafood tempura, it sounds way too tempting. And the giant TV screen showing Japanese cartoons above the conveyor belt adds a bunch of atmosphere to what could be perceived as rather cool and clinical otherwise.
More people need to know about this branch of Manchester’s little chain Samsi — it’s tucked away from most of the Spinningfields restaurants and it’s really rather good. Value’s top notch too, those lunches will set you back around £7.50. Not bad, eh?

If you’re in town and wanting a great lunch deal, head to Samsi in Spinningfields. It’s everything you need in a sushi bar. Plus Spinningfields is a lovely bit of the city for eating out so it helps to have stunning surroundings.
Last summer I came here at least once a week for lunch and I’ve recently revisited and have fallen in love again. The owner is a lovely guy and will happily talk about where the fresh produce is from and recommend dishes. If you’re wanting a take-​away option (which we did for a birthday party), there’s a platter available with 50 pieces of sushi — perfect for a picnic.
There’s seating around the revolving sushi bar and there are booths at the back if there’s more than three of you. The manga cartoon films on in the background are also a fun mood setter.
The set menu deal for £5.95 is pretty well priced as is the lunch special of Asahi Pint and 2 chicken Yakitoris, again for £5.95.

Sushi lovers everywhere need to pay Samsi a visit! This is the crème de la crème of Japanese cuisine and I feel that I am allowed to say this having been a number of times to Tokyo and eaten it out of house and home. Head chef Ervin, formerly of Ithaca and having forged an illustrious career in London, is passionate about his art and is not above personally welcoming customers and explaining all about his delicious food. And this food is absolutely stunning!
On entering Samsi you regard a long, clean restaurant with a brightly coloured mural and friendly staff preparing sushi behind a moving conveyor belt. It looks like Yo Sushi but this Unilocalers is A la Carte. Here Sushi is not just simply Nigiri, Maki-​rolls and Sashimi, it is yummy seafood Yakisoba noodles, Gyu-​Don (fine sliced beef and rice) and Pork Kimichi. Samsi is popular with Spinningfield office workers who take advantage of the superb lunch time specials costing £5.95 served daily from 12−3pm.
I know what Thomas means about the buzzers though, it reminds me of the little silver bells used by Victorian gentry to summon the help. I just couldn’t use mine, instead I got chatting with Ervin and it was great to see a Head Chef with such a vision. He brought 4 members of staff with him from London and there is such camaraderie and loyalty between them. This is a close knit gang who club together to make amazing food. Well worth a visit!

I visited Samsi on it’s opening night, it was quiet. But the staff were lovely and so was the food. I can only hope ht guys have gotten better. Perhaps I’m being biased because I partly adore sushi, samsi does everything fresh and it can be picked up via the whole conveyor belt thing. Which is awesome. Every table has a buzzer for waiters, which is nice if not a little well, can’t reli describe it. I suppose when I press the buzzer it makes me feel like i may as well got a stick and prodded them, perhaps they get little electric shocks?
Any who not my cup of tea. The food though is, with tons of variety all from the land of the rising sun, Samsi have hot dishes such as tempura and yakitori to cooler options e.g. sashimi. Wash it all down with saki beer and consider purchasing a £100 bottle of Japanese vodka?! Afternoons have lovely cheap set menus for £5.95.

The Samsi in Spinningfields is every bit as good as the other 3 Samsi’s in Manchester.
Great sushi, sashimi, nigiri and the like, in a gorgeous atmosphere with a Japanese beer and amazing service, for only slightly more that it should cost.
They do all the same things as the other Samsi’s, including the karaage, tempura, yakitori and gorgeous katsu curries. You can’t get all the same deals at this Samsi, probably because the people around Spinningfields have got a fair bit of cash, and its certainly much more expensive than the cheapest, Little Samsi, in Withington. However, they do offer the Yo Sushi style conveyor belt so perhaps you’re paying for its running costs!
However, where reviews complained of the presentation in the Whitworth Street Samsi, the same could certainly not be said for this one. The effort on the part of the chefs and waiting staff could not be faulted and every meal is served in perfect authentic style with all the extras and great crockery (seriously).
They also offer Sushi Making Courses, which run every day between 3.00pm and 6.00pm and cost £20.00 per person for 90 minutes. I’m doing one next month so I’ll update my review!
Deserves its four stars, but there are better Japanese places in Manchester. Little Samsi is just the same but cheaper and Tokyo Season beats all.