Samba Steak House & Sushi

04/20/2008 Posted by stinarenee

The worst part about Samba is that your stomach is too small to eat everything you want off their menu. Excellent hibatchi dinners with steak, shrimp and more. Or sample from dozens of high quality and unique sushi options. Not as cheap as some local spots, but the far superior quality is worth the extra few dollars. For a special treat, try one of the exotic latin-inspired maki rolls such as the Lobster Maki (lobster, avocado, asparagus) or spicy Volcano Maki. Service has always been quick and friendly. Comments below complaining over the service were likely a result of new-restaurant pitfalls now overcome. For something even more adventurous, try Friday nights for an entertaining round of Karaokee.

Pros: High quality, many options, quick service

04/03/2008 Posted by bostongirl84

Very good atmosphere, really good food, and a great place to eat! There sushi was delicious, the best sushi in the area!

01/07/2008 Posted by burlingtonguy

Had a nice dinner with my wife for the first time here. Food was good, a bit pricey, but worth it because of the ambiance.

Pros: Ambiance

12/06/2007 Posted by archer823

Maybe I'm a bit biased but I find that most sushi places in the metro Boston area are just okay. I'm a huge fan of Oga's, and really like the sushi at Bamboo in Dedham (as well as everything else there) but everything else I've tried has simply been just run of the mill okay. Samba falls into that category. It's not terrible by any means, the fish is of decent quality but it all just comes off as not being any different or special in any way. It's a beautiful restaurant, the teppanyaki looks like fun and doesn't seem overpriced, but the sushi was very boring, albeit good. Even the special rolls although looked good just didn't explode in my mouth with the flavor I was expecting.

Pros: Location, good quality, decent service, fun atmosphere, beautifully decorated

Cons: Not anything special in the end.

06/11/2007 Posted by simpson_m1

I've read a couple of the other reviews before writing this, and was surprised by some of the negative service comments. My experience was very different, however it is worth noting that it has been a few months since some of these reviews were written - so maybe some changes have occurred. I have also only eaten sushi at Samba, and have to say, I think the prices are good, the sushi is very good and the service was fine. I thought it was a great value and would recommend it to folks in the area....at least for the sushi.

Pros: Parking, sushi, casual ambience

02/23/2007 Posted by briansantoro

My girlfriend and I go out for sushi almost every weekend, we love it. We usually order a big huge boat and just chow down. YOU"VE GOT TO TRY THE SUSHI AT SAMBA!! It is by far the best in the city. We went in tonight and sat in the lounge area. My girlfriend loved it right away because of the music and the lighting, the fancy (girly!) drinks etc....I just wanted my sushi boat! When it finally came (we did have to wait a while) everything was so fresh. We told the waiter that it was our first time at Samba and I guess he told the sushi chef, because he, "Mr. Ben" (we went over to meet him later) sent over "something special". He sent us the "Samba maki". It was sweet and spicy at the same time with fresh coconut and tuna. I also recommend the something(?) "Amazon" maki which had some kind of tropical fruit in it. We also tried another tuna dish that was very lightly seared, it was so tender and delicious! We usually jump around between sushi restaurants, but now we are only going to Samba. It was awesome!

02/03/2007 Posted by segcube

I went to Samba on a busy Thursday night with my mom and my sister. The restaurant is beautiful--the look is totally unified, the bar is sophisticated and the lounge has a secret/sexy vibe. The upstairs dining room is spacious. We ordered a range of appetizers, and all were very, very good--especially the Tuna Salsa! Spicy, tasty, and very fresh tuna. I've been to hibatchi places before, and generally think that they're good fun but the food all ends up tasting like soy sauce. Not so at Samba. I had steak (ordered MR), my sister had chicken, and my mom got a lobster, shrimp and scallop combo. Each of these were cooked perfectly, and each had its own flavor. My mom's shrimp burst with every bite. And the cook was very entertaining. The manager came to our table many times to see how things were going. I still think about that Tuna Salsa--I'll need to go back soon!

Pros: Great atmosphere, creative appetizers

02/01/2007 Posted by danielwong

Me and my wife had been driving by the 'coming soon' in front of Samba all summer wondering when it was going to open and wanting to try it - Well, it was really worth the wait!! We went in last weekend. It was fairly busy and we had to wait a little, but they have a really cool bar. They also seemed to have a lot more drinks than were listed on their menu. We sat around the habacchi table. The steak and scallops were fresh and delicious! My wife wanted to order sushi but she had a lot of questions. Our waiter was very friendly and helpful in suggesting some sushi for us. The manager came around to our table too, just to say hi and see if everyone was enjoying their meals. The food was great and it's entertaining too since the chefs are doing their thing with the knives and fire. I 'd recommend Samba as a good date restaurant - Definetly worth hiring a babysitter for - we can't wait to go back!

01/27/2007 Posted by alikea

I have never posted on Citysearch before but after such horrific service, I knew I needed to warn the general public. -With an 8:00 reservation, we were not seated until 8:40. Our initial greeting was by an extremely unfriendly hostess. Her greeting was, "Let me know when you are all here, in a dry unfriendly tone." We were FINALLY seated downstairs in front of a vent that was blowing extremely cold air. Half the guests were wearing their jackets, we did let management know but they didn't do anything about it. -After finally (10 minutes later) being greeted by our waiter, we ordered drinks and waited about 10 minutes for them. Our waiter disappeared for a long while and after tracking him down, we told him we wanted put in our order. But, he didn't have a pen. What a concept, a waiter with a pen! He went to "find" a pen which took another 10 minutes! We thought he may have gone to C.V.S. to buy one. -It was now 10:30 and all that was served were our drinks a few salads to guests that ordered the habachi and a couple appetizers. After speaking with the manager again about the freezing cold vent and slow service, we moved upstairs and were asked to CARRY UP ALL OUR DRINK AND ANY FOOD (which wasn't much) that we had in front of us. So 11 of us walk throught the restaurant and up the stairs holding drinks and a couple appetizers. How ridiculous is that!? -Now it really begins to feel like a Seinfeld episode...we were brought a bottle of complimentary champagne by the manager with an apology, and he joined in on our toast by DRINKING OUT OF OUR BOTTLE OF CHAMPAGNE! Yes, he chugged out of the bottle of OUR champagne. We were all shocked and in dismay! -The only positive note is that the sushi was delicious and everyone enjoyed their habachi but that wasn't served until 11:30 so a couple of my friends had lost their appetites for steak by that point. Extremely disappointing!

Pros: Decor, food

Cons: SERVICE

01/07/2007 Posted by dgrieco

I've been driving past this restaurants waiting for it to finally open which is now has. We stopped by this past Friday to check it out. The decor is amazing. They did a fantastic job with this building compared to what it used to look like. Although there is no shortage of Japanese food on Route 9, I thought a hibachi steakhouse was a great idea. Things went downhill right after we ordered. My wife and I were seated with a party of 5 across from us. I ordered Unagi sushi but our waitress completely forgot as the other party were delivered their first plate of sushi. I asked her about our order and she went to check on it. The she brought more plates of Sushi to the other party and none to us. The chef was already starting to cook our entree at this point. The manager stopped by because of an alergy restriction I have and I told him that we still haven't received our sushi. It was finally served after that exchange. The hibachi was very good. No complaints here. The chefs did the usually flipping of the meats and flaming the table grill with oil. We had all been finished with our entrees for 15 minutes befor our check was presented . I notice that I was charged for 2 beers when I had only had 1? 10 minutes later she bring the new check back. No apology. I then noticed I was over charged on my sushi by $2. After again fixing the check I gave her my credit card and she just disappeared. I finally found the manager again and demanded my credit card back. After finally setting the bill I did something that I had never done before. I stiffed the waitress. We are usually pretty generous with gratuity, leaving 17-20% almost 90% of the time. If she had made any effort appologize or speed up the time it took to get out of there I would have at least given her 10%. Still I will probably return but I am in no hurry. Like I said, there is no lack of Japanese food on route 9.

Pros: hibachi

Cons: service