Sampan

Loved the chefs tasting menu option. $56 per person and you choose 7 dishes and the chef sends them out family style as they are made. The cocktails were very good. The waitress Izzy had good vibes and she was knowledgeable since she worked there for 5 years. I also liked the dark fluorescent wall paper on one wall which brought up the atmosphere to another level. I would definitely recommend this place. Everything we had was amazing.

Cute space and good food. We went during Restaurant Week as soon as the snow storm stopped. We will definitely come back. Food was good and service was great! My favorite was the wagyu beef and tuna rice crackers. The dumplings looked great but we missed out this time.

Went to Sampan on a Saturday night with no reservation and was told it’d be a little over a two-hour wait. They texted us after about an hour, and when we came back, we were seated at the bar overlooking the kitchen. At first I was annoyed it wasn’t a regular table, but it ended up being a great spot to eat and watch them prepare the food. I had the edamame dumplings, roasted broccoli, salmon entrée, and Korean beef BBQ — all absolutely delicious. One of the most consistently great spots in Philly.

Came during happy hour and ordered a ton of the menu to try. There were lots of delicious options, my favorite were the pork bao buns. It was busy inside so we were seated outside on the street side. The side walk is a bit slanted so you feel like you're tilted if you're seated facing the building. They also brought little ice creams with sparklers on top because it was my birthday.

Me and my dined in for anniversary. The food was amazing! We did the tasting menu and from first dish to last I was impressed! Portions sizes were great(even too some food home), taste was amazing, and service was quick! Meals come out as there don’t which he didn’t have an issue with and display was beautiful. Sara was server and did an amazing job guiding us through the menu and staying attentive with drink refills and any issues with the food. All around great experience, minus the fact of us needing to put a card down before we received any food. Not sure what the reason for this is, but not something I enjoy needing to do; this is the reason for the 4 star review.

My first time at Sampan and it was amazing. I made reservations for dining inside. I originally wanted to do happy hour but happy hour is first come, first serve and seatings are only outdoor, indoor bar, and the bar seating near the kitchen. At 4:45pm, it was pack so I decided to not partake in happy hour and just do dinner because I wanted to scratch this off the list. The atmosphere was really nice but it was super dark inside. A few older ladies were seated next to us and were struggling to see the menu. They had to use the flashlight on their phone just to look at the menu and another was using the candle as well. Our waiter Sarah was amazing and did a brief explanation of the chefs tasting menu but we decided not to opt in for that option. I had to start dinner off w a nice cocktail and got the Thai punch which was really sweet and delicious. During my dinner I decided to order the Ming mule and it was not good in my opinion (too acidic for me). With the appetizers, we started off w the cheesesteak bao buns which was 10/10 omg it was literally perfect I just needed a little bit more sauce and cheese in the inside. We ordered the soup dumplings which were tasty w the soy sauce but didn’t have enough soup in the inside. We also ordered the tuna cracker, my bf & I are a huge fan of tuna crispy rice which was PERFECT (will def go back and make sure to order extra). We ordered the crispy walnut shrimp which was ok, if it had more sauce it would’ve been better. The crispy Brussels sprout was to die for I absolutely love Brussels sprout and they executed my expectations. We ordered the beef rice noodle which was good as well but I wish we had siracha hot sauce (if you know then you know). We also ordered the kimchi fried rice which was good but I wish it was a tad bit burnt in my opinion but still delicious. To end dinner we ordered the mini ice cream cones which was the perfect amount of size and taste because we were super bloated. I will def be coming back! I give this restaurant a 10/10!!!!

The food was mid. The flavor was so bland. I couldn’t even taste anything. There was no salt, no pepper even the Sriracha wasn’t even spicy. However, the drinks are very good and my waiter was nice but they also made me wait 10 minutes for my reservation even though I came here at 9 PM and that was the time for my reservation. Will I come back at it here again, probably not, but it was a nice experience and the atmosphere is cute and the music was mid!