Chinese restaurant review: Sam restaurant in Chame
Located in a small commercial center besides Chame’s Personeria (the office where crimes are reported) is the Chinese restaurant, called Sam. This is one of several Chinese restaurants in the Chame District. Last Friday my Uncle and I had lunch at Restaurante Sam. This is an indoor, air conditioned restaurant without an outdoor patio. The restaurant has about 10 tables of different capacities. This Friday afternoon about 6 other people were eating lunch besides us. The restaurant is quite large with light yellow washed walls. Pictures of landscapes adorn the walls and a few artificial plants add some adornment. A small TV with local programs add some back ground noise to the room, while a large window gives the place more than adequate lighting. The restaurant itself and the bathrooms are quite clean.
We seat ourselves and are met at the table by the only waitress in view, who offers us the menu. The printed menu has many items scratched off and others written in. The waitress tells us, when we ask her, that she is the only server attending lunch today.
Of the items available on the menu, there is a variety of soups and sandwiches. A club sandwich is $2.50. From the appetizers, spring rolls are $3.75, garlic clams $4.00, breaded squid $6.00. Fried wanton is also available. For a main meal you can order fried, roasted or ginger chicken for $4.00 or pork chop for the same price, roasted or sweet and sour. If you prefer seafood they have jumbo shrimps breaded, garlic or with a black bean sauce for $7.00. Sweet and sour Corvina is also on the menu. Main meals come with French fries and small salad.
The restaurant serves a wonton soup starter and various combinations of fried rice, chow mein, chow fun, chop suey, leon pa mein and foo yung. A fixed family menu is available. A family of 5 can eat for $30.00. Take out ordering is also available.
I have to confess that I am not so fond of Chinese food. I have been in this restaurant before, and have always ordered minced steak with french fries for $3.75. Today however, it is time to try the Chinese dishes on the menu.
My uncle and I ask the waitress for recommendations. She recommends spring rolls for appetizer and chow fun for the main. Our appetizers arrived within 13 minutes of our order. We shared an order of Spring rolls. 3 arrived on a plate, which were filled with a mixture of vegetables, pork and shrimps. We both thought the spring rolls were pretty good.
The main meals arrives 10 minutes after the waitress cleares away the appetizer plates. I had Mixed chow fun, for $3.75 - noodles with onion, green peppers, shrimp, pork; and chicken. The meal tasted like it was flavored with soy sauce. My Uncle’s order of shrimp Leon pa mein, for $3.25 arrived with pork instead of shrimp. We had to wait 5 more minutes to eat while his dish was corrected. The Leon pa mein was noodles mixed with onion, green peppers, shrimps and a fried egg on it. The Leon pa mein noodles were thin like chow mein noodles, while the chow fun noodles were thicker and flat and looked more like fettuccini. There was no deserts on the menu.
As I said, earlier – I am not a fan of Chinese food, and this meal did not convert me. Being meat eaters, we would have preferred to find more pork, chicken and shrimps in the meals than noodles and vegetables. We both found the food a little greasy for our tastes. Overall, the restaurant is good deal for a low cost meal, and if you are a fan of Chinese food, give Restaurante Sam a try out for yourself!
Restaurant Sam is open from Monday to Friday from 9:00am to 10:00pm. On Saturdays and Sundays from 9:00am to 11:00pm. They serve beer, soda and seco for beverages. Reservations are not needed. To call 240-66-57.
