Rebecca H.
Yelp
WOW
I hadn't locked anything down for dinner on our last night in LR but had set aside a few places. Something didn't feel quite right so I decided to take a quick look on yelp and found Samantha's.
As we approached it from the outside, I could tell that it was a good choice, purely from a superficial standpoint, of course. The weather was lovely but it did not appear there was any seating available.
We were seated immediately inside at just before 6 (I turned 35 earlier this week, you understand).
The service was exceptional. Our server was very friendly and informative, made the perfect amount of small talk and provided some really helpful suggestions. She also checked in on us frequently and were on top of anything we might need.
They have TONS of beers on tap, wines, and a really creative cocktail program. I was torn between a few options but ultimately can't resist anything with "mango purée" in it so the drink with the tequila, mango purée, lime something, I think pineapple was my choice and the server voiced approval at that decision. GF ordered the "perfect summer" with gin, lavender syrup, lemon juice? And she liked it enough to get another.
My only complaint was the lack of vegetarian entree options but they mostly made up for this with their appetizers and sides.
GF went with the special of the night: grouper with angel hair and broccolini. She says, "it was very good, rich".
OMG I almost forgot about the star of the show: the parmesan salsa. If you're wondering WTF is that that? That's exactly what I was thinking but had to know and figured we couldn't go wrong. Our server asked us if we're from the area and when we replied that we are from NY, she said "the table next to you is from about an hour away so they'll be back for that, you probably won't, but you'll love it anyway".
I don't want to share any proprietary information but I got the impression that it was something along the lines of olive oil, a ton of parmesan, and some other delicious seasonings. They served it with a very generous portion of grilled baguette slices. I'm going to go out on a limb here and report that this was the best appetizer I have had in my entire life. It's something so simple but so incredible. I need the recipe for this. I told the server even though it would require a flight, we will probably be back for this.
As a vegetarian, I couldn't get any of their entrees but I ordered their classic salad and sides of the hull beans and mac and cheese.
They not only have a few salad options but I was really impressed by their DRESSING options. They had pesto buttermilk which I honestly should have just sucked it up and gotten but I was also really intrigued by the sesame ginger which was the ultimate choice. Very refreshing with spring mix, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, and carrots. It was not only very enjoyable but made me feel good about myself.
The hull beans were CRACK but had a bacon/pork ingredient in it which I probably should have known but let's be real, I have never even heard of hull beans before. It was like a soup and it was so good, I need to figure out how to make a vegetarian version of this at home. An absolute delight.
I probably shouldn't even need to tell you this but the chipotle mac and cheese was out of this world. The noodles were al dente and you could tell that shit came right out of the oven. The top noodles were crispy. The noodles underneath were bathing in that delicious cheese sauce. Pure heaven on earth.
We ordered a dessert to go which I haven't had the chance to break into yet, but I'll update.
This meal could literally not have possibly been better. This might have been the best meal on our entire trip.