Sammy's Kitchen

Most of the food was good, nothing extraordinary. It’s not a Malaysian Restaurant as I saw online, just a mix of Asian fusion food. No authenticity at all in any of the dishes they cater. The 2 star is mainly because I have ordered a Nasi Goreng along with lots of other dishes and I was really looking forward to it as it’s one of my all time favourite dish and we got a fried rice sort of dish without any fried egg or anything, that was very bland and no flavour what so ever. I called the service staff and explained and he asked me where I’m from as a reply. I told him that I’m an Indian but this is my favourite dish and moreover I’m a Director of Food and Beverage by profession, just to clarify that I know what I’m saying about. We gave the dish back and they happily took it away and charged us for that dish that was not consumed and moreover wasn’t good at all. No apologies or anything. I would never go back or suggest anyone this place as not just because of this mishap only, but this place is not a great place to go for whatsoever. Just an average place to eat.

We came upon this restaurant on Saturday night, after arriving from Melbourne tired and hungry, and every restaurants in Kingston Foreshore was fully booked. Sammy's Kitchen was the only one that has a table for us. However, minimum spent was $30 per head. We were too tired and hungry so we went in. We ordered boneless chicken curry, stringy beans with belachan sauce, Mongolian beef, steam barramundi, nasi goreng and fried banana fritter tand drinks to meet the $30 per head. The steam barramundi was delicious, curry chicken was yummy and beef was tender. Everything was nice.

This is a disgusting place with rude staff, the meals are small and come out apart. Like my friend was 3 quarters the way through his when mine arrived When staff are asked they say they can do nothing and what's more they don't care and just shake their heads. They also get the orders wrong also a friend of mine found a Caterpillar in her chow mein (see the attached photo) see at the top of the picture - a well fed caterpillar......never going back

One of the best Asian restaurants with strong menu.....so tasty and not too expensive

Great and authentic food - love the atmosphere and the people. Highly recommend the kung Po chicken!

Forever busy place. But it's worth it to wait to be seated. Delicious food, quite fast service. Sometimes it's hard to get attention from the staff but only because they are busy so just need to be patient. Thank you for yummy dinners we had there.

Delicious food, with lots of options and ideal to share. Staff friendly and helpful. Soft shell crab was excellent.

The food was good and brought out fast, service was pretty abrupt, ambience was ok. Reasonably priced for the location.

This is all about good food. It is a restaurant which is street level in Canberra city within a large retail precinct. There is indoor and out door seating available; it is set up to be functional with little emphasis on the ambience. Dishes we enjoyed were: - pepper salted chilli calamari - honey king prawns - chicken w macadamia nuts and button mushrooms - shan tung lamb - english spinach w garlic sauce The chicken was a beautiful dish, lovely even taste and good flavours. Shan tung lamb is always good here too. Looking for a casual meal on the go, with some friends or passing through. This place serves consistent food which is well priced with efficient service.

Had this recommended by a work colleague and avoided it the first night due to underwhelming Yelp reviews. I am SO sorry I read them Yelp reviews because this place deserves so much better than Yelp has them rated. The food is excellent -- some of the best I had in Canberra -- and served in generous portions. You have your choice of dining inside or outside. The wait staff is omnipresent without being overbearing. I'm puzzled by the lower reviews, they don't fit my impression of the place at all. I look forward to eating here again the next time I'm in Canberra.

Stopped for dinner tonite. Had the steamed dim sum (2), corn and chicken soup and nightly special "slow cooked pork belly infused in teriyaki". Dim Sum and soup were really good. Very large dim sum portions. The pork belly was interesting. The pork belly itself was really tender but soul not call it "teriyaki infused". More like "spicy barbecue infused". Though not the flavor I was wanting it was ok I guess. Not saying bad but not what j thought I was getting. For that three stars. BUT I will be back to taste more.

Had their veg Laksa with Tofu which was very good. Discovered this place towards end of trip, hope to try their other dishes on return. I arrived towards end of lunch time with half an hour remaining. Waiter rushed me to order. Later a pair of white aussie office workers arrived and they were seated withou a fuss. Taking a star off for that. This restaurant is really the only good food option in Canberra city (when being from multicultural food heaven USA/SFO).

Lovely food. Comprehensive menu. Quick. Just wish they were a bit happier. And have a broader selection of beers.

Don't show up an hour and fifteen minutes before closing, or you will hard pressed to finish your food before all the outside furniture is stacked ontop of you. Not being able to split the bill is more than an inconvenients especially since they have an sir charge on all card transactions. The food was less than fulfilling.

Service was poor, a waiter barely came past the back area. Boneless kitchen with lemon sauce was disgusting. What lemon sauce is over caramelised and taste burnt. Tried to convince us to take it but it was too disgusting. Don't recommend

Mains tasted good, but not fantastic. Desserts were quite nice. Very busy! I went as a couple though and we got a table straight away at 8:30 on a Friday - a group of 4 at the time were told '20 minutes'. Asked us with out being ready or able to order whether we wanted knives or chop sticks. I liked that they automatically brought us bowels, plates & spoons to share with though.

This was absolutely beautiful. We randomly decided to stop here and couldn't fault it. Service was quick, food was tender and cooked well. We had satay sticks, pork belly with teriyaki sauce, chicken and vege and also combination rice. I recommend this place and would come back if ever in the area!

Came to Canberra for a visit. Walked passed Sammy's many times & it is always full (has many diners). So I decided to go there to try out the typical Asia/ Singapore/ Malaysia hawker food. There were 2 of us and we ordered 3 dishes: Char Kway Teow (AU$16.50), Ipoh Hoi Fun (AU$17) and Steam Chinese Broccoli (AU$15.50). Total bill including tax is AU$49. The food portion was huge, therefore one dish shared by 2 Asian ladies would be just right. The service was bad & extremely slow. We were the 1st to be seated & placed an order, yet we were the last to be served our food. Other diners who came after us were served their orders before us. I had to ask the waiter to check on my order but we did not receive any feedback from him with regards to our order status. Finally, I had to go into the restaurant and speak to the waiter again, expressing my wish to know if my order is being prepared as otherwise I would like my orders cancel. Finally, the food arrived but its was a disappointment. It is edible but hardly justify the raving reviews it has so far. Being from Asia, we know the quintessential Hawker/ Asia food taste, which Sammy's Kitchen does not deliver. The fishcake in the Char Kway Teow are too hard, shrimps are tasteless. The Ipoh Hoi Fun is cooked & presented like a Seafood Hoi Fun in a thick clear gravy. Ipoh Hoi Fun that is served dry should have a thick brownish (soya or oyster sauce) gravy. It should have shredded chicken, whole mushrooms, large shrimps, vegetable & garnish with fried shallots & parsley. Since the Asian food that one can find in Canberra are not that authentic, but such restaurants get good business. Hmmm ... does this means that there's business opportunity to set up an authentic Asian restaurant in Canberra?

In Canberra for a couple of days and stumbled across this gem of a restaurant offering wonderful Asian food with a more than sensible wine list (including cab sav from Langhorne Creek). Had Sammy's Special with steamed rice (obviously a favourite here) and the restaurant is full at 6.30pm on a Tuesday night. Exceeded expectations in all areas. Highly recommended,

Not very impressed. Food was bland, the calamari was too salty. 1st disappointing food experience in Australia. I'm puzzled by all the glowing reviews...

I like Sammy's and usually come here at least once per trip to Canberra. It's a reliable favourite where the food is always tasty and the service is usually quick and helpful (and take out is also available). I particularly enjoy the char kway teao (Penang style), prawn toast and Singapore noodles. Only down side in winter is the seating near the door, which can be a bit drafty. Best to ask for a table at the back, tho the restaurant is often packed (probably because they're so reliably good!) so this may not be an option.

Really enjoyed Combination Noodles. The combination include loads of chicken and seafoods, and the portions are generous in size

Best Chinese food I've ever had. They get busy, but the food comes out so quickly it will blow your mind. No other Chinese food lives up to their standard. I am constantly disappointed if I go anywhere else. The best dishes in my opinion are the Shan Tung Chicken, Chicken Chow Mein and Dry Chilli Beef. Also have very tasty short soup. We always go back because the food is amazing, service is always spot on and the prices are good too. Definitely worth a try.

Entree (appetizer) came out fast but the main took a long time. Do not eat here if you are in a hurry. When the food did come, it was really good. As long as you have time, it's worth the wait.

Delicious and affordable Asian food. Can be intensely busy, but as long as you book ahead it should be alright. Staff are rushed off their feet, but overall friendly and helpful.

Simply the worst service I have experienced - bar none. Celebrated my fathers surprise 80th this evening - ruined by a confirmation phone call they were asked specifically not to make. Then when we arrived we had to wait for nearly 45 minutes for our table. We had more than 20 people aged 70+ that really struggled when asked to stand in the corner. When we voiced frustration we were told we could always eat elsewhere. Simply disgusting. I will simply not recommend this place again.

The food's okay, but every time I eat there, staff have been playing a game of human Tetris and lifting small tables overhead and moving them around to squeeze even more people into the already crowded restaraunt. Too crowded and too noisy.

This isn't the restaurant to go to if you're after a quiet night or great service, there's no disputing that. However, the food 100% makes up for this. It is delicious! The vegetable springs rolls, special fried rice and sweet and sour pork are my personal favourites. This is one of my all time favourite restaurants. The food never disappoints. Definitely recommend.