Samara Kitchen — Restaurant in Mississauga

2025 October 4★ Authentic Indonesian cuisine. Moved to a food court instead of a plaza. This offers more convenience, communal tables and a washrooms. Certainly an upgrade from where they were previously. Food remains very good. Lamb skewers (10) $16.99 served with rice/rice cake, cucumber acar & signature peanut sauce. Bihun Goreng $14.99 thin stir fried noodles. Indonesian Smashed Chicken (ayam sambal) $16 Deep fried quarter chicken leg with fresh homemade chili, fried tofu, tempe, tamarind and slices of cucumber. Pretty good. Coconut jackfruit dessert $10? Was ok. Not on the menu. Weekends only. Would pass.

2022 November 4.5★ SAMARA BEEF JERKY $14 - amazing. You don't find this many places and it's crispy. Top it off with the hot peppers - superb. Would recommend.

CHICKEN SKEWER (10) $12 - 3 pieces each x10 - tender and moist. Quite good, but had better.

LAMB CURRY $14 - a watery based curry. The lamb is tender. Not bad.

SAMARA NOODLES (KWETIAW GORENG) $11.50 - pretty flavorful. Would recommend.

SAMARA FRIED RICE (Chicken) $10.50 - in a takeout box, was a bit soggy, didn't find it that good. Would pass.

Current menu (lots of options): SPRING ROLLS (3)$3.50 PARATHA (3)$4.95 INDONESIAN SHRIMP CRACKER (5)$4.95 VEGETABLES FRITTER / BAKWAN SAYUR (6)$8.50 BATAGOR$9.50 DEEP FRIED CALAMARI$9.00 BANANA FRITTER$7.50 STUFFED TOFU / TAHU ISI (8)$9.00 MARTBAK TELOR 11.50 SOTO AYAM$13.50 SOTO BETAWI$13.00 SOTO MADURA$13.50 BAKSO RUDAL$13.50 OX TAIL AND MEAT BALL$14.00 MIE BAKSO$12.50 INDONESIAN LAKSA$13.50 OX TAIL SOUP$13.00 SAMARA FRIED RICE (CHICKEN / BEEF)$10.50 SPICY FRIED RICE$10.50 (Chicken / Beef) SALTY FISH FRIED RICE$11.50 SAMARA SPECIAL FRIED RICE$13.50 RENDANG FRIED RICE$10.50 LAMB FRIED RICE$11.50 SEAFOOD FRIED RICE$13.50 ADD OR CHANGE TO SHRIMP$2.00 ADD PETAI (STINKY BEAN)$2.00 ADD MEAT BALLS$2.00 MIE GORENG (CHICKEN OR BEEF)$11.50 SAMARA NOODLES (KWETIAW GORENG)$11.50 BIHUN GORENG$11.50 PAD THAI$11.50 MIE TEK TEK$12.00 UDON NOODLES$12.00 ADD OR CHANGE TO SHRIMP$2.00 CURRY CHICKEN / VEGETABLE$12.50 GULAI SAPI$13.00 LONTONG KARI$13.00 TONGSENG$13.50 LAMB CURRY$14.00 CHICKEN SKEWER (10)$12.00 BEEF SKEWER (10)$12.50 LAMB SKEWER (10)$13.00 GENERAL CHICKEN$11.00 Crispy fried chicken in mild seasoned sauce, comes with fried rice and 2 spring rolls MONGOLIAN BEEF$11.00 Beef stir fry with onion and green onion in savory samara sauce, comes with fried rice and 2 spring rolls INDONESIAN SMASHED FISH (IKAN SAMBAL PENYET)$13.50 Deep fried fish with fresh homemade chili (sambal penyet), comes with steamed rice, fried tofu, tempe, tamarind soup and slices of cucumber PEPPER STEAK$11.00 Sliced beef stir fried with green pepper and onion on tasty brown sauce, comes with fried rice and 2 spring rolls SAMARA NASI PADANG$13.50 Comes with steamed rice, green sambal sauce (sambal jio), steamed veggies and choice of grilled chicken, beef tendon (gulai kikil) or beef rendang INDONESIAN SMASHED CHICKEN (AYAM SAMBAL PENYET)$14.00 Deep fried fish with fresh homemade chili (sambal penyet), comes with steamed rice, fried tofu, tempe, tamarind soup and slices of cucumber SAMARA CHICKEN OR BEEF$11.50 Stir fried marinated chicken / beef cooked on chef's special sauce, comes with fried rice and 2 spring rolls SAMARA FRIED CHICKEN$13.00 One leg quarter Indonesian fried chicken, comes with steam rice 1 pcs fried tofu, tamarind soup or white vegetables curry soup (sayur lodeh) and spicy homemade sambal SAMARA BEEF JERKY$13.50 Deep fried marinated beef served with sambal, tofu, tempe and...

Wanted to try Samara Kitchen ever since I stumbled onto some glowing Yelp reviews a few months ago.

I have been dying for some quality Indonesian food. Samara Kitchen sounded promising and delivered in spades.

The restaurant is a very basic setup in an industrial part of Mississauga. 85% of the space is a giant kitchen, with a small narrow eat-in area at the front. There are about six 2-seater tables that can be pushed together if necessary. From a steady flow of patrons running in and out of the restaurant, it looks like they do a lot of takeout. Menus can be found on the tables and you order with the staff.

We ordered two familiar dishes of mie goreng and beef rendang, as well as a new dish of pepes udang (shrimp with signature spice wrapped and baked in banana leaves).

The food took a few minutes as it was made to order. The people working in the kitchen brought it over (no dedicated waitstaff here).

While we waited we had sweet ice tea which I believe was brewed in-house and was very refreshing. Also, free refills!

The mie goreng was delicious and flavourful. I haven't had it since our visit to Bali and it immediately brought back memories of the trip (a good sign).

The beef rendang stole the show for me. The coconutty flavoured meat was so soft and tender. The seasoning of the sauce combined with fragrant jasmine rice created a flavour you expect in a home cooked meal.

The pepes udang was a little spicy and a little wild. A combination of fragrant Indonesian spices combined with soft succulent shrimps created flavours that kind of dance on the tip of your tounge and leave a lasting impression.

I doubt I will go through Mississauga without at least getting some takeout at Samara Kitchen. This is an amazing place...

This place is pretty hidden and when you walk in don't hesitate and attempt walk away, which is what I almost did when I came into a restaurant the size of my bedroom. One large table was occupied and what was left was a tiny table for 2. The owner/server was very friendly and when he realized that we didn't understand the menu he kindly made some recommendations, whereby he suggested a vegan dish for my brother, which was this vegetable stew (forgot the name). He also got their tempeh, which I found quite unique for an asian restaurant to have. but apparently tempeh is very common in Indonesia. I ordered the chicken satay with rice. The food took like 20ish minutes to arrive but I wasn't expecting anything else considering that there was no staff or chefs, just the family managing the entire restaurant. The portion sizes were pretty small, but the flavours made up for it. The sauce on my chicken was so good to the point where I was licking my plate clean. My brother enjoyed the stew but he was more in awe for the tempeh. Prices were reasonable and I would love to go back to try some other of their unique dishes. Most of all I'd like to comment on the server (or owner...I'm not sure) who was extremely accommodating. I hope they expand this restaurant as that would definitely increase...