Sampan Express — Restaurant in Saanich

Just as an aside...and further to the comments that my dining companion just left as her review...we decided to spend our belated Christmas get together at the Sanpan. As usual, the food was excellent as was the service. That however was not the case with the horrific way our dining experience ended. My husband decided to " treat" the other couple and picked up the entire tab, almost $145.00 and they in turn were going to leave the tip. My husband left the table and paid the bill and then rejoined us as we were finishing up. Soon the manager or owner of the restaurant came to the table to inquire how the food and service had been. We assured him that it had been a terrific meal. He then proceeded to bring us our bill again and pointed out that there had been no tip left. Since when is it an assumption on the owners part that the decision to leave a tip is not in the hands of the diners? We were shocked at his lack of professionalism and couldn't believe that he was brazen enough to confront us about where the tip was! Our dining companions fully intended to leave the tip, in cash, on the table but we were so taken aback by his assumption that they deserved a tip, it totally marred an otherwise lovely outing. We didn't blame the chef or the wait staff for his crass behaviour and a very nice tip was left. Anyone dining there would be well served not to make this same grievious error that we did. PAY YOUR TIP RIGHT AWAY or be prepared to be humiliated in front of all the other diners, as we were. It's such a shame because with all of the fine restaurants in the Victoria area, we certainly won't need or wish to dine in his...

I’ve been a loyal fan of Sampan ever since they were a full service dine-in restaurant in the Saanich Plaza. They made the decision to close down the larger restaurant and changed their format to focus on delivery and take away and they’ve done a great job of it. I’ve ordered delivery from their place many many times over the years and have always been impressed with the quality and freshness of whatever I order. Their prices are not the cheapest but I don’t mind paying a bit more when the food is always on point.

I only have one pic from the meal I ordered last night but I will endeavor to remember to post more next time I order.

Last night’s feast consisted of their Pork Chow Mein, Breaded Almond Chicken (always so tasty and crispy!), Salt and Pepper (chili pepper) Chicken and their Szechuan Fish. One of the only restaurants that understands that fried food in a take out container becomes soggy fast so they always poke vent holes in the containers to allow the steam to escape. Never have I had soggy fried food from Sampan.

There is also the hot food bar in-store which offers a great selection of food options for take-away at a very good price. You can get a 2 or 3 item meal with your choice of fried rice or chow mein (or both as I usually get) and it’s more than enough food for the...

My Husband, myself and a couple of our friends attended the restaurant, as our Christmas Dinner together. So a little pricey was alright by us. We wanted some really good food. The food was very good and portions were good. We had a lovely time, until it came time to pay. Our friend decided to pick up the tab and we were going to leave the tip. All was good, until the Manager (assumed it was) came up to our table and asked if we enjoyed our meal, if the service was ok. To which we replied, everything was just fine. He then brought over the bill that our friend just paid and pointed out that we did not leave a tip. TALK ABOUT POOR CUSTOMER SERVICE. All of us were just furious that this was put to us in such a way. Will we go again, I think not. There are other good restaurants out there. But a word to the owners of Sampan......The option to leave a tip, is at our discretion. A tip represents that all aspects of the meal, service, etc were exceptional, not just good. You changed a lovely meal in to an embarassment for us and for your restaurant. (And yes we did...