Sampan House, Dunedin, 64 St Andrew St — Restaurant in South Island

This is from my time in Dunedin and using zomato but due to death of zomato wanted to put this review somewhere. Hope Sampan house is still serving the goods.

Update 12/7/19 ordered the red roasted pork belly and am I so glad it comes with a bowl of rice, and the portion for the price is pretty generous and very similar to the special rice dish of mao's braised pork belly that chopsticks have. Taste wise a sweet sauce but nothing spectacular, tasty, but I would've liked more sauce. The meat was tender but slightly more bouncy and firm, and could've done with more flavour. Compared to the chopsticks mao pork belly, definitely less oily with a more 'clean' feeling, but is more chewy with thicker cut pork chunks. Both are very good and of the same value, so depending on your mood, either is a good choice. 4/5

Update 7/7/19 ordered the Sichuan spicy double cooked pork belly, a very decent portion for price with a good portion of meat and veg cooked with authentic flavour! Fantastic pork belly slices and they didn't slump out on portion of meat, and there was decent veg with a good bit of fungi, carrot, cabbage and onion. Rice is also included in the meal which is a bonus. Happy with the quality, definitely comparable to chopsticks! 4/5 My friends ordered the ginger beef which was a generous portion and tasty, and and two crispy ducks. Everyone was very happy with their meal and everything came with a portion of rice. Dined in and ordered a medium beef supreme satay. Flavor was sweet yet. It overpowering but lacked in savory taste-however I was warned beforehand by the friendly staff there that this was a sweet dish. The peanut flavor was present and mixed well with the sweet flavor, the beef was cooked well, tender but still chewy. Portion was decent for the price. 3.5/5 just because I wasn't blown away but makes a good quick eat out meal. Definitely keen to check them out again and try more...

Probably the worst and the most offensive Chinese restaurant in town in terms of service and integrity. We came here for the first time. The lady with glasses was serving us, with very curt language and cold attitudes.(She talks as if you owe her $1 million) I ordered "Sichuan Spicy Steam Chicken" under the category of "经典川菜系列" - classic Sichuan cuisine, exactly as per the menu, only to have a plate of chicken with damn rice. If the menu had indicated "rice", I wouldn't have ordered it at all. The menu was absolutely misleading. The name of a dish is normally expected to be in accordance with the actual dish. If there is big discrepancy between what is written on the menu and what dish is actually served, doesn't that sound a bit fishy? Well, I talked to her about this problem and asked for a refund for the fourth dish that didn't materialize at that time. The bloody woman didn't even apologize for the problematic dish. The way I see it, she basically tried to shrug the problem off. This kind of bad restaurant should be exposed as much as possible and get disicplined. Dunedin needs a long overdue tidy-up in terms of service...

A hidden gem this place is indeed⭐️

I’m not the type to go the extra mile to post a review, however! This place deserves to be raved about.

I have dined here many times, and each visit I have consistently had a meal that has been to the same quality of the last dish I have ordered of its kind.

Dining in on Saturday night I ordered the fried noodles with chicken. Meal was flavourful and noodles were perfectly fried.

The high level of tasty and love is definitely poured in to the food from Sampan and it’s nice to see a place do its basic offerings really well.

Price and portion sizing is definitely lower in price and above par with its portions compared to competitors. Well worth the money.

The restaurant and dining space is clean and the service is quick from ordering to receiving your meal.

The owners are lovely and the food speaks...