Samu Bar Sushi Hibachi — Restaurant in Little Rock

For starters the food was great, steak was cooked right, rice was tasty, veggies were cooked yet were not mushy. The issue my party had when visiting Samu was how slow it took to get the food to us and the rush we were met with to leave. Our total time for our visit was less than two hours with most of it waiting on food, refills, ect. I am very aware that turn around time for tables is very important for servers as I have waited tables before. With this in mind I tipped above 15% as my party had people in it that hadn't seen each other since 2019 and we were going to hold up a table a bit. Before we came to Samu we called ahead to make a reservation, we were told it was first come, first served basis which is fine. When we arrived, we were asked if we had a reservation but this was sorted out rather quickly. Our server was adequate at best, she did not keep drinks refilled, one member of our party received their salad after their entree was brought to the table. Sushi was brought out right before entrees, and I understand having a rush and that isn't really an issue. What is an issue is feeling like as soon as we got our entrees that we were being rushed to eat them and get out. One member of my party only got a second refill of tea after having to request it with an empty glass on the table and a plate nearly filled with food in front of her. The thing that really got under my skin however is when the server came over and took our glasses because they were running out. Yes there was a flow of business but there were at least two to three empty tables with one needing to be cleaned offed, yet our glasses needed to be taken? Followed by us being asked to leave because of the amount of business going on, yet there were empty tables. The food might be good, but I'm not sure I will be...

We tried Samu last night and it was a pleasant surprise.

We shared a cucumber salad and a regular salad with the ginger dressing. I must say that Blake's review on the salad was spot on, in that it was different from so many other hibachi places I have tried. Unlike the others, it was fresh and crisp, not soggy at the bottom like it's been sitting for a full day. Both of the salads were very good and we were off to a great start. We had the pork egg rolls as our appetizer and it was delicious. I should add that the sauce was unique (I would identify it as acidic edge soy).

We ordered two rolls for our main course, one was the Big Dam Bridge roll, and I am blank on the other roll (shown in pic) but they were creatively presented and delicious.

The location is close to our house (Located off of Rahling Road) and the interior is clean, modern, and inviting. Overall I can not think of any negatives and we will certainly...

It was okay. Keep in mind that my rating is only based on a single visit. As servers and cooks change, things may differ. I am only really leaving this review because the service was bad. There was never more than 3 tables to be waited on at a time, but I could never get a refill. When I did get a refill, I was only given a half full cup. The card was charged wrong and then charged again for the correct amount. I am likely going to have to wait on the refunded amount to go back on my card in several days, but I do not know and they did not know. I got the McCain roll and the tenderloin was to be seared, but it was only seared on one side and left rare on the other side. I wish it had been both because searing of steak is typically the whole thing and not just one side. I should have asked. The plus side is that the atmosphere is great! They play good, current hits....