Sampa — Restaurant in Los Angeles

My husband and I went to Sampa last night with a good friend to celebrate his belated bday. So we were prepared to go all out. The first problem was that the server didn’t know what spirits were available. He had to go back to ask the bar when my husband ordered his starting drink, a gin martini. And later when I ordered a vodka drink during dinner. There were only a few options for each. Took a long while. Another more egregious issue was that while the menu is split in two sections: SHARED PLATES and MAINS—everything was dumped on our table practically all at once with no sense of order. We let the server know that’s we’d be sharing everything between the three of us. We already knew we were going to get the cold hamachi app and kuhol to start but took the server’s enthusiastic suggestion of the kare kare tamales too. From the MAINS section, we ordered the $96 rib eye and the $50 crispy duck pancit. The very first thing that came out from the kitchen was the ribeye! Followed shortly by the not quite cold hamachi. Weird. We had to decide if we wanted to let our semi-cold dish get warmer while we ate the steak or if we should let the steak continue to cook past the med rare we ordered on the incredibly hot stone it was served on. Or I guess we were supposed to eat the hot main dish mushed along with what should have been a cold dish. Idk. But definitely let the server know how you’d like the food to be coursed because they won’t do it for you. The rest of the food came out in no apparent order with our pancit lagging behind the rest a solid 15 mins after we finished the others. There was so much on the table that at some point we stacked the empty dishes on top of each other to make room. And the dirty dishes were not cleared until it was time to order dessert! When I asked if we were supposed to eat the hot main with the cold app, we were informed that it was family style. Cool. But then why have such tiny bread plates to eat off of? Unless they want the peanut sauce to be on the rib eye and hamachi. Or the chimichuri to bleed onto the pancit? When they did finally come to clear the plates, the steak stone was still quite hot. I gave the server the napkin from my lap to protect his hand. When we got our desserts, my napkin wasn’t replaced so my husband and I shared his. And no one came to ask how we were enjoying the food until the very end. I would have been able to ask for a clean dinner plate so sauces didn’t mix and I would have asked for a replacement napkin. These issues lead me to believe that there is no FOH standard of service at Sampa, yet. I get needing time to find your sea legs but they been there for at least half a year. The FOH should have some training in place. Maybe a little sheet with the available liquors on it for diners or at the very least, for the servers to carry on them. I did mention that the dinner plates needed to be larger, especially if they are going to just dump everything off at the table without courses. Additionally, if the food runner isn’t going to describe the dish that they drop off, they should at least say the name of the item. And empty dishes should always be removed asap and not left stacked on the table til the end. There were many highlights of the night: The adorable hosts were so sweet and friendly but also super efficient. We felt like regulars when we walked out. Warm greeting, warm exit. The cocktails were interesting. My espresso martini was tasty and unique. The duck pancit and the ube cheese cake were the stars of the show. I would gladly order both again every single weekend and never tire of them. Our waiter, while not knowing the bar offerings or checking in, was very enthusiastic about the food. Chef Josh came out of the kitchen to say HI to every table towards the end of our meal. He was the only one who came by to ask how our experience was so I let him know that the tiny bread plates for dinner service should be larger. He was so charming and friendly. Will definitely go back for that pancit. Maybe we’ll just...

Birthday dinner with my chosen family.

This has been on my to go to list for quite some time now and knew the right time would come. That right time was my birthday dinner this year. My friend asked me what I wanted for my birthday this year and my response was to be left alone. With that being said, since my birthday fell on a Saturday she decided to have my birthday dinner the night before. I gave her a top 5 to choose from. She chose this place because she also hadn’t been.

Our party of 5 rolling in one car found parking literally across the street. Talk about a win! One a Friday night no less. Only four of us eat meat so one specific person only had a salad the whole night. The two white people turned to the two Filipinos and said take the wheel. My friend sure did take the damn wheel cos we got all the foods. I felt like LL Cool J licking my lips all damn night. Yooooooooo that food slapped. Let me whet your appetite: That kinilaw presentation was so pretty. I almost didn’t wanna to eat it. It was delicious. The tamales made me question which is better - the Mexican version or this. Entirely different kinds, but wow. I could eat four orders of those and not share a damn bite. I loved how the lemongrass taste lingered in the scallop dish. Makes my mouth water just thinking about it. As soon as the ravioli arrived, homegirl said “ooooh that’s a look.” My response was that it would probably be the best tasting cos of how weird it looked. Guess what, I was right. It was the universally loved dish. It was also the only plate that got cleared the quickest. I loved the consistency of the ube under the scallops. It turned out to be comparable to mashed potatoes The stars of the night for me were the crab fat fried rice and the whole ass fried fish. I don’t think I’ve had rock fish before. The accoutrement it came with just added even more flavor to all the goodness. It reminded me of kamayans in the motherland. We kilt that fish. Sure did have the eyeballs and everything in between. Our friends watched us go to town on the whole thing. They don’t even know what they’re missing. More for us! That fried rice is exactly how I want every fried rice that I have in the future to taste. My gawd. Thank goodness they packed up the leftovers for me. I got home and hit a bowl and went to town on that sucka. We were all so full by the end. I damn near unbuttoned my pants yo. When Matt came back out to ask which dessert we wanted, I was in utter disbelief when my friend responded to him with “ALL OF EM.” Bish what. So we got all of them. The chef even came out with a cookie & ice-cream situation topped with a candle. Que cute right I had to have a coffee because wow. All that sugar hit. The pavlova was my fave.

I’m not going to take a star away because they do deserve all the kudos but I will mention that they’re charging way too high for their drinks. They currently only have NA cocktails. The cost of their drink is the same for what I would spend elsewhere l, but with alcohol.

are charging the same amount for non-alcoholic drinks that you would get elsewhere with alcohol. Don’t get me wrong, the cocktails were delicious. I was only able to try Tita’s favorite which was perfectly refreshing, but it woulda slapped if it had rum. Ya know?

The service was fantastic. Matt took great care of us. He picked up everything I put down. Had the best responses to all my comments. He had an answer to all the random questions my friend had about every dish like how many pieces of scallops came with the order and suchas. The woman with tattoos helping him was also the best. I believe het name was Alex. Her vibe was just...

OVERALL EXPERIENCE: eeeeek!! I hate to be writing this review, but feel others should be warned...

a few red flags before we were even seated: (1) DRY BAR - NO LIQUOR! (2) the staff that welcomed us, who was also a busboy, kept touching/wiping his nose with his hand (yuck!)

not a traditional Filipino restaurant (if this is what you are looking for, this is not the restaurant to try)

AMBIANCE: The entry way was nicely lit and appealing, but empty! A very nice looking bar when you enter with small tables. You walk through a long hallway to the back room. HUGE, DARK, LOTS OF SPACE in between tables... this made for a very COLD/UNINVITING atmosphere. There was way too much empty space. I'm not sure if they were going for an elegant feel (the furniture appeared that way). But the ambiance of everything else did not tie nicely together, which resulted in the room feeling very cold... there was a huge disconnect. As well as a disconnect from the ambiance in the front of the restaurant.

Ambiance/atmosphere plays a huge role in the dining experience, and this was lacking big time!

ORDERED: We came for dineLA, and honestly, glad we did. It allowed us the opportunity to try their dishes for a reasonable price (bc reg menu, is definitely not worth it). I had been wanting to try this place for awhile as their dishes looked really good. Presentation is there, but flavor and elements to the dishes were lacking (a bit disappointed).

Hamachi Kilawin: flavors were good, portion was really small, even for dineLA (I think they could've provided a bit more). Kare-Kare Tamale: Probably the best dish we had! Bursting with flavor and cooked to perfection! Pasta Palabok: My least favorite of the dishes. It tasted more like a dumpling and I was not a fan Crispy Duck Pancit: Duck was fantastic! Cooked to perfection and very flavorful. However, was very disappointed on the "pancit" I wish they stuck to a more traditional rice noodle rather than the thick linguine used. Ribeye Salpicao: We paid extra to try the ribeye (+$24), as this is $105 on their regular menu. It came with a chimichurri sauce and potatoes. It was good, but I would not pay the full price menu for this Calamansi Key Lime Pie and Ube Cheesecake: Loved both of these! Mocktails: Calamansi Martini and Melon Pandan Cooler: both were delicious and would be great as a cocktail!

SERVICE: Service was fair. Our waitress was very nice and welcoming. As mentioned, the busboy that seated us kept touching/wiping his nose with his hand... not ok/sanitary. The same busboy also asked if we were done with a dish and prior to answering began to take my plate, also not ok.

DRESS CODE: Smart Casual

PRICE: Overpriced for what it is. I would not come back.

PARKING: Street parking and lots of paid lots near by. There isn't a huge sign outside, so it can be hard to miss at night. It is across Resident and next to Urth Cafe.

Food: 2/5 stars Service: 2/5...