Sampan
124 South 13th Street
Philadelphia, PA
19107
My girlfriend and I went out to eat with a couple that we
had dined with previously a few months ago, and it was one of the best meals of
my entire life. We have a great time whenever we go out to eat with them, and
this time was no different. After getting a drink at the hipster bar scene they
had going on, we were seated and started trying to decide what we were going to
order. The drink that I ordered was a whiskey based drink with a yuzu mixture
added to it. It wasn’t fantastic, but it wasn’t bad either. It was served in a
mason jar, which I thought was pretty cool too.
From the moment you walk into Sampan, everything feels super
modern. I feel like that is a common theme of the center city Asian restaurants
that I have been to. We decided on ordering the 9 course tasting menu that they
offer for $45 per person. It was really hard to pick things again because it
was still Lent and we could only order fish and vegetable dishes. We decided on
our choices and we sat back and let the feast begin.
First up was the lobster ceviche. It sounded a little funny
to me when we ordered it because I had never heard of lobster in a ceviche
before, but it was absolutely phenomenal. Hands down one of the top three
ceviches I have ever had. It was citrusy, it was spicy, and most of all it was
fresh and delicious.
Next up was the tuna rice cracker. I love tuna, so I knew I
would love this dish. The cracker was a really interesting texture, I’m
assuming because of the rice. The tuna had so much flavor. It was mixed with a
little touch of soy and sesame.
The edamame dumplings came out next and I was in heaven yet
again. The dumplings themselves were tender, with a crispy crunch to the
outside of the skin, and the edamame inside was tender and flavorful. The foam
in the middle kind of threw me off and I don’t really know why chefs keep
putting foams into their dishes. It is definitely one of the most overused and
flavorless trends in the culinary world today and I wish they would just stop
using it all together.
It is not every day that you see tacos on an Asian menu. We
ordered the crab wonton tacos, and we were certainly glad we did once we tasted
them. They were ridiculously tasty! They had a nice kick of heat, a good bit of
crunch from the wonton taco and a really nice taste from the cilantro and
pickled shallots.
The jumbo shrimp satay was up next; grilled prawns topped
with arugula and pickled onions. They were really delicious. The shrimp were
grilled perfectly, and still remained moist as well.
Our next course was yet another tasty morsel. We had sashimi
tuna over a bed of chilled soba noodles that was topped with a watercress
salad. The tuna was seared perfectly on all sides, and it left the tuna
perfectly delicious. Each bite was tender and full of flavor, accented by the
addition of a soy drizzle and the avocado.
I was so happy when someone else mentioned that we should
order the kim chee fried rice. I knew I wanted it, but didn’t want to push it
on to everyone else. I love kim chee and I really love fried rice, and I never
would have imagined the delicious cyclone of flavor that they can come together
into. The pungent flavor of the kim chee mixed with the salty nature of the
rice was absolutely phenomenal.
The best part of the entire meal in my opinion was the sea
bass. It was glazed in soy, and topped with an apple slaw and grapefruit. It
was some of the best fish I have ever tasted. It was incredibly tender, and the
soy sort of caramelized on the outside of the fish and became a little sweet. I
could have eaten a ton of the sea bass and I would order it again and again if
I go back to Sampan.
The shrimp pad thai was also pretty darn good. The shrimp
was super tender, and the noodles were as well. The pad thai had tons of flavor
and we ate it all up.
I didn’t get to partake in the dessert round, but it looked
amazing. They served miniature ice cream cones to the table, and the flavors
change almost daily. I think on this particular night they had strawberry and
chocolate.
When my girlfriend’s friend came back from the bathroom, she
said she heard weird voices while she was in there, but she couldn’t understand
what the guy was saying. I looked at her pretty skeptically, but I completely
understood what was happening once I ventured to the men’s room. They have
movie lines playing continuously out of the bathroom speakers. So while in the
bathroom I heard lines from Full Metal Jacket, Forrest Gump, and A Few Good
Men. I laughed hysterically while telling everyone what the voices were all
about.
Please, please, please go to Sampan as soon as possible. It
is ranked in the top 5 meals I have ever had in my life, and I have eaten some
pretty tasty food. Give it a try and you will not be disappointed! Cheers!
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