Sama Zama
| Address: | 425 Westport Rd, Kansas City, MO 64111, USA |
| Phone: | +1 816-756-3600 |
| Site: | samakc.com |
| Rating: | 4.2 |
| Working: | Closed 11AM–10PM 11AM–10PM 11AM–10PM 11AM–11PM 11AM–11PM 11AM–10PM |
Location
Photos 100
Reviews 6
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Endaeias Morgan
Sama Zama (for those who arent aware, "samazama" in Japanese means "various") is probably one of the more authentic Japanese restaurants that Ive had the pleasure of dining at in America. It does have a variety of items that range from noodles to rice balls to okonomiyaki. As per most of my reviews, I shall review in different categories: Environment: 5 Stars (*****) The environment of Sama Zama is similar to that of a small restaurant. Its not massive by any means, of course. The overall feel is similar to that of a Japanese diner. How chairs and tables are laid out. There are some cultural differences, for perfectly good reasons. It seems that the owners knew that while they wanted to keep as much authenticity of Japanese restaurants in their design, they couldnt go full-out to where it could be slightly off-putting for American diners. When you walk in, youre greeted by the host/waitress and youre promptly seated. The chairs are retro-modern (plastic and colourful) and the tables are set up for either a couple or a few friends (a group). They will vary and shift the tables if required to meet your partys needs (in my experience). Price: Four Stars (****) The prices are a little steep considering that I know that the majority of the dishes are either donburi-ish or diner-style food (okonomiyaki, menrui, and yakimono). But, due to its location and its overall purpose, the prices are fairly reasonable. Youre not going to be able to find a diner/restaurant that sells such amazing food for anything under $9-12 for your entree easily in America; and youre definitely getting quality Japanese food in the heart of Westport (so why complain about it?!). Food: Five Stars (*****) The food at Sama Zama is, without question, amazing. I have not eaten here once whereas I walked out without feeling satisfied, full, and filled with nostalgia from when I lived in Japan. More than anything, the American-style okonomiyaki dishes fill me with glee and excitement. Mostly because they were able to take something that Ive cherished so greatly and mixed it with American-expectations; yet... still keep the authenticity of Japanese cuisine. If you like any style of Japanese food (that isnt sushi, because not everything Japanese is sushi!), I empre you to give Sama Zama a try. Customer Service: Five Stars (*****) You will never feel that youre being ignored, even when its a bit busy. The staff go out of their way to ensure that youre satisfied with your meal, if you have enough to drink, and if theres anything else they can help you with. I havent met anyone that I would consider unfriendly, unprofessional, or even annoying that works at Sama Zama. Youll be welcomed, seated, and fed in as prompt of a manner as they can based on the amount of people that are dining at the time. Overall: Five Stars (*****) This brings back some nostalgia for me every time I eat here. I do love that they didnt go the "traditional American-Japanese" route of having a sushi bar. Yes, they exist in Japan. No, they do not eat only sushi in Japan. If you wander into Sama Zama, youll get to see the "other side" of the spectrum of Japanese dishes (with a little bit of an American crossover). There are some dishes that are purely authentic and some have an American influence as not to scare or put-off potential diners (think of how "General Tsos Chicken" isnt authentic Chinese food - yet, with Chinese influence to cater to American diners...). They pull it off with grace and expertise.
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Pamela Tyler
If I could leave a worse review, I would. We never even got our food out because the lady server kicked us out because we politely asked for a drink refill. At first, I didnt think I heard her broken English correctly as I got up to wash my hands. But when I came back to the table, my husband, with a shocked look on his face, said when he asked for a drink refill, she said she "knew how to do her job" and that we could "leave if we didnt like it." She insisted that she knew how to refill a drink and that she didnt need help with it and we could just leave. At this point, we hadnt even gotten close to getting our food yet, but noticed her and the cooks staring at us from the kitchen window, saying things about us and doing god knows what to our food. Needless to say we left. I am appalled at how this place, with only 10 things on the menu, even stays open for business. I am not the kind of person to put businesses on blast in reviews, but Id be doing the general public a disservice by NOT letting them know how rude AF the people in this place are. I dont take kindly to assholes, especially since I value being as kind to everyone as I can be. Especially when theyre in the business to serve patrons. I dont like being disrespected, especially when it wasnt warranted. THIS. PLACE. SUCKS.
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Kayla Jackson
The ramen is amazing. But i placed a to go order and they charged me 15$ for a 10$ bowl of ramen. Really?? An extra 5 bucks just to put it in a plastic container?? Total bs. But, i still placed my order. I get there at 9:37 and Im told they didnt put my order in because i asked about the price. Seriously?? Then the female (short and squat, kinda butch looking), looks me straight in the face and tells me that the kitchen is closed. At 9:37?? Ok. Never will i ever going back to Sama Zama. Never will i ever recommend Sama Zama. Never will i ever utter another word of praise for Sama Zama. Never ever will Sama Zama get any of my money nor any of my associates.
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Eva Zhang
I didnt even want to give them a star. I hope I could rate it zero. The food is terrible but the service is even more terrible. The server is extremely rude. Nobody asked us for drinks and we waited for 20mins to finally get a glass of water. The manager is an ***hole. She said "if you are not happy you can go anywhere else and you are not welcomed here." WTF?! Im usually very easy to please as a customer and give generous tips, but this time Im pissed. I definitely wont go back and wont recommend it to anyone. I wish this terrible restaurant closed soon.
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Brigid Foley
Worst lunch experience in a long while. I really regret I have to say this but if I can spare anyone else the same experience its worth it. Went for lunch and as a big fan of ramen, I ordered the tonkotsu ramen. Very disppointed with the quality of everything from service to the extremely overcooked egg in my bowl. Food was terrible, and the service was slow. Again, I cannot say how much this was the worst ramen I have had in a while. If you want ramen, go to Columbus Park Ramen shop. I am still looking for a good lunch option.
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Lauren Watkins
I wish I could give them 5 stars, but cant. This was my 2nd visit and (while the first time was perfection), the whole experience was a disaster. There was only 1 waitress working and she was very, very busy - which made service very, very slow. On top of that, after ordering we were told theyd run out of rice (seriously?) and that only noodles were available. So we stuck it out and got noodles and it was all fairly good but the experience was not an overall positive one. (They were so good the 1st time!)
