SushiSamba Park

Does neither of Brazilian or Japanese well. Sad to say bad at both. More gimmick than anything else and even the "beautiful" people who are trying to be seen there should find better places to go hang out.

I went here for Reastaurant Week and I must say I was completely turned off by the cockiness of the waiter. As far as the food- so not impressed as I seem to never be by these super "trendy" places. Now I can say I've been there, I can add the food was medicore, and the service was awful- NEXT!

honestly one of the worst experiences I've ever had... the food was below avg and the service was just horrid. SLOW, and the waitress was plain mean to us. My girls and I will never go to this place again. Neither with anyone we know.

I really love sushi and have eaten at many of the "hip" sushi restaurants in town. I remember liking SushiSamba a bunch of years ago, so when my buddy wanted to meet up there I was game. NEVER AGAIN. First of all, don't act like you're doing me a favor by seating me when I have a reservation. Really? You're not that cool. Secondly, the portions are so ridiculously small for the price it should be criminal. The waiter - a nice, yet flighty man - highly recommended the $17 Kanpachi, so I ordered it. $17?!?!?!?!?! Three bites people. Three bites. Now, I'm not a big eater, but like a previous reviewer, I ate again not an hour after leaving that overpriced, pretentious, self-congratulatory trendy pit. If I had paid half as much and been treated twice as well, I may have *considered* going back. Save yourself the frustration and pick up a $6 roll from the deli. It'll be a better experience.

Neither my wife nor I had eaten here in yrs, but each of us remembered SushiSamba for high- quality food. We had a reservation at 8:45 on Friday. We arrived at about 8:43. The hostess, brimming w/snooty attitude, told us our table wouldn’t be ready for another 20 minutes and directed us to the back bar. The back bar was teeming with people, including many scenesters and some obviously hired talent. The volume of the music and the roar of patrons trying to be heard over it made for quite a din. After 20 minutes, I inquired about our table. Over 10 minutes thereafter, another hostess with a superiority complex deigned to seat us at a very cramped table near the restaurant’s front entrance. In contrast to the hostesses, the waiter was very polite. The busboys also were good. The Mrs. ordered a Green Envy roll and a yellowtail roll. The sushi maven was unimpressed to put it mildly. She didn’t even finish the rolls, which meant that the rolls were a real disappointment because she loves (with a capital L) sushi. I grazed on the leftover rolls they were very 2nd-rate sushi. I ordered the bacalau bolinhos, the rockfish a la plancha and mochi for dessert. The bolinhos were very oily the cook should have drained them better before serving them. The bed of diced tomato on which they were served was awash in vinegar the acidity was overpowering. The bolinhos had potential, but SushiSamba blew it. The rockfish entrée was a very small portion of fish for an entrée. Again, this item had potential, but the cook squandered it by using far too much vinegar. An acidic bite has its rightful place in food, but the sharpness should not be so strong as to overwhelm all other flavor notes in the dish. The chef may need to return to culinary school for a refresher course. The mochi was not made in-house, and ice cream is one of the greatest things ever invented, so no comment is required. By the way, non of this comes cheap the prices are on the high side. As for the atmosphere, the place isn’t the right venue for a relaxing dinner. An obnoxious greeting from the hostess does not set a good tone. The wait is a drag. Being crammed in like a sardine also stinks. (A pudgy, drunk guy squeezed between our table and his and knocked over our soy sauce bottle in the process spilling soy sauce all over our table, my wife’s new jacket, the floor…) The noise level is annoying. In writing this review, I think I just convinced myself not to return.

Had some very nice fatty tuna, but the portions were so small I actaully stopped at a deli and ate a piece of pound cake after I left. If money is no object, you can enjoy yourself, but I ate a 5 orders of sashimi, a hand roll and miso for 50 bucks. That ain't cheap folks. whatever, good fatty tuna, skilled chefs, enjoy it.

The sushi was not anything special at all - I feel like I could have gotten the same quality fish at a cheap sushi restaurant on St. Marks. The food was definitely over priced for the amount and the quality you receive. The worst was the service. It took us 20 minutes to get our menus because my friend had gone up to the hostess to ask for them. Then of course another 20 to finally flag down our waitress who seemed to be purposely ignoring us because we are young. And that kind of attitude and mindset is not acceptable by any means. Our waitress never came by to check up on us to see if the food was okay, and our water was never refilled unless asked for. When it was time to get the bill, we FIRST asked the busboy, THEN we asked the hostess who told our waitress. At this point, she clearly did not care to help us out because she was chatting with the sushi chefs and her co-workers. She finally brought us the bill after we asked for the third time, this time directly to her.