Much like the smooth jazzy music that plays when you open their webpage, the Samba Brazilian Steakhouse does not fail to impress. From beautiful waitresses and Brazilian dancers to ostrich meat and savory bacon wrapped chicken, Samba is a very unique dining experience.
Brazilian Dancers mingling with some customers
After you walk down the stairs off of Alberni street and into Samba, the first thing you will notice inside the darkly lit restaurant are a group of half naked women wearing peacock feathers, dancing in unison to latin flavored pop singles from bands such as Wings and Counting Crows.
Sausages: so juicy, tender, spicy and delicious
The latin atmosphere of Samba is almost enchanting. Looking around the patron-packed dining area, it's hard to not find a smiling face or a group of people who aren't laughing or in a state of bliss. And why wouldn't these people be in a state bliss. There is nothing but wonderful music, borderline erotic dancers and hundreds of pounds of meat being carried around on swords.
The way Samba works is like this: you can get up whenever you want and serve yourself at their all-you-can-eat buffet, and you can also sit at your table while gentlemen wearing red handkerchiefs around their necks bring you an unlimited supply of meat on swords. The only complaint I have with the service is the amount of times the swordmen came around asking if we would like some "top sirloin?" or "pork?". They were really pushing that top sirloin onto us every two minutes, while the bacon wrapped chicken only came out twice in 90 minutes of solid eating.
Server carving some lamb off his sword for us
The green square cards in the picture above indicate that you would like the meat to keep on coming. If you turn the green card over, the card will turn red and that will inform the men carrying meat on swords to stop serving you. If you wish to eat more, simply turn the card back over to green.
Bacon wrapped Chicken
In terms of types of meat the men with swords are serving, the range is quite daunting. To list a few off the top of my head there was top sirloin, chicken, bacon-wrapped chicken, lamb, ostrich, pork, sausages and beef ribs.
Ostrich
The incredibly juicy bacon wrapped chicken and beautifully spiced sausage were by far the standouts as far as meat-on-swords went, while the ostrich was eerily un-poultry-like in texture. I was expecting a massive chicken leg, but instead it looked like a strip of beef that tasted like a cross between chicken and moose. Again, not Sambas fault that the taste and texture of ostrich meat threw me off, but I would suggest not trying the ostrich meat or even looking at it if you are easily turned off by "unorthodox" western Canadian activities such as eating rabbit (which is delicious).
Baked Fish
Seafood Medley - Prawns, scallops, mussels etc.
A heaping plate of Samba buffet food
As far as the buffet goes, you're looking at a pretty standard array of items here for the exception of the deep fried bananas. The white-fish baked in cheese and spices was incredible, while the prawns were plentiful. There is also some very nice thinly sliced garlic bread that is packed with flavor and a creamy seafood packed penne with prawns and octopus.
From top left: Seafood Penne, jasmine rice, deep-fried bananas and some sort of cous-cous cake?
Samba Brazilian Steakhouse is a punch to the face in culture and packs more of a sensory overload then the last time I tripped out on mushrooms in high school (during that trip I thought I actually died). It will take you on an exotic taste journey through foods such as deep fried bananas and ostrich, and it will make you fall in love with their infectious electric renditions of popular music done with a latin twist, and their Brazilian belly dancers. If you're gay, the servers red neckties and commanding way with the meat on swords will be more than enough to tantalize your deepest fantasies. A big drawback at Samba is the price of soft drinks. They don't give free refills and each pop costs around $2.50. They also push the top sirloin and pork way to much. If I had my way, the bacon wrapped chicken would be coming around every five minutes. But I'm going to be fair and say they were very gracious, and when asked to bring some more bacon wrapped chicken out, they had no problem doing so. Sex, music and exorbitant amounts of food: Samba has it all.
P.S - If you've never experienced what digesting six different types of meat at once feels like, you're in for a treat after you eat at Samba!
Price for Dinner: $29 + tax on weekdays, $32 + tax on weekends and holidays
4.5/5
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