We made the mistake of coming here right after it opened and also sat in the bar. The service was terrible. We were served by some ditzy server who didn't have any knowledge of what was in the sauces they were using but boasted that she had worked there for 2 years. She was slow and unattentive, and I don't know if this is because we sat in the bar section and not the formal dining area. Our bread came way later on in the meal and the appy came way too early. We ordered the lobster special that was baked with cheese on it. For entrees I ordered the teriyaki steak medium rare. My honey ordered a regular steak medium rare. We both ordered twice baked potatoes. The potatoes were runny and my steak was the toughest steak I'd ever been served. Because we had ditzy serving us, she didn't come back and check on us and we felt very ignored.

I ended up calling the general manager the next day and describing my experience. Although he said that I should get the same service in the bar as in the dining section, he was apologetic and sent a $50.00 gift card in the mail. We since used it at another location.

Go to the Willingdon location if you want excellent service and food.

I've had their noodle bowls and I am not a huge fan of Ramen noodles, but their seafood one is very good and is a huge portion, I can't finish it. What they shine for to me is their gyoza. They are authentic, fresh to order and just little dumplings of goodness... I order two orders sometimes to make a lunch out of it. You get 8 little dumplings for $4.80.

It's hard to find good, authentic and fresh gyoza that don't have that already-been-pan-fried taste. The servers look at me a bit weird when I order two orders, but I don't really care. They are all sweet Japanese students or immigrants. They try really hard to speak English and have that cute and polite Japanese way about them. I have never had poor service at that place. They know how to treat their customers.

This review might not be the best for the soup, as I am not as well versed in ramen as I am in pho, but all in all you shouldn't be disappointed if you know what the soup and cuisine entails. As other posters have said, this soup is authentic pork soup. There are a couple other options, but the specialize in the pork bone broth (to which I am not a huge fan of).

I discovered this place because one of my friends loved their soups and I met her for lunch here. I was a bit turned off at first with their lack of menu choice, but I ordered the gyoza and come back for them every time.

YUM!

As most people from the North Shore can attest to... the Vietnamese cuisine is under represented. This place opened up not too long ago. I usually go to the place right off Cambie and Broadway that's open 24 hours.. some Vietnamese name... and that place is what I would use to rate my pho palette. This place has the typical no sense decor.. basically meaning there is none... you're there for the soup not the ambiance. They have a TV and a few copies of the 24 and Metro... that's all you need!

If you're on the North Shore and don't want to drive to Vancouver, then I would say it's great! There have been times when I've been craving some pho and go here for my fix. I am a simple pho eater, only get rare eye round.. no tripe or fatty beef for me. I also like salad rolls, but don't like them here... the peanut sauce is lack luster and meh just in general not that great. I do like their spring rolls though. But back to the pho...

They give you lots of sprouts, lots of basil and it's good for being one of the only places on the North Shore. I still like the other place the best though. I will say though, the last time I went there (2 weeks ago), I went there pretty late (9 pm) and woke up at around 1 am and made friends with my toilet... not sure what happened there. I've eaten there at least a dozen times and no complaints before. I will return there again despite that, however I think I might wait a little... I'm a little turned off pho at the moment :)

My boyfriend and I went here for an anniversary dinner. We wanted something low key and casual. He picked Sammy J's because he hadn't been in a long time and I had never been period. First of all I will say the decor was nice, they had renovated in July and it was very contemporary... a little Cactus-esque. We were promptly seated in the dining area and were one of 2 other tables there. The "sports area" is sectioned off and it was packed with people. It was quiet in our area though, which was appropriate for our occasion and a Monday night.

We had a very new waitress who said that right off the bat. We ordered Blackjack strips for an appy, which the waitress should have warned us were SPICY... (my boyfriend likes spicy and even he needed some water.) She didn't take our main order until after the Blackjack strips were done. Again I'll give her the benefit of the doubt that she was new. The BF ordered a Tom Collins and I ordered a Bellini. Both were so-so... nothing exceptional. For our mains, I ordered the Kung Pao bowl with half chicken, half shrimp and the BF ordered Penne Chicken with cream sauce. His was excellent, but mine came without the protein. Because the waitress was so new, she didn't come and check on us for 15 - 20 mins, so I picked at mine until she came. When she did come she left me with my dish instead of taking it back to the kitchen to be re-prepared with the meat. 15 to 20 mins later my protein came, after my dish was cold and my boyfriend had already basically finished his plate. I will add that our glasses for both water and drinks stayed empty and uncleared on the table throughout the entire night... again new waitress.

We ordered the carnival doughnuts for dessert, which came fresh out the deep frier. The waitress neglected to give us napkins or utensils for the dessert... so we ate it with our fingers as she disappeared again....

I really wanted to like Sammy J's. I think they have a variety on their menu and the prices match that of Cactus Club, but the service isn't there. No manager was contacted with regards to my food, no apology. She took the protein off my bill but for almost a $70.00 bill at the end of the night, both my boyfriend and thought we should have stayed home and made our own dinner, at least we would have eaten together. I emailed Sammy J's about my lack luster experience and have yet to receive a response from them. All I can say is the decor is there, the food is there but they need to kick up their service and polish a bit to be in the same ranks as Cactus, Earls and Joeys.

I really like their creative rolls here. They are a good combination of creative and traditional/the norm.

The service is so-so. They are very stingy on the wasabi and ginger, you have to ask for more especially if you're going to have a lot of sushi. My favs there are the yam roll, cali roll, Canuck roll, Sakura roll, and Alaska roll. Also their salmon avocado roll is yummy too. Their other Japanese food is okay, my mom doesn't like the sunomono salads there, the vinegar is very sweet she says. The other foods like the teriyaki chicken and yaki soba are made is inferior sauces.

If you want solid sushi at good prices (lunch is 3 rolls out of the list for 5.99) then I would strongly suggest this. It's a little gem in North Van.