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The restaurant at Sama Bankside only has about eight tables, and it’s swirled into the mix of general partying space. Set beneath a Victorian viaduct, the building is cavernous, with high-ceilinged, arched rooms over two floors. There are large bars, upholstered booths seating 15, and tables set up for boisterous games of beer pong. Running the gauntlet of raucous pongers to get to our table was memorable – as was listening to their antics throughout the entire meal – just not in a good way.
Sama’s food concept is a mixed bag of standard pub fare with a few Caribbean gems thrown in. Corn fritters had a mildly sweet flavour that was punched up with zippy pineapple salsa, although one fritter was so charred it should never have been sent out. The sauce in a lamb curry was rich and satisfying, the meat itself tender, but it was just slopped on the plate, cafeteria-style. Jerk chicken also had moments of greatness – juicy slices of dark meat were bathed in a fiery sauce redolent of allspice and scotch bonnet peppers, but the mountain of rice and peas that came with it was bland.
The concept at Sama Bankside is certainly fun, but the food, sadly, is just an afterthought.