Sampan Cafe

Great food!! My favorite dishes were the spicy crispy bean curd and the chive dumplings. We also got stuffed eggplant, scallop dumpling, string beans, bean curds, salted egg yolk, Shumai, and the sesame balls. Lots of vegetarian and pescatarian options. The dim sum prices were very reasonable (~$5 for each small plate w three pieces).

Ordered seafood combo. With XO sauce $25.8. It is very disappointing. Only three small peeled shrimp and several pieces of Squid. No scallops, no nothing other seafoods as combo. I called restaurant and complained the dish. He said “ That is should be” . What kind of service it is. Never go and never order again. This dish size is similar to lunch box. Very bad experience

We used to dine in or take out at Golden Hong Kong, since they closed down we were looking for a replacement restaurant which is near our home. Our friends recommend Sampan to us. The first impression is good, servers are speaking Cantonese and I heard that some of them are from Hong Kong, feeling so good. Taste of food is good as well, like regular HK style at estates, of course cannot compare to those high end Michelin stars restaurants in Hong Kong, already feeling so satisfied in NoVA as Golden Hong Kong is closed and Hong Kong Pearl gone down too much. We wil try other dishes next time, hopefully they are good too. P.s. only HKgers understand what Cantonese foul language wordings and tones mean real good Chinese chefs are working in this kitchen. I only heard this from Sampan and Wegmans Alexandria so far.

This is our family's go-to for authentic Chinese food. We've been eating here for many years and it continues to be my mom's favorite, despite their recent move to Fredericksburg (I'm still trying to help them find something down there that can hold a candle next to Sampan but I don't think it exists!). We always get the large seafood meal and the quality is unbeatable. We recently just had our usual with a fried cod and a sweet and sour sauce (I think it was new??), and that sauce is what's prompting me to write a review! I didn't know you could make a sweet and sour sauce that tasted so good! Highly recommend the fried cod, the duck, the chicken, and the sesame balls (and the seafood meal in general if you are looking to feed a lot of people). If this place can please my Asian mom, then it's definitely worth checking out!!

Weekday Dimsum!!! Don't wait for the weekend. Food is 5 stars, We cleaned off the plates! Easy Parking handicap accessible. Not sure why the overall rating is lower. Great place, clean, and nice staff. We last visited almost two years ago but happy to try their dimsum again. On weekdays you order it off the menu, rather than from a cart. The normal menu is still available is you don’t want DS. We just finished all the food!