Woo-Hoo for Sam Woo!

Sam Woo BBQ Express

15333 Culver Dr. Suite 722

Irvine, CA 92604

I have to admit I got a little embarrassed when I actually looked up the number of Chinese restaurants we have reviewed on this restaurant blog. Yep, it was eight, not including this recent visit. So that means that out of the 731 different restaurants we have visited, just over one percent have served Chinese food. Being in OC, with the amount of great Chinese food available, that's a little unacceptable. Sam Woo might be the restaurant to change that.

To be honest I am not too well versed in Chinese food. Everything I know about Chinese food I learned by eating at Panda Express, Pick Up Stix, and some little hole in the wall places near where I have lived that serve their food out of steam trays and package up your food to enjoy at home. Not exactly what I imagine they are serving in Downtown Beijing, but I like this Americanized version well enough.

It was early January, so it was time to take my good friend David out for his birthday. In a change of habit, I let him pick the restaurant that we would be going to eat at. This year he wanted to head to Sam Woo BBQ Express in the very active Culver Plaza, which is situated on the corner of Irvine Center Drive and Culver. Anchoring this busy shopping complex is a 99 Ranch Market, a 24 Hour Fitness, a good number of banks, and of course our destination on this evening, Sam Woo.

As I was waiting for David to show up, it kind of confused me where to meet him. This Sam Woo is kind of like three restaurants at the same time. There's the Sam Woo Seafood Restaurant, then the Sam Woo Barbecue Express, where people line up and get their food to go from steam trays, just like what I'm used to at other Chinese restaurants. Then there's where we ended up eating, in the middle of the two, a pleasant dining room, with white table clothed tables, folded scarlet napkins placed on top of plates, and professional looking servers, who I can imagine each of them working here for a long time.

We must have hit this place at just the right time, because at half past five on a rainy Monday evening, we had our pick of the tables. It did fill halfway up during our stay, and the quick service side was busy during our entire visit. I have read stories online about long waits for tables here, but not the case on this evening. There are plenty of signs all over the dining area stating that this is a cash-only business, but David told me not to worry about that. Of course, he was wrong, as I was directed to an ATM at the front of the restaurant when it was time to pay. Thanks, David.

The menu here is pretty impressive with its myriad of choices. There are 330 numbered items running from soups, noodles, rice dishes, chow mein, hot pots, veggies, meat, fish, poultry, appetizers, and finally desserts. When I'm in a Chinese restaurant I usually like to get one beef, pork, chicken, and rice selection, which is a nice variety. That's what we ended up doing for David's birthday bash. Let's see how that worked out for us.

Out first for us was the Assorted Meat on Fried Rice ($8.95). This was one of the lighter fried rice dishes I have ever had. Not a lot of grease and the rice was nice and fluffy. There was not a ton of meat on this, but it did the trick as a good side item to our entrees. 

When I picked this Chicken with Satay Sauce ($12.95) I was expecting something else, but it ended up being fine as it was. I thought it was going to come out with a thicker satay sauce that resembled the chicken satay appetizer that I had for David's birthday a few years ago. This satay sauce was thinner, but still provided a nice peanut flavor that went well with the tender chicken, white onions, crushed peanuts and the green onions. I'd get this again, but am interested in their other chicken dishes now that I know they do not overcook their chicken.

Our pork choice on this evening was selected by David and was the only thing I was not too excited about during our stay. This BBQ Pork with Tofu ($11.95) came out with snap peas, carrots, and of course sliced pork and plenty of tofu. I'm not much of a tofu person. The texture doesn't do it for me, and it doesn't really taste like anything to me. The pork on this was hit and miss. A few pieces were dry, but some were nice and tender and tasted great. The jury is still out on whether Sam Woo does pork well, but I would probably not get this entree again.

David redeemed himself big time with his beef pick, the Baked Chunk of Steak in the French Style ($16.95). One of the more expensive items on the menu, but well worth it. These cubed steak chunks were almost butter tender and came nicely sauced where it did not detract from the natural flavor of the beef. A delicate balance to achieve. This also came with some big mushrooms which were tender and nicely prepared. David said the bowl was edible, but he might have just wanted to see me make a fool out of myself. Real nice David, especially when I took you out to dinner.

Sam Woo has me rethinking Chinese food. This was not the usual greasy, everything kind of tastes the same stuff that you get at the lesser Chinese restaurants that most of us frequent. The food here is a higher quality and done more thoughtfully than your usual neighborhood Chinese restaurant. I look forward to coming back and trying more of the 300 plus items on this gigantic menu. Yes, this is not the most convenient of restaurants, in fact, they don't make it accommodating at all. Not only is there a line for a table on most days, but the fact that they don't take credit cards is a big hassle for people like me that don't like having cash on me, and tends to make me think that there is something more sinister going on here than not wanting to pay the credit card fees. Service was okay, not overly friendly, and not too attentive to the two of us. Even with all of the negative, I still will make a return visit. Glad I could add to our Chinese restaurant total, and I look forward to trying more of the Chinese food that OC has to offer.

Out of five lima beans, (because this shopping plaza is named after Fred Culver, one of the earliest residents of what would become Irvine, and he was a lima bean farmer), five being best to zero being worst, Sam Woo BBQ Express gets 3 lima beans.

For more information about Sam Woo BBQ Express, go to their website here: https://www.samwooirvine.com/bbq-express.html