Samos Kitchen

In spite of the reviews, the service was fairly nice. The owner pulled out our chairs when he sat us, gave us tips on how to eat the "proper" Korean way, and chatted quite a bit. His approach on teaching us how to and what to eat in what order was a little domineering, but I've encountered this before from my older relatives.

Food on the other hand was a little off. To start, my hot tea was lukewarm. We ordered the bulgogi lunch box, soon doo bu, and the jajangmyun. Everything but the soon doo bu and steamed rice was warm, almost room temperature. The bulgogi portion was small, and seemed as if it had been sitting out for an hour. The taste was there, but the temperature made our dishes unappetizing.

I'm not sure what time of day these reviewers who had bad service came in, but I could not have been happier with my time spent here!

The restaurant is neat and small, I enjoyed looking at all the Decour all of the walls during my meal. After asking the waitress which dishes were most spicy I ordered the Kim Chee soup which came with all of the sides. The soup came out in a hot pot and it was boiling which added a fun experience! All of the sides were delicious and the sticky rice was perfect.

A little way into my meal the owner walked in and greeted me. I told him I had seen a sign for raspberry wine and requested some. He then told me the history of raspberry wine and how it is the traditional drink in Korea and if it's good for people who are older with heart problems. We spent the next couple minutes talking as he told me more about Korean history.

I'm a big fan of plum wine and this raspberry wine was really tasty! A few minutes later the owner came back with a small book and asked what my birthdate was, and read my fortune!!

Excellent food excellent service. If I'm ever in the area again I'll be back.

Let me start off by saying that I think the Owner is an absolute delight and he's adorable. He checked in on us and made sure everything was wonderful. He also at the end of the meal read us our fortune, which was pretty funny and cool to hear.

Now off to the food, I liked the soup I got but for the price it was a bit small. It was a spicy soft tofu soup with beef. However it was full of flavor and I enjoyed what I got.
At kaya I've received better serving size and a bigger bang for my buck but the service and quickness here is a lot better for sure. I would want to give them more of a 3.5.

All in all, I would come again to try their other menu items.

These guys have good food but the owner and whoever runs their Facebook page are over the top and angry.
I used to be a patron, but after reading comments they made on their Facebook page directed toward other patrons, I'll never eat there again.

This is the "Best Korean" traditional style and homemade food you can get in Fresno. Move past the tacky decor and the pricey meals that ranges from $12-$20 and you will reap the experience of real healthy, wholesome, generously portioned, tasty and home made tasting Korean food with a personal service from the owner himself who happens to be Korean. This opinion of mine comes from my background of trying, cooking and loving the best Korean food in LA, SF , Kuala Lumpur and Incheon. Furthermore I've taste all other places that are labeled Korean in Fresno and this by far is the most authentic. All of their main entrees are served with 7 side dishes or as Koreans call in Banchan, which includes a real home made kimchi made in house.

I wouldn't go all crazy and say this is the best Korean food in California, but for the portion it offers, with the genuine promise of its food free from MSG and freshly made side dishes to serve everyday, Samos kitchen does represent the true Korean food taste and experience in every way and you can't get the same anywhere else here in the Fresno and Clovis Metropolitan. If your thinking other places in town those are all you can eat Korean BBQ or fusion Korean restaurants that is not truly authentic to Korean food. The prices here seems very expensive, but for the portion and quality of food you will get from ordering this entree you will be surprised. I would skip the appetizers or bibimbap as they aren't worth it and may be overpriced. But the main entree is definitely a treat and good deal with what it comes with.

I like ordering two things from here $19 Dak Bulgogi (Chicken grilled korean style on a hot plate) or $22 Bulgogi (beef grilled korean style on a hot plate). Both dishes are unique tasting, but I would prefer the beef since its much tastier and more flavorful in contrast to the chicken, and texture of the chicken seems to be more chewy, while the beef more tender and almost melts in your mouth. Both dishes are grilled atop sliced onions which infuses that lovely flavor as it caramelizes on that hot griddle that sizzles intensely as it makes its way to your table.

All main entrees priced $15 and up are served with 7 different side dishes, rice and soup. The 7 side dishes may change every other day, but the basic that I got was: Broccoli with sesame oil, potatoes in mirin and soy sauce, chives with chili powder, home made kimchi, beansprouts, fish cakes and daikon side dish. All of the side dishes are very tasty and unique tasting, and not generic tasting unlike other places in town. Its truly an experience I would get if I was invited into a korean household. All of the dishes are presented in the traditional way, i.e the small side dishes plate, the metal rice bowl, the soup bowl and the metal long spoon and chopstick.

The service itself is not like world class, but I get to interact with the owner if he is in a good mood, and the service has always been good here, prompt meal and served within 15 minutes of ordering. My water has always been topped up and even side dishes if your in a group could be topped up. Overall a positive authentic Korean dining experience at Samos. The interior is clean, despite looking old and outdated.

Wonderful food, GREAT service and just an over all pleasant experience. We are from out of town and took a chance and boy are we glad we did. Loved the personal attention and the delicious flavorful food. Highly recommend.

Very disappointed with this place. I came here with a friend on a weekday for lunch since we had a 2 hour break. Restaurant was empty upon entering (should have been our first warning sign). When we sat down the table was sticky (second warning). If it was busy I wouldn't mind but come on, we were the ONLY customers inside at the time.

Our server seemed to be in a hurry to get our order. Never once smiled at us. We decided to go with the lunch boxes (chicken and bulgogi). We each were given soup which was not good unless you like the taste of salty dishwater. When the server brought our side dishes we were disappointed to see that they came in small portions and we were supposed to share it? In most of the pictures we saw on yelp it looked like the customers received generous portions from the sides but this was not the case for us. After I told the server that we had 2 orders, not 1, she seemed irritated explaining that we have to share. Whatever, I wasn't in the mood to argue so we decided to share and hope our lunch boxes would make up for the sides.

The lunch box was actually pretty good. Portion sizes on the other hand...not so much considering the price. We were still hungry afterwards but didn't feel like coughing up more money at this place so we ended up picking up some sandwiches from huong lan. Overall I don't plan on coming back here and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. As much as I enjoyed my lunch box I can get better service, bigger portions, and similar quality elsewhere in Fresno for a cheaper price.

I loved the food here but 5/5 times we've stopped by, they have been "closed." I always look forward to it and every time my husband and I have gone, it's either closed for the day or the lights are off with no sign and locked doors. We going during the days and on business hours.
I'm determined to eat there once again but sadly they're never open.

I've been to this place so many times and most of the time I would come with new groups of friends to come and try this place. This is my way of supportting local restaurants. In honesty, the food here is good but a bit too bland. I'm not trying to be bias from the incident that I recently had, but the food could work up on some flavors and especially that attitude of that owner of how he tries to over chat on customers.

However, this place have made me feel like I am not welcome anymore and will never go back again. About two days ago, I came here with a group of friends of mine. Our tab that day was around $50. Every time I ate at this place I would always leave tips behind but this time I didn't because I didn't have enough change for it.

Then about three days later, I came back again, with a friend who never been to this place. We order our food and the tab came around $40. I came up to the owner to give him our tab and then he lectured me about me being rude, ignoring him when he's trying to talk to me, not leaving tips the other day, telling me that this place is not a fast food restaurant, you must leave tips behind, I'm stressing him out and that he doesn't need me to stress him out when he has his son in the hospital, if I don't like it don't come back here again, and threaten to put tips on my tab the next time I come back.

At this point I'm not willingly to explain myself since he already have these accusation and assumption about me. This is really embarrassing and unprofessional for a restaurant owner to handle this issue. Tips should be given when services is great. Just because I didn't have enough change on that day, he didn't have to hold a grudge against me and to lecture me in front of customers and my friend. This is really embarrassing. And he's right, if I don't like it, I won't be coming back there again. I have left never left this restaurant with disappointment but now I have. I won't be coming back here anymore nor telling my friends to come support this place. I would not want anyone to experience the same thing I've just gone through.

Not sure why everyone had such bad reviews for this place. Came here for late Sunday lunch and we're instantly greeted by the owner. Owner was very nice and you can tell he has a lot of pride in his homemade, authentic food.

We took his recommendation and ordered the Samos Special for two people. This came with a variety of bonchon (side dishes) which were some of tastiest I've ever had, a choice of a meat entree (we chose beef short ribs), choice of soup (we chose soft Tofu soup), some appetizers (fish, dumpling, and some meat cake), and of course it came with rice. All the food tasted very homemade and not overly seasoned or heavy tasting. It was more than we can eat so we took the rest of it home for a late night snack.

The highlight of the meal was when the owner came by our table and gave us personal fortunes based on our birthdays. Surprisingly, they were pretty accurate and gave us a lot of good laughs on the car ride home.

Definitely will be heading back here sometime soon!!!