Sammy's on the Marina

Unimpressed to be honest. Yes, the location is spectacular, yes the service is friendly - but the oysters didn't taste fresh. After mentioning this, we were brought another plate which was good - but I would have preferred good oysters in the first place. The mains were OK but quite underwhelming for the price. I have no problem paying for top class produce and there really wasn't anything awful about the food - it was just very ordinary. I expected more. It rather took the shine off the end of my son's holiday in SA.

Absolutely delightful. The customer service is top class and the food was to die for. I would definitely recommend this restaurant to any seafood lover!

I understand that the hospitality industry is struggling due to COVID‘s ever changing restrictions, but my recent experience at Sammy’s was extremely disappointing to say the least. We had a reservation but were still put outside on the roof ‘terrace’ on a 36 degree day, with no prior warning to suggest we would be (right next to the hot air blowing out of the aircon unit!). The table linen was dirty, our cocktails tasted terrible, half the seafood was over-cooked or bland, and we found some wait staff to be quite pushy making us feel rushed and uncomfortable. Honestly the only reason we persisted with the night was because of the good things we’d heard from people about Sammy’s… but after my experience and reading some of the more recent reviews my opinion has changed and I don’t think I’ll be back.

Pros: My partner, and I decided to make a booking for two to celebrate our anniversary, and from the moment we stepped foot in the restaurant we were greeted by the owner, the service was absolutely phenomenal, we choose to sit upstairs where we had a beautiful view of the sea and sunset. The waiting staff were friendly, welcoming, and very professional. Finally, the atmosphere of the restaurant was incredible, using white décor and classical music to set the ambiance of the restaurant.

My partner, and i ordered the South Aussie seafood platter for two costing approximately $195. The size of the food was a lot that we were not able to finish it all, but it was absolutely delicious and fresh. My partner was a lover for the oysters, king prawns, and everything else, as for myself the mussels, and crab was amazing too.

Cons:
I had to call twice to make a booking for two as the first person who picked up the phone forgot to put us on the system, but its all good the service and food made up for that mistake. Next, the waiting staff can sometimes be a little bit annoying by coming to your table every few minutes before we even got to flip open the menu, but my partner and i both understand that Sammy's have high expectations, and that staff must be super attentive.

Overall our experience at Sammy's was incredible from the time we walked in to the time that we walked out everything was phenomenal providing top quality food, and impeccable customer service we will most definitely be coming back.

1 star and that's being polite! The establishment has no idea. Òysters were small, calamari was not fresh and the Baramandi was so over cooked it was like eating a piece of wood, seriously do not waste your money at this place. The waitress kept on coming up apologising it was like she knew. $250 later - very disappointed.

Came here the second time. Still disapointed. See photos. 48 bucks for something you can get at Barnacle Bills for half the price. For a fancy restaurant, they can do better. The waitress came without a notepad. Forgot my still water. Then she forgot my husband's wine. 30 minutes in we reminded her, and she said "Oh yes, I remember, it was the 250 wasnt it? "We just said yes but he had ordered a 150. And we thought to ourselves she really needs a notepad. I will not be going again. Overpriced for what you get there. Next time I want crumbed garfish I will go to Barnacle Bills.

I was really looking forward to bringing my wife here for a memorable evening and that we got the worst ever from the moment we arrived for our reservation we were standing at the door to be greeted for at-least 10 mins. Once we we’re finally seated we were served by one of the best waiters (ly) very friendly and knowledgeable. My wife ordered the oysters caviar as well as many other sides and Marinara Nero for mains (very limited in space for this review). We were served our oysters and she noticed something from the corner of her eye as she was eating, it was a worm! We were trying to get the attention of the wait staff and once we did and pointed this out it was rushed back to the kitchen and 2 very clean oysters were served as a replacement. My wife was sick and upset and did not won’t as she was traumatised. Then her mains arrived her marinara Nero (spaghetti with seafood) after watching a worms crawl out from her oysters, spaghetti was the last thing she wanted to see. The wait staff were very polite and accommodating and went above and beyond as best they could under the circumstances. I asked for the bill as I wanted to get her out of there as soon as possible as the memorable night I was anticipating for was for the wrong reason. I paid the bill and left, I have since looked at the receipt and noticed I was charged for the oysters and not even a discount was applied. I don’t mind paying for good food but after that experience You my might as well go to fasta pasta or your local pub. The bill was $214 and the worst memorable night for my wife and I.

Reply to your response:

I can't believe you could give a response like that, so after seeing my wife upset with her experience, I denied taking money off the bill? That does not make sense. I understand that business are doing it hard but that is no excuse serve poor quality dishes. No one from the management team came to are table to even offer a apology.no, please don't take money off for the worm I should be paying more it's not about money, we normally dine at windy point or Five Regions at Adelaide oval ($120) a head, but well worth it. I just can't believe the response and arrogant reply. Word of mouth is the best advertising!

One of the best experiences and seafood restaurant we have been to in Adelaide. Service from staff named Shweta was impeccable. We were greeted and made feel very special and you could see everyone else in the room felt the same. Seafood was fresh and cooked to perfection. Shout out to the chef! Oysters the best! Thanks to Kartik for recommending and going over and above for us. Yummy cocktails and dessert recommended by Shweta finished off the wonderful evening! Will be back again!

Came here on a whim for some oysters last Saturday. Best oysters I've had in quite a while and the octopus was so fresh and beautiful I actually still feel guilty for eating him. Tasty, fresh garlic bread too. Lovely place for lunch and the staff were really attentive and friendly.

We recently celebrated a colleagues retirement party at Sammys on the Marina. Pervez was very helpful with all the arrangements. Our group of approximately 40 guests was upstairs in the balcony room which included an outside terrace. Fortunately we had lovely weather and spent most of the evening outside enjoying the views. We chose the cocktail food option. The food was freshly prepared and everything was delicious. Very friendly staff. Would definitely recommend for a small group function. Thank you to the team at Sammys!

Lovely location, excellent generous main course, friendly efficient staff and the Panacotta was to die for

Good food. Friendly staff. Got the SA platter and have zero complaints. The view at sunset is amazing.

I took my friends from Melbourne to Sammy's they were welcomed with the best foods, best atmosphere, best service, best views, and the restaurant that they have experience in Adelaide, every thing was a total package.

Thank you so much for always exceeding my expectations, as you are simply the best!

Beautiful setting, beautiful staff and beautiful food.
Highly recommend giving Sammy’s a go.

Save your money. Lobster was chewy, not alot of good food for 300 dollars. Waited 25 minutes just for a glass of water and waited 30 mins for the cheque never going back.

Excellent food, atmosphere and outstanding service. Made our night a special one to remember, thanks

What a great night. Service was amazing and food was delicious. The staff went above and beyond to make it a special birthday celebration. Thank you to Max and Pervez.

It’s a lovely restaurant and give me a really good dinner experience. I ordered the Aussie Favorite and one piece of bread (kind of a pizza actually), they were very delicious. And thank for Eshan, a funny waiter, I felt comfortable when I ordered the food. And I will come back with my friends.

We have been to Sammy's in the past many times for special occasion Dinners, i.e. Anniversaries, Birthdays etc, as it is a very beautiful place to have a special meal.
We always had a good experience with good food and good service.
On Easter Saturday, we went for a special Birthday dinner with friends.
We were extremely disappointed!
The service was slow, it took a very, very long time to get our food.
Even though there were many staff around, they seemed to be too busy chatting amongst themselves rather than paying attention to paying guests.
I ordered a drink which I didn't get for quite a while and had to remind the waitress of. My friend ordered a glass of white wine with her meal. The glass with the wine in it was left sitting on the bar for a very long time, losing its chill. There was plenty of staff behind the bar, busy chatting and laughing, staff walking past the glass on the bar - nobody thought to question why this glas of wine was not served to a customer. Chatting and cleaning tables seemed to take a priority! My friend had half finished her meal, when I finally walked up to the bar to ask why we wouldn't get any service!
Absolutely appawling!
My husband and I had ordered the 'Sammy's platter', as many times before, a very expensive seafood platter.
We had always been very impressed by the food and presentation. Not this time! Some of the food was barely warm, the smoked salmon had been removed for some raw Japanese style fish which was cut far too thick and quite disgusting, the tartare sauce which in the past had always been delicious was just a bottle job (mine at home is nicer!), and the fetta on the very, very small side salad was very ordinary, compared to the delicious Greek one before, which had been an absolute delight!
The platter had gone down in size, however the price had gone up substantially!
As the staff knew, our occasion was a special Birthday. It has been customary that the guest gets a small desert, with the appropriate message i.e 'Happy Birthday' etc written on it, complementary after the meal.
On this occasion nothing happened.
My friend 'reminded' the staff of the occasion, so then, literally on the way out in the hallway, I was given a 'Happy Birthday' desert, clearly done in a rush, and I was ushered into an outside front room to have it as we had left our table upstairs and were leaving. It was just terrible!
So disappointing for what was supposed to be a special night out!
On top of everything else, we were charged an extra Public Holiday fee, even though Easter Saturday is not classified as a Public Holiday. That is a total rip off! And this is a restaurant which already commands top prices for which is now very below standard food.and service.
We will NOT be back and will NOT recommend Sammy's on the Marina any more.
It's nothing like it used to be!
Very disappointing!

Excellant service to quality meals cooked with love the seafood it is very fresh I love it, waitress Trisha, Eshan and Nitish