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The food was delicious. My son like the Thai iced tea. Wait staff was very attentive. A nice place to have dinner on the water.
We had a fantastic time at Sambal! The food was delicious and we were able to customize dishes to make them vegan in order to accommodate dietary restrictions. Our waiter, Dewan, was awesome! Will definitely be back!
We were not pleased that we were not informed with our reservation that there would be a set menu for Valentine's Day and no option of ordering off the regular menu. The set menu included no vegetarian options so they agreed to substitute with tofu, but then still messed up one of the dishes and left out the tofu. They kept the price the same, despite the fact that vegetarian dishes are much cheaper on the regular menu. And then finally, they totally forgot our dessert, so we waited a while before just asking for it to be packed and heading out. Food was delicious when it arrived but service and price were horrible.
I loved the great flavors in the Lamb Massaman Curry dish the second time they brought it to me hot. Was shocked that on Valentines Day they would not only be under staffed but also lacked training in service. There also seemed to be an absence of management oversight. Was really looking forward to our dining experience there.
Great food, nice service and excellent location. Has plenty of vegan options.
Helpful friendly waiter, good food, cozy warm atmosphere -lovely evening. will be back!
Fun restaurant with great food and really good service.
Some of the veggies were undercooked (beans were a bit too crunchy, which is not healthy), but overall the food was good and very tasty. Would go again.
We enjoy Sambal very much. Food is great and service friendly. We don’t live in the area, always worth the drive. Lots of free parking.
Having tried Sambal a few times when it first opened, I find it to still be disappointing. The food quality is OK - nothing awful, but below what you can get at any of the many inexpensive Thai restaurants in Hells Kitchen.
On this visit, they rushed to take our order, then had our food out and served within about 10 minutes of ordering it. That would be fine at lunch, but most people eating dinner out are going at a slower pace. And this was on a Sunday night when 80% of the tables were empty, so it wasn't like they needed to turn the table.
When they cleared our dishes, we asked to bring the leftovers home with us. Yet when we were leaving, the server had not brought them out, and we had to ask another staffer to track them down with us.
Sambal is owned by the same people who own Chutney Masala (and is in the former Chutney Masala location). The difference in food quality and service could not be more striking. Chutney remains one of the best restaurants in the Rivertowns, while Sambal is a mediocre Thai restaurant.
Although portions are big, the food is somewhat mediocre. Friendly staff and nice atmosphere - would be nice in the warmer weather to sit outside on their deck over looking the Hudson. Hard to say what the noise level would be on a busy night - we were there on a Saturday night around 7 and it was fairly empty and for some reason, my friend and I were seated off in a corner all by ourselves...
This was my second visit to Sambal. The food was delicious and the service was top notch. I ordered
red curry shrimp. My order arrived and as I dug in, it turned out to be red curry chicken. I tried to flag down our server but the place was pretty busy and I couldn't catch his eye. I wanted to let him know that I didn't get what I ordered but was totally fine with the chicken. No complaints. No problem. When the waiter got around to us, he asked if I was enjoying the shrimp curry ... I told him I'd gotten chicken instead. He apologized and we off to the kitchen to mention it to the chef. As I was paying the bill, the waiter comes over with a take-out bag. The chef wanted me to have the shrimp curry I had ordered.
I tried to refuse it, then tried to pay for it ... all to no avail. Needless to say, the tip was huge.
The Sambal staff takes very good care of you. They want you to enjoy their food and be happy. So go and be happy.
Great food. Great owner. We enjoyed out dinner.
The massaman curry was excellent! Yum Yum! I would highly recommend that you try this restaurant!
Totally delicious and worth a visit or two or three and more if we lived closer
The restaurant is superbly located at the edge of the Hudson River. There was only one other person in the restaurant, so the service was optimum. The restaurant has ambiance, but the food was a disappointment. The portions are very sparse. Compared to other Thai food, the quality was just ok. I will not return.
I usually love coming to Sambal, but part of Saturday’s brunch was very disappointing. I ordered Tom Yom soup with Shrimp (at an additional fee). What arrived was little more than broth and two pathetic shrimp! My mouth is still burning for the $10.95 charge!
Our brunch specials were very good. I do recommend the Lamb Muratabak. Just stay far away from the soup!
The food was bland, even when I ordered the spicy dish. I still had to add lots of chili sauce. And the service was intermittent.
I have been wanting to try the food here for awhile. The meal started well with the tasty but very mildly flavored Tom Kha soup - though I would have liked a lot more veggies and less coconut milk. My second dish was the coconut rice and it had no flavor at all. The shrimp were tough and the chicken was sliced in thin very irregular large pieces. The wine was fine, the night was lovely as was the view but I do not think I would return. I gave five stars for the view.
Good curry dishes. Good portions. We will return.
Food outright bad and overpriced
Satay tasted like it was coated in salt with bland cloying peanut sauce
Beef with broccoli teriyaki had no flavor except a little soy splashed on it- for $22!
Chicken Basil lacked basil!
Pad See Yu was the best of a sorry lot- some sweet fish sauce flavor
Must miss
Our anniversary - we were greeted with a warm welcome from the hostess even before we mentioned it was a special occasion. We were comped some lovely champagne, as we munched on some delicious appetizers. Later, we opted to bypass dessert as our dinner was quite filling, but the staff brought out a complimentary dessert complete with a sparkler and sang us a congratulatory song. What a warm and generous place!
i would have preferred umbrellas on the back deck as it was warmer than i thought but it was still great! We finished our drinks inside after lunch which was terrific! Great service and great food.
Very friendly staff, flavorful food and patio seating overlooking the Hudson River are reasons to go to Sambal.
They were not on their game. Probably because it was Monday night, Labor Day, so likely a skeleton staff and maybe even a substitute chef.
We also were told upon arrival for our 7:45 reservation that they were closing at 9. I would not have made the reservation had I known that. We were celebrating my girlfriend’s birthday with her two sons, and we had to wrap up our meal and leave before having a chance to have a birthday dessert and another glass of wine.
The food was mediocre, with one dish - the chicken chop suey - pretty nasty with an orangy sweet sauce and the fried noodles you usually get before dinner.
We’d been there before and it was much better. But you can’t beat the view from the outside deck!
Great vegetarian options, amazing view and nice ambiance helped us relax and enjoy this a restaurant. I will definitely be back!
You come for the view I guess? Fairly mediocre Thai / Malaysian at high prices. Bad cocktails - undrjnkable mojito... stick to Thai beer
The Green curry was good. The chicken wings were good. The lamb noodles were awful, chef boyardee level... ground chicken entree not much better
There are the great Hudson and bridge views and the interior to which we retreated due to rain is quite nice.
But at these prices and with those noodles hard to not come away disappointed, will not return
Food was mediocre. First time our son couldn’t eat something. Needed to send back the chicken chop suey. Super sweet and chicken tasted pre-cooked and reheated.
Food was spicy & delicious! There was an event going on but the staff was very accommodating even with the extra patronage. Kudos to the chef!
We enjoyed river view,drinks and Thai foods.We stayed more than 4hours !
This was our first time at Sambal. It was a very warm summer evening. If you want super quiet, make a reservation at 5 pm like we did. It was almost too quiet. But by the time we left, traffic picked up. The food was awesome, the staff was great, and the ambiance was really cozy and charming. My one and only suggestion would be to have umbrellas for the outdoor tables, or better yet an awning. Sitting facing west on a sunny evening at 5 pm in the summer was impossible -- a bit disappointing as we really wanted to sit outside. All in all though we'd definitely go back (just after the sun goes down)!
Nice dinner experience as always. I would come back again.
I heard about this restaurant on a local news program. Given the intent, fusion of Malay and Thai, which are two of my favorite cuisines, then how can I go wrong? The ambience was good, however when we arrive there were only one table occupied with two customers who left within 1o minutes of being seated. This was clearly a message. We were attended by two waiters, where by one was teaching the other. I have no problem with that since most are taught through some apprenticeship process. The problem was despite the limited number of customers (2), we seem to be waiting for 'some' attention.
The food was hit or miss. The appetizers (soup and pork dumplings) were on point, spicy and full of flavor. The fish, snapper, was clearly frozen. The lemon grass based sauce appeared to be pre-made, frozen, thawed and placed on the fish. The fish was tough and trashy. The chicken rendang was good and significantly fresher and better than the fish. As for desert, the mango mousse, was made in advance and chilled. It was dense and far from airy or light. It felt and tasted like dense mango lassa.
The bill was not in line with the quality of the food, in other words, too pricey for the quality and service. This was not a memorable meal and I cannot recommend Sambal to anyone.
Good food and an attentive staff. A lovely atmosphere.
Food was absolutely delicious and the waiter was thankfully very informed as to what dishes contain allergens.
Atmosphere(water front view is great) food sucked and service was a bit slow, drinks are very overpriced and not worth it IMO.
Excellent restaurant! We ate on the outdoor patio, hs one of those cool giant bowl drinks for 2, looked out at the Hudson and had a great time!
Food was just ok. Portions were very small.
enjoyed the views and ambiance however the food that was ordered and then served was not aligned. we have strict dietary restrictions and we were accidentally served animal products.
You were not rushed, Waitress was very helpful with our food allergies and the menu also shows what you can and cannot have. Noise was normal level where you could carry on a conversation without yelling. Food from apps to dessert was amazing, not too spicey for those who do not like spice, the smells as the food arrives was unbelievable. I would recommend this resturant. You are on the hudson river there is outside dining available, I suggest making reservation it was getting crowded.
FAQs
Sambal does offer delivery in partnership with Uber Eats.
Sambal is rated 4 stars by 220 OpenTable diners.