Another day, another arrival at SFO after a very long international flight (27 hours in transit!), and, after finally getting my bags and clearing customs, all I wanted was 1) coffee and 2) salad. It amuses me how often this happens, but it is clear that after all that flying drama, my body wants healthy greens. Travel makes us crave the strangest things.
I finally decided to try Samovar, as I've exhausted most of the faster, grab-n-go options, like spring rolls and asian kale salad from Koi Palace Express, or an actually decent roast pear salad from Green Beans (review coming soon), and everything else was heavier, more fast-food style. I also picked Samovar because I didn't just want salad ... I wanted coffee. Good coffee. The coffee served on my flight was awful, and I knew Samovar at least served Equator coffee.
I forgot to photo my coffee, but really, how exciting is a photo of a coffee cup anyway? The menu listed it as a "French Press", but my coffee was fetched from a large carafe, and handed over immediately, before I even paid. I questioned, "Oh, I thought it was french press?" and I was told that it was, that she had just made it. Skeptical.
But the coffee was good, strong, quality Equator coffee, and really what I wanted. It immediately gave me a touch of pep in my step, and was much, much better than the coffee from Green Beans.
Samovar offers one thing many establishments at SFO do not: landside dining, so, you could actually just go to SFO to visit, if you really wanted. Or, more appropriately, you can access it after coming through customs on international arrivals, or you can visit with non-travelers who are dropping you off or picking you up.
Not only is it landside, it has an appealing storefront, and interior. They really do try to create a real Samovar lounge experience, at the airport.
I however got my food to go, so I can't comment on the in-house dining.
Ordering takeout is easy, there is a counter to order at, with pastries, coffees, teas, etc too, as I think many patrons just opt to get tea and a pastry to go.
"Organic hearts of romaine, shaved parmesan, garlic, croutons, Caesar dressing with a wasabi kick."
This is considered an entree salad, but I found it to be fairly small, more akin to a side salad. The box wasn't even reasonably full.
It was ... a caesar salad. Crunchy hearts of romaine, although many pieces were brown around the edges, even though fresh. The parmesan was thin slivers rather than thick shreds as I prefer. The croutons were good, tiny though, but packed some garlic punch, and were buttery/oily in a good way. Very crispy, and there were tons of them.
The dressing was "wasabi caesar", which turned out to be a lighter style, not quite a vinaigrette, but not a thick creamy parmesan cheese laden style that I like. It did have a bit of kick to it from wasabi. I needed to add mayo to this to make it creamy though, this just isn't the type of caesar for me otherwise.
If you get this salad at another Samovar location, it comes with smoked salmon, for the same price. But at SFO, to get that smoked salmon, you must pay another $7. #airportPricing. I choose to not add on, although the cashier really strongly encouraged it.
This was fine I guess, but you can find much better, and more reasonably priced, caesar in the terminal - both the Giant's Clubhouse, and Yankee Pier, offer far superior Caesar salads, and the later is literally half the price, and perhaps even larger!
"Shredded beets and carrots, avocado, toasted pumpkin seeds, yuzu, vinaigrette."
Since I'm allergic to avocado, I had to get this without avocado. I added smoked duck to have some substance, and, because I have been a bit addicted to smoked duck lately. This made it a $21 salad (!), and, although the base was a bit bigger than the Caesar, it wasn't exactly large. At the main Samovar locations, this salad comes with duck by default.
This was a fairly standard (if that is a thing) kale salad. Baby kale, fresh enough. Shredded carrots, good for color but not much more. Larger chunks of beets, added some crunch, freshness, and a touch of flavor. And ... that was the salad. It had some pumpkin seeds sprinkled on as well, for more crunch. I'm sure the avocado adds something to this, but really, a very simple base.
The dressing I asked for on the side, because I was worried it would be over dressed, and because I don't tend to like vinaigrette anyway, and knew I might need to use my own creamy dressing. As I expected, it was ... vinaigrette, tangy from yuzu, and totally not my thing at all.
Overall, a fine, simple salad, but $14.50? No.
The duck was lovely, a good smoky flavor, quite tender. I've realized that smoked duck reminds me a bit of turkey bacon, which I do like, just, a more grown up version? I'm glad I added it, but the portion of duck was ... quite small. You can see it all there, just a few thin slices, deli lunch meat style. For $7. It felt like a meager portion for the price, even though I enjoyed it.
If I really needed a salad and I was at SFO, I'd get this again, and use my own dressing, but, I see no reason to get it otherwise. I'd certainly consider more duck items though.
 |
| Landside Dining. |
Not only is it landside, it has an appealing storefront, and interior. They really do try to create a real Samovar lounge experience, at the airport.
I however got my food to go, so I can't comment on the in-house dining.
Ordering takeout is easy, there is a counter to order at, with pastries, coffees, teas, etc too, as I think many patrons just opt to get tea and a pastry to go.
 |
| Wasabi Caesar Salad. $18.50. |
This is considered an entree salad, but I found it to be fairly small, more akin to a side salad. The box wasn't even reasonably full.
It was ... a caesar salad. Crunchy hearts of romaine, although many pieces were brown around the edges, even though fresh. The parmesan was thin slivers rather than thick shreds as I prefer. The croutons were good, tiny though, but packed some garlic punch, and were buttery/oily in a good way. Very crispy, and there were tons of them.
The dressing was "wasabi caesar", which turned out to be a lighter style, not quite a vinaigrette, but not a thick creamy parmesan cheese laden style that I like. It did have a bit of kick to it from wasabi. I needed to add mayo to this to make it creamy though, this just isn't the type of caesar for me otherwise.
If you get this salad at another Samovar location, it comes with smoked salmon, for the same price. But at SFO, to get that smoked salmon, you must pay another $7. #airportPricing. I choose to not add on, although the cashier really strongly encouraged it.
This was fine I guess, but you can find much better, and more reasonably priced, caesar in the terminal - both the Giant's Clubhouse, and Yankee Pier, offer far superior Caesar salads, and the later is literally half the price, and perhaps even larger!
 |
| Kale Salad ($14.50) + Smoked Duck ($7). |
Since I'm allergic to avocado, I had to get this without avocado. I added smoked duck to have some substance, and, because I have been a bit addicted to smoked duck lately. This made it a $21 salad (!), and, although the base was a bit bigger than the Caesar, it wasn't exactly large. At the main Samovar locations, this salad comes with duck by default.
This was a fairly standard (if that is a thing) kale salad. Baby kale, fresh enough. Shredded carrots, good for color but not much more. Larger chunks of beets, added some crunch, freshness, and a touch of flavor. And ... that was the salad. It had some pumpkin seeds sprinkled on as well, for more crunch. I'm sure the avocado adds something to this, but really, a very simple base.
The dressing I asked for on the side, because I was worried it would be over dressed, and because I don't tend to like vinaigrette anyway, and knew I might need to use my own creamy dressing. As I expected, it was ... vinaigrette, tangy from yuzu, and totally not my thing at all.
Overall, a fine, simple salad, but $14.50? No.
The duck was lovely, a good smoky flavor, quite tender. I've realized that smoked duck reminds me a bit of turkey bacon, which I do like, just, a more grown up version? I'm glad I added it, but the portion of duck was ... quite small. You can see it all there, just a few thin slices, deli lunch meat style. For $7. It felt like a meager portion for the price, even though I enjoyed it.
If I really needed a salad and I was at SFO, I'd get this again, and use my own dressing, but, I see no reason to get it otherwise. I'd certainly consider more duck items though.
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