Review: The chicken under-seasoned, the lamb over-salted at Sami and Susu (LES, Manhattan), but the pita and mezze hit

Long time admirer, first time dinner at Sami and Susu in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, a relatively small restaurant and wine bar featuring a seasonal Mediterranean-inspired menu and a coveted place on Michelin's trusty Bib Gourmand list.

(Michelin's Bib Gourmand distinction is awarded to restaurants is awarded to restaurants that serve recognizable, easy-to-eat food at reasonable prices. For me, it's a sweet spot between Michelin recommended restaurants and expensive Michelin 1-starred restaurants. Bib Gourmand turned me on to Dhamaka in the Lower East Side, West New Malaysia in Chinatown, and Tonchin in Midtown East. Soda Club, however was a big pass and miss.)

Before I start, I must be forthright (because friends are always honest with each other)! Sami and Susu holds a courtesy cards, aka get-out-of-jail-free cards, that I've given them in spirit. Meaning offenses like over-salted lamb kebabs and under-salted chicken get a pass from me. They might not from you, but they do from me. This is why it's so hard for me to review Sami and Susu.

What makes Sami and Susu worthy of my finite supply of get-out-of-jail-free cards?

Is it the disarmingly friendly service? By the end of dinner, when the server confided in us that he hadn't tried the spruce panna cotta (with blueberries and olive oil) (can't remember but I think it was maybe $14?) yet, I exclaimed that we would have let him have some of ours if we had known! Disarming indeed.

Or did Sami and Susu get a curtesy card because the space was charming? A snug dining space that can only fit about 18 people, and the way it melts into the tiny open kitchen. To get to the washroom I had to squeeze behind the chef and choke down my urge to call out "BEHIND."

Or perhaps Sami and Susu got more leeway because on my stroll to the bathroom I realized that when the server told us to please order everything all at once because the kitchen is small, he actually meant there was a (as far as I could tell) single chef cooking it up back there?

And I can't forget to mention that Sami and Susu bolstered my love of North African, Mediterranean, and Middle Eastern food (a love that soon may be usurped by Italian food) with their seasonal Mediterranean-inspired menu separated into unlabeled small and large plate sections.

All calculations point to this: some restaurants claim to feel like home. They're liars. Sami and Susu actually did feel like some kind of cozy home. It's hard to be neutral when you feel like you're in a friend's home.

We ordered:

• Muhammara (red pepper, walnut, za'atar pita) ($16)
• Zaalouk (tomato confit, eggplant, za'atar pita) ($18)
• Montauk tuna (watermelon, jalapeno, cilantro, tajin, papadam) ($25)
• Grilled asparagus (taleggio fondue, urfa biber) ($22)
• Lamb kebab (malawach, sumac onion, zhoug, tahini) ($33) + a second skewer ($15)
• Half chicken (hawaij, turnips, carrots) ($37)
• Spruce panna cotta (with blueberries and olive oil) (can't remember but I think it was maybe $14?)

Two people at the table opted to get the whole branzino with leeks and nori ($46), but opted to not share, nobody wanted to order a second fish, and I can't stomach an entire branzino alone so I didn't get to taste it. But it certainly looked and smelled spectacular.

The server told us that plates would come out as they're ready, instead of all at once.

The small plates we ordered at Sami and Susu were well-done and unremarkable in a sense that there's little good or bad to say about them. Tthe grilled asparagus (taleggio fondue, urfa biber) ($22) was fine, but it felt like I could have easily made something similar at home. Both the muhammara (red pepper and walnut) ($16) and zaalouk (tomato confit, eggplant) ($18) were far from bland, and yet they felt like they were missing something.

Both dips came with the best pitas I've ever put into my mouth. (Unfortunately, I went recently with my partner to try Sami and Susu's sabich pita from their daytime concept, Pita Shop, and the sandwich pitas aren't enrobed in za'atar, but I think it's otherwise the same pita.) They were soft, fluffy, and extremely fresh so either we chose a good day to eat there, or Sami and Susu actually make them fresh. They were so good we ordered two extra pitas ($4). I should have ordered more to bring home to my partner just so he could understand that sometimes the pita is the star of the show.

I would have never thought of eating tuna tartar (Montauk tuna with watermelon, jalapeno, cilantro, tajin, papadam, $25) with papadam, but it was an excellent, well-executed idea. Would have liked more papadam though.

The half chicken with hawaij, turnips, and carrots ($37) was the first entree delivered. First glance: tender as deciphered based on the pale pink color of the chicken, hinting at being cooked until justttt at temperature, retaining all that succulent moisture. Glistening with juices, speckled with green herbs, and crowded by chunks of root veggies roughly the same size for even cooking.

And a first look at the second delivery: lamb kebabs served with malawach, sumac onion, zhoug, and tahini ($33 for one kebab + an extra $15 for the second kebab)! Shining from hot lamb oils, smokey and charred. A sour, pungent smell from the sumac onions. But everything overpowered by the beautiful beautiful buttery scent of the flaky malawach. My modus operandi: avoid branding myself with the skewer (I've been burned far too many times 😭)

And the taste? We reach part one of the highlight of this Sami and Susu review: The chicken was underwhelming in flavor and under-salted. While texturally perfect and juicy, severely disappointing and lacking in flavor. Might I even say overpriced?

Part two of the review title: The lamb surpassed slightly too salty and was headed into inedible saltiness. It didn't quite reach that godforsaken destination, but ask someone else and maybe they'd say it was inedible. For me, the saltiness was saved by eating the dish the way it's meant to be: wrapping the lamb in a lot of malawach (wished there was more!) and topping it with A LOT of herbaceous zhoug, sumac onion, and cool tahini.

Eaten sacrilegiously together however, the lamb lending its salt to the chicken and the chicken lending nothing to the lamb, I was able to polish off everything.

A small dessert of spruce panna cotta (with blueberries and olive oil) (can't remember but I think it was maybe $14?) was only shared between two. I will never understand how some people don't have enough room for dessert (unless they didn't enjoy their meals). I wasn't convinced that the lay of olive oil on top added any flavor or texture that was particularly interesting, but it didn't bother me. The panna cotta itself had a slightly grassy taste from the spruce. I expected it to taste more like how pine sap smells, but it did not.

Should you give Sami and Susu a try? 🤷🏽‍♀️ Hard to say because it's the first restaurant I've written about that I can't in good conscious recommend to the New Yorker who wants to feel good about the money they spent on a more expensive than average meal.

If you dig wine nights, Mediterranean-inspired food, and/or places so homey you'll have to remind yourself that you can't take off your shoes, AND you're not so hurt financially or pride-wise by food that could be mal-seasoned but otherwise perfect, why not give Sami and Susu a try.

Consider going to a different restuarant or wine bar if you're a vegetarian. When we went there was no vegetarian large plate option. The small plates are very small and few are vegetarian. I'd say the restaurant is NOT vegetarian-friendly, but fortunately there's no shortage of vegetarian-friendly Mediterranean restaurants in NYC.

Call me crazy, but I would go back when it comes down to it because despite the errors, I really do think Sami and Susu is doing something special, yet familiar that's worth a redo. I'm convinced it'll be better. The food, while faulty on this particular night, had potential and was still pretty good. Even though the salt was under or over, and the flavors were there and that was about it, preparation and cook time-wise, everything was spot on. Maybe next time everything will be so good they won't even need their get-out-of-jail-free card.