The Sample Room

What a gem! Never heard of this place before but had a business colleague suggest it. Located in a centuries old hotel that had been the Polish Palace at one time, it’s a quintessential Nordeast spot sandwiched between Psycho Suzies and Better Dangers’s kitschy Ferris wheel pub. Love the cozy ambience and high tin ceilings, feels every much the turn of the century building it is. Best of all is the scratch kitchen and very creative menu. For lunch, split the fried Brussels sprouts and beet salad for appetizers. The sprouts are deep fried but not breaded and incredibly tasty. The beets had oranges and goat cheese among other things but equally as good. After apps, had the Cuban sandwich and fries, very delicious as well. See pics. Service was excellent and upon request was happy to box up half the sandwiches in the kitchen prior to serving since we knew it was too much food ahead of time. Great food and great experience, will definitely return.

My husband and I do love this place. Yes some times there are flaws in the food. But, everything is handmade, fresh, and amazing in its creativy. Fried cauliflower fritters stuffed with cheese that’s all melty and gooey, with a hit of spices. The meatloaf sandwich is pure comfort food. Cheese plate and charcuterie plate. Really creative, innovative and just makes one do the happy food dance. My husband loves their homemade sausage. I however don’t always. To each there own. I think flaws are not really flaws just our personal taste. Not any inherent problem with the cooking. Yes some times the wait is long but it’s so worth it. Many times we order the truffle bacon popcorn. It’s so good and will help with the wait. «Handmade» remember. Oh yes they also have their own «sweetologist» who makes fantastic sweets. Just go. Be patient. And enjoy!

This place was a UNIQUE experience. This is a great place if you consider yourself a foodie or like tapas. Not a good place for people who are hangry or are on a tight budget.

This restaurant was excellent! We were looking for a half for a great resturant that was open at 3 o’clock my daughter in fact found it on Unilocal.I was very pleasantly surprised with the Reuben it was spectacular better than any Jewish deli I’ve been to in a long time as well the squash soup was stupendous. The risotto was lovely! I can’t wait to go back to this restaurant again it was absolutely fantastic. My son had the clams and the wine cream sauce was incredible. I give this place a solid 5 stars. I highly recommend anyone to come here it was a culinary treat.

This could be a 3.5 but I’ll give it a 4. Not terribly busy while I was there 5 – 8 but I imagine it could fill up quickly. You can call ahead (60 min) but you can’t make a formal reservation.
The environment is good — dim lighting and lots of wood makes for a very homey feel.
The food options are decent. They do have sandwiches and single plates but it’s also a great place for sharing dishes. For 6 people bill was 180 and change.
I would recommend the sprouts, pork, and pretty much any of their cheese plates. They do a solid job with their charcuterie.
Also — they have a solid diverse list of drinks and the wait staff can make decent recommendations for pairings.
Dessert options were limited but quite tasty. Check out the pictures but honestly — the best way to do this is to go with friends and try to order as much as you can and share. Some dishes only come with small portions so plan accordingly.

Updating because we have come here a lot over the past two years and I do not know why I gave four stars instead of five originally. Sample Room is consistently one of our favorite places to go and the food is always out of this world. The place is just the best, there is no other place like it in the area.

Tried The Sample Room for the first time and our experience was good. Not wowed but would give them another try.
The space is very small and intimate. You will be able to hear your neighbors’ conversations in great detail. We walked in and had a short wait. We were seated, and then two more tables were sat after us. I think they were short-​staffed the night we dined there, because it took a while for anyone to greet us and the tables seated after us were actually greeted first. Server was nice but seemed a little overwhelmed.
Great wine list and menu looked great. Ordered the fried Brussels sprouts and didn’t care for them. Too much fried taste, not enough Brussels taste.
Then we had the Bottineau Burger and it was good, if not exactly memorable. Loved the texture of the meat and the bun, which was great.
I think I’d like to go again and try some other things.

Went to The Sample Room on Saturday night to celebrate a friend’s birthday. I have been wanting to come for quite awhile, and was happy to have the opportunity. Now that I’ve been, I’m kicking myself for missing out all this time.
Apps, entrees, and drinks were all excellent. I showed up a bit early and was treated to exceptionally pleasant, prompt, and attentive service by every staff member I encountered. Ordered a French 75, and it was really well done.
We had an awesome goat cheese appetizer, and someone ordered a platter of things that were all pickled — so good! I had the chicken sandwich and fries — tasty, well-​presented, and the homemade mustard was delicious. Tried a couple bites of meatloaf — also yummy. Nothing but raves from our whole group.
Service was great. Love the ambience and intimacy of the place. GM went above and beyond in terms of checking in with customers and keeping everyone on staff energized and upbeat. As a former restaurant worker, I really appreciate that kind of team work — makes a huge difference.
The Sample Room is a big winner — will definitely be back.

Fun casual bar/​restaurant atmosphere in old hotel. Great veggie small plates, loved the beets, brussel sprouts, and fried chicken. Wine flights are a nice accompaniment. Great service.

Great hidden gem. Never disappoints. The Fish & Chips is to die for. Always feels like a warm fun night.

I am a person who gets easily bored, and The Sample Room has never disappointed me and my ADD appetite. I love coming here and seeing some old favorites as well as many new innovations on their constantly-​rotating menu. I also love the tapas format, so I can «Sample» a bunch of dishes, rather than committing to just one (I swear I only have commitment issues when it comes to entrees — I love you, Jon!).
The ambiance of The Sample Room is dimly lit and intimate (sexy). High-​backed booths line the perimeter, and there are several tables and a beautiful bar. It’s a great restaurant to bring a date, or a friend to just cozy up and consume with.
Some of my faves: The Charcuterie. You can’t not get this. It is so beautifully created and presented. Every single thing on the plate, from the mustard to the cured meats, are all thoughtfully made in-​house (except the bread). I believe their pasta is house-​made too, so you should probably try it. The scallops are always perfectly cooked medium-​rare with a crispy sear. I was very impressed with the cauliflower fritters too — they are packkked with flavor! And whatever sausage they have on the menu, uh, get them.

Fair prices, simple, high quality food & a fine selection of wine & liquor. The atmosphere is nice: we went in without a reservation for dinner & got seated within 10 minutes. The cauliflower fritters were especially delicious. The assortment of wine& liquor flights is good. Nice spot.

The atmosphere is lovely. It’s a little dark and there are candles at the tables to provide most of the light in the room. Tonight I had the charcuterie platter and could not be more pleased. The chicken liver mousse was my favorite and I was more than half tempted to ask them for an order to go.
I plan to return and try some entrees. The menu, on the whole, looked fantastic and you have to appreciate a place that does everything from scratch.

Came here last night for date night. We were sat promptly and very surprised with how nice the outdoors patio was. Loved the deep low seats and flame heaters! Nice ambiance in general. Our server Chris T. Was very knowledgable and kind. He also was timely on checking in with us throughout the course of the meal.
The food: some of the best Brussel sprouts I have ever had! I’ve worked in a ton of kitchens and restaurants so I was thoroughly impressed by this! I ordered the philly pork sandwich which was very good, of course anything slow cooked is! My boyfriend had the 3 meat meatloaf and loved that as well. The barbecue sauce was average.
Our drinks were perfection as well. And we loved the banana cream pie dessert! Later we went down to the docks and observed the Lowry bridge at its finest. We will definitely return!

It is a nice little place on Marshall.
First of all the food was good, other then a comment of no bean spouts on my chicken sandwich. The French fries remind me of Five Guys but less greasy, which is a huge plus.
Patio chair we felt were a little low, and logistics is the only thing holding me back from a fifth star.
Our service was lacking, and for some reason the salad never came. Then without explanation it just arrived 5 minutes after the entrée.
I will give them another try, note to server, it has been awhile since I’ve tipped 15%.

I’m going to take responsibility for some of this, as some of this is my fault.
Namely, getting the ‘small’ portion of mussels when there was an option for a larger order…
However, you really never know — some place’s «small» is another places «whoa that’s a lot!»
And, I had ordered a Caesar salad too, so I thought I’d be fine.
Boy, did I think wrong.
The mussels came half-​opened, ie, they needed to all be cooked longer. They also came in a «coconut red curry broth with Thai sausage.» The broth was OK, not as exciting as I’d anticipated, though the sausage had a nice, if almost chorizo-​esque, bite and flavor to it.
The Caesar was sadly rather lemony tasting… So… What happened there, exactly?
If you know me, you know I’m all about sampling foods… but for $ 8 and 6 mussels? That’s a bit steep, guys. C’mon now.
My husband got the short rib philly sandwich and enjoyed it well-​enough.
It came with «peppers, onions, mushrooms, and blue cheese sauce on ciabatta.»
IDK. Maybe if you knew what you were getting into (we didn’t, our kind hosts took us here b/​c we are ‘foodies’) and want to blow a lot of cash on small portions (we didn’t;) then maybe this is the place for you…
But if you’re a snob about Caesar salads, and find yourself thinking, «I’ve had three times the amount of mussels in NYC cooked correctly and better» — than this might not be the place for you. Or me. O well ;)

It was tough to decide on 3 or 4 stars for this place, but in the end, the indifferent service really keeps The Sample Room down. It was a full 15 minutes between being seated and being asked if we wanted to start off with anything. Yeah, we’ll start off with the whole meal.
That said, the food was mostly very good. The pork belly and pork shoulder were great, especially the spiciness of the shoulder. The scallops were great. The mussels were not good: wimpy spicing and sad little pieces of meat. I’m told the blue cheese agnolotti were good (can’t stomach blue cheese myself). Finally, the chocolate cake was excellent.

Since this is my first serious review I will start with a summary and then write my full review.
Summary:
Positive– The Pork Belly is a generous portion for the price.
Negative– The Pork Belly was over done, The Short Ribs I did not understand at all, and was a sad little portion of food. In comparison to all the other short ribs I have ever had, and since it is one of my favorite meals, I have had them a lot, these were some of the worst. Red wine reduction was MIA and Garlic Chips? I think they bailed when they saw the plate they were going on to. I wonder if they understand the term «seasoning» at The Sample Room.
Full Review:
I discovered the sample room on Wednesday night when I saw it featured on Best Bars in America. It is a show on the Esquire network where they visit some of the bars that Esquire magazine has listed in the past as some of the best in America. When I saw Half a Pigs Head served in the episode I immediately knew it was someplace I needed to visit.
As if on cue, yesterday morning I received a text praising the Pork Belly at The Sample Room from a friend who I had introduced the delicacy too and knew my passion for it. So it seemed like the fates had decided for me where I was going to dine last night.
I arrived on my favorite mode of transportation, my Harley. In my favorite attire to truly test the service of a restaurant, I walked in looking like I had just stepped out of an episode of Sons of Anarchy. Taking a seat at the bar I was greeted in a reasonable amount of time by the bartender and ordered my standard Morgan Diet Coke. After asking for the menu, I was given a dirty little piece of worn out paper to review, though I already knew what I was there for. I ordered the Pork Belly to start and the Short Ribs for my entrée. And this is where it began to go down hill.
When the Pork Belly arrived, I was excited to see the portion size, larger than normal. I thought I had finally found a home for my PB cravings. Unfortunately upon closer inspection it was way over done. Pork Belly should be a layer of 3 colors, the char on the top followed by the pink of the meat and then that lovely creamy colored fat, glistening and calling out to my arteries. Mine looked like something I would have scraped off the bottom of my boot at a motorcycle rally. In comparison to the Pork Belly that I have had more than once at Haute Dish, The Sample Rooms was not even in the same room.
Having worked my way thru my first course my Short Ribs made its appearance. A waitress brought it out to me and plopped it down in front of me, not even bothering to remove the empty plate left from my pork belly.
I have to admit, being as passionate about Short Rib as I am about Pork Belly, I was very confused at what I was looking at. There was 3 pieces of potato that if re-​assembled would not even be equal to a single baby red with pieces of carrot spacing between them with a poached onion bucked up against the short ribs at the end.
The potatoes were dry, and had NO seasoning save one piece that was bathed in salt, almost like it was an after thought. The glazed carrots were slightly under cooked and reminded me of those that made their way to my tray in my elementary school cafeteria. And then the onion… The Garlic Chips were non-​existent. All in all I am sure there wasn’t $ 1 worth of vegetables on my plate.
Turning to what was supposed to be the star of the plate, I had pictured in my mind a nice big chunk of chocolaty brown meat coated in a rich glaze of a red wine reduction which I had come to enjoy at so many restaurants before. What I was greeted with was pile of GREY meat that looked more like a chunk of a double cut well done pork chop. Had they run out of red wine? Did their chef have a seizure and forgotten how to cook? Were they playing a joke? This was the most disappointing example of Short Ribs I have ever scene in the 20+ years of eating Short Ribs.
Adding to it all my bread showed up after my main entrée and I was never even asked if I would like a glass of water, I have to say I do not understand what the hype about this place is.
Maybe the guys in the TV show loved it so much because they were Eight Cocktails in to their day by the time they got to the Sample Room.
In closing I can honestly say I was utterly disappointed, underwhelmed, and will not be recommending The Sample Room to any of my friends or clients.

I have to say my last visit to sample room was utterly disappointing. They removed their steak tartare from their main menu and moved it to the specials menu so it changes all the time. I almost cried as that is the reason I go to the sample room.
We ordered
Daily beef tartare– it was disgusting. We had to send it back.
Cauliflower fritter– was pretty good
Sweet potato and mushroom risotto– tasted like dirt it was gross
Moroccan chicken wings with cilantro gel and yogurt– the wings all by themselves were good. The sauce was terrible and they had candied something or other and that was soooo hot it burned the crap out of my mouth and stuck into my teeth so I had to down a glass of water.
I usually love this place but I was so sad to have such horrible food an honestly leave hungry.

Glad I tried this place for brunch! It is phenomenal! I am not sure what took us so long. Let me review this place based on my 4 part brunch criteria:
1) Good Coffee, check
2) Good service, check our coffee and water was refilled
3) Great food and a unique dish. I got an egg sandwich for $ 4, seriously folks the real deal, great sandwich and at the price point it gave me a reason to order another favorite on the menu, the beat salad for $ 5. Both are amazing. The hubby got Huevos Racheros at the reccomendation of the staff (it was either that or the trout benedict — might have to go back and try that one)
4) Drinks! They have bloody marys, mimosas, beer, wine and other specialty drinks