Lamma Island Seafood, Dining at Sampan Seafood Restaurant

This is just to share my unhappy encounter with all those who wish to have a sensuous enjoyment of seafood in Lamma Island.

Last Tuesday, I went to Lamma Island with my family and relatives. Ten of us dined at Sampan seafood Restaurant at Yung Shue Wan.

The restaurant is near the pier and the layout is tidy and neat. Don’t be fooled by the scene and the environment there. No doubt that the sunset panorama is terrific but that is all.

When the waiter approached us, he offered large mantis shrimp that costs HK$288 a catty. It would need 5 Mantis Shrimps for us and that charged about a thousand dollars. Actually for the giant Mantis Shrimp – Hong Kong people call it “Flying Dragon”, this may be the cost but not the ordinary large Mantis Shrimp. We recognized his cunning behavior and turned down the offer.

In turn, we asked for scalded sea shrimp. He said the price was HK$160 per catty. We ordered one and half catty. Besides, we also ordered some other cuisines.

When the scalded shrimp was served, we found out that it’s not sea shrimp but Jinga Shrimp. We confronted the waiter and he confirmed that it was Jinga shrimp and it cost HK$160 per catty. In fact, Jinga Shrimp is cheaper than sea shrimp. This was the other way the shop operator played trick and deceived customers. The unscrupulous waiter really annoyed everybody.

The other dishes were unfavorable too. The Razor Clams were as small as the caterpillars. The Clam with Black Bean Sauce was salty; some clams had rotted with bad taste already. The Boiled Spicy Fresh Whelks with Chinese Wine was salty but without the hot and wine flavor.

For the Chicken with Scallion in Hot Oil, the chicken was deep fried again with few pieces of green onion on top. This was not the proper style.

I observed that nearly all clients checked the bills meticulously and demanded explanation by the waiters, then all left helplessly. We left with annoyance either.