Food critic blasts Sushi Samba in West Hollywood after $560 dinner

The critic started with drinks, praising the Sakura Negroni as “delicious,” but saying the Lychee Cooler had a “sunscreen-y” taste.

Things apparently didn’t get much better from there.

He knocked the pão de queijo — Brazilian cheese bread served with truffle honey butter — as gummy, while warning that the “overuse of truffle” would become a major theme of the meal. The restaurant’s menu also lists rock shrimp tempura with black truffle vinaigrette and Japanese A5 Kobe taquitos with truffle mushroom soy.

The crispy tuna rice was “underwhelming,” he said, while the A5 Wagyu gyoza was overly sauced.

The best bite of the night, according to Lox, was the crispy yellowtail taquito, which he said had good fish quality and wasn’t overpowered by the sauce.

But the praise was short-lived.

He said he disliked the meat blend in the Japanese A5 Kobe taquito and called the $48 Samba LA roll “criminal” because it was bathed in what he described as “crappy sauce.” The restaurant’s menu lists the Samba LA roll with golden eye snapper, yellowtail, crab, chili garlic crunch, passionfruit sanbaizu and yuzu oil.

The critic also said the meat plate ordered medium rare came out closer to medium well — and that even putting the cook temperature aside, the meats “weren’t very good.”

By the end of the meal, he said, he didn’t even bother ordering desert.

Still, the influencer admitted the rooftop space itself was “beautiful” and “definitely a happening spot” — a sentiment echoed by the restaurant’s own pitch as a high-energy dining destination with open-air seating, cocktails and Hollywood Hills views.

But the restaurant didn’t just take it on the chin — and hit back with a 213-word reply from manager Jesse Chavez.

“We’re sorry to hear that your experience didn’t resonate with you,” Chavez wrote. “A few of the items you mentioned, including the Samba Roll and our Pão de Queijo, are actually among our most ordered and highest-rated dishes, with many guests returning specifically for them—often ordering a second round of the Pão de Queijo. That said, we understand that every guest’s palate is different.

“Regarding the truffle, it is certainly a flavor profile that appears in several of our signature dishes, but we also offer many menu items that showcase the Japanese, Brazilian, and Peruvian influences of SUSHISAMBA without truffle. We’d encourage guests to let their server know their preferences, as our team is always happy to guide them toward dishes that better suit their taste.”

He added: “Thank you again for giving us a try, and we hope you’ll consider visiting us again in the future so we can introduce you to a different side of the menu.”

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