Samira Restaurant

Awful experience with dinner at Samira tonight. First, I made a reservation several days in advance for 7:30PM and confirmed it. However, when we arrived today at 7:30PM, we were told it would be a 15-20 min wait. So Samira knows how to take the reservations, but not how to actually honor them. Second, the service was horrendous and among the worst I have experienced in a long time. Our waitress (red hair in a ponytail) was really bad. Everything took forever. Our drinks took 30 min. We ordered iced tea and 25 min later were told they did not have any. Lemonade took 45 minutes because, as we were told, it was being "freshly made". Appetizers took a total of 50 minutes to come out and both the Greek and the cucumber salads had more onions than anything else. I asked for more water at least 3 times and it still took forever. It was never brought without me asking a number of times. When I asked why everything it taking so long, instead of an apology, the waitress very rudely responses "You can see yourself that we are busy" and just walked away. The main courses luckily did not take as long and some were actually pretty good (lamb, chicken and shrimp kebabs were good, the Manta was not, side dishes were bad). My wife asked for a second glass of wine, but it was never brought. We wanted desserts, but given our horrible, rude and slow waitress, we did not bother. The check came quickly, but the credit card receipt to sign took 20+ minutes. At that point, I saw that the bill had lots of mistakes on it - we were still charged for the iced teas that they did not have and for 2 Greek salads instead of 1 that we had. I told the horrible waitress and asked if making the corrections would take another 20 minutes. She rudely responded "Yes, it just might". So, overall, while some of the food was relatively good, the service was terrible both in terms of my reservation not being honored and the terrible waitress. There was also a very large group sitting in the middle that was so loud, they were making my ears hurt.

Samira is one of my top 3 restaurants in Bloomington. The food is always great and the atmosphere is very nice. They provide bread with some spicy roasted eggplant, both are delicious. I also enjoy the hummus appetizer, it goes well with the bread. Their Sambok appetizer was also quite good. Mushrooms, peppers, and onions in a savory sauce! My favorite entree to get is the Quabilli Pallao with Lamb. It is lamb cooked in a tomatoey sauce served over rice and topped with shaved carrots and raisins. The flavors are so Unique, unlike anything I have had before. The lamb combination kebab is also excellent because it comes with lamb, rice, a Samosa, and Momo (dumplings). You can also get Momo as an entree but I view it More as a side or an appetizer for the table. Each entree also comes with lentil soup or a salad. I have only had the soup and it is very satisfying. I have always received great service at Samira, the servers are all very kind. They recently updated the interior, and wow! The walls are darker and feature mirrors throughout to make the restaurant feel more like a fine dining experience. They also changed the two tables by the window to feature raised floor seating for those who want a more authentic experience. I recommend Samira for anyone wanting great food in Bloomington.

First time for us to visit Nice location right on the square with inside and outside seating options Atmosphere was very comfortable and cozy Server was friendly and polite Food was very nice Appetizer was top notch Lamb was amazing Chicken was nice Shrimp was ok The rice, spinach and eggplant were off the charts We enjoyed our visit

I had never tried Afghani food before; this was lovely. We went to the lunch buffet (currently Thursday and Friday only) so we could try as many dishes as possible. I don't know what anything I ate was called, but I really liked the creamy chickpea dish and the spiced chicken thighs. The buffet includes a basket of bread and a piece of baklava. The baklava was particularly good, not super sweet, airy and delicate. The bread was similar to focaccia, which surprised me, but it was great. Also I loved the decor and atmosphere.