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Langstrasse 231 (at Limmatplatz), Zurich, Switzerland, 8005
One of the more vegan friendly eats in Zurich. Choose between buffet (pay per weight) and a la carte. There are tofu dishes, vegan soya schnitzel, vegan burger, Asian dishes, and vegan dessert. Around 80% of the items are vegan suitable and labeled. Pasta served in evening. Open Mon-Fri 11:00am-11:00pm, Sat 4:00pm-11:00pm.
Category: Vegan-friendly, International, Western, Buffet, Beer/Wine, Take-out, European
Reviews (26)
First Review by ornella
Contributions +319
Good buffet and à la carte - Edit
Always a good choice. Extremly friendly :)
Sometimes specials like "burger week".
Highly recommend the vegan food.
Pros: Buffet, Friendly
Contributions +22
Immer wieder gerne... - Edit
Das SamSes hat nicht nur einen Chef der mit Herzblut hinter dem Restaurant steht, es bietet auch noch kreative, vielfältige und veganertaugliche Küche. Hier fühlt man sich sofort pudelwohl und gut aufgehoben! Das Essen schmeckt übrigens fantastisch - danke @SamSes
Pros: Top Essen, Zuvorkommender Service, Mitten in Zürich
Contributions +109
Nice place for a vegan / vegetarian dinner ... - Edit
in Zürich if you like a boutique Restaurant... warm atmosphere and friendly service ... Hiltl has influenced the vegetarian scene in town (a lot of curry indian touch everywhere).... Samses has emancipated and offer some mediterranean food. For Vegan is a good place to eat as they can get even some cruelty free dessert. The vegan offer is growing and its making probably 80% of the menu. I would go there if I was in town...
Updated from previous review on Tuesday July 03, 2012
Updated from previous review on Monday April 18, 2016
Updated from previous review on Monday April 18, 2016
Pros: good food, interesting location, friendly staff
Cons: could be more courageous
Contributions +16
Buffet is not convenient for vegans - Edit
There is a large buffet, but it is not visible in any way what is vegan and what is not. Especially at times when there are many people at the buffet, it is extremely cumbersome when, at every part of the buffet, you have to wait until someone can tell you what is vegan and what is not.
As far as I know, for years, many people have told them that it would be good if it was visible what is vegan and what is not - is would not matter for non-vegans, but obviously make it much easier for vegans. But they are strictly against it. When I told them that it was good if it was visible what is vegan, they reacted in a very aggressive way.
When the restaurant opened in 2005, it may have been more widespread to treat vegans as second-class guests that do not matter. But that they have such a hostile attitude even in 2016, make it very complicated for vegans (even though a large part of the buffet is vegan, it is just not so easy to find out what) and react to suggestions to make it clearly visible what is vegan and what is not in an aggressive way, is really astonishing.
Updated from previous review on Tuesday January 19, 2016
Updated from previous review on Tuesday January 19, 2016
Pros: the evening menu (with vegan labels)
Cons: the buffet and anti-vegan attitude
Contributions +250
Interesting and worthwhile option - Edit
This is a very respectable vegetarian restaurant in a city that already has several options. I've been to Hiltl and Tibits many times, and it's hard not to compare SamSes against them. It does fairly well in the comparison, but read on. (I only tried the buffet; I don't know what the menu items are like.)
The buffet is divided into three sections: prepared salads (more like quinoa and beets, not green and leafy); creamy dishes (Asian- and Western-inspired); and singleton items (like little patties and sausages). This is a nice layout, and each section has about eight options, giving plenty to choose from. There is only a small amount of fake meat, and very little Indian presence (unlike Hiltl). None of the dishes is labeled, but the staff will happily explain each one to you.
In terms of price, it costs just about exactly the same as Tibits and a bit less than Hiltl. The number of choices is comparable to Tibits (but somwhat different in character, as I describe below) and far smaller than at Hiltl.
Service is very friendly, and the place is very pleasant. It's a bit cheaper to take food to go, which is easy to do (they have boxes at the ready, and will readily supply you with cutlery).
Frankly, I preferred Tibits somewhat over this. Tibits has many more fresh vegetables and greens, which are notably missing here. I also prefer the flavors at Tibits. SamSes has more in terms of prepared sauce-laden foods, but these tended to feel a bit heavy. I felt there were more healthy eating options in Tibits. Not all the flavors appealed to me as much as they did at Tibis, either. But on a day when I was looking for "comfort food", this would definitely be the place to go.
Overall, I liked SamSes. It's in a bustling location and a great restaurant. I just personally happen to prefer Tibits a little more, especially since there is no notable difference in price. But that's not a strike at all against SamSes, which would hold its own just about anywhere. Nice people, nice place, well worth a try or more.
One other thing. On some evenings they seem to get lots of reservations, so if you really have your heart set on trying them out, call ahead. If you go on the early side (say 5:30), they will give you a table provided you can clear out before the reservations, which is very reasonable.
Pros: good range of food, relatively little fake meat, great staff and place
Cons: too little greens, not all flavors pleased me, not clearly better than competition
Contributions +20
Ubernice - Edit
I really like this vegetarian restaurant, they have a lot of vegan options. The menues are always awesome and the coffe pannacotta is epic! Very friendly stuff and good prices for zurich¨!
Contributions +38
good meals, great staff - Edit
we always enjoy to eat there!
Contributions +2281
Delicious and friendly - Edit
The food here is great. It's a bit expensive, but very delicious, and the staff is very friendly.
We had appetizers, main course, desserts and even bought some muffins to take with us for breakfast the next day. All of it was incredibly delicious, and the tiramisu is possibly the best I've ever had.
Recommended: wiener schnitzel and tiramisu. Or the chocolate mousse.
Pros: All-veg, Friendly
Cons: Pricey
Contributions +42
Delicious Food, friendly staff - Edit
Best Veganisu (vegan Tiramisu) ever. Always fresh and great choice of vegan food and vine / beverages. Very friendly service.
Pros: Great food, Friendly staff, Nice ambiance
Cons: A bit pricey, but hey: it's Zurich!
i love it :) - Edit
... i go there for my loved "schnitzel"... its cosy, staff and bro&sis are very friendly... just tell them you are vegan and they explain there buffet (what you can eat) and also they have a delicious food card... where they can cook they meal vegan (if you tell them:)
i love to go there... and dont forget to call for a table... so many people like this place.... yummi...
ahhh.. and if you miss some loved food-they ask you for a recept to try it... what else you want? :)
Pros: schnitzel, cool staff, buffet & co
Contributions +24
Nice place, but a bit boring for the neighborhood - Edit
The food is good, nice place for a date, but there is more interesting, spicy vegetarian food in the neighborhood for less money.
Pros: vegan deserts, many options
Cons: more expensive than other places nearby, swiss-tastes, not very spicy
Contributions +343
Good food, slow service - Edit
We were there on a Friday evening. It was very crowded, the service was obviously obverstrained. It was not clear from the menue which food is vegan, so we had to ask the waitress (who had enough other things to do - one would think it's easy enough to mark vegan items clearly on the menue). It finally took more than half an hour before we could place any order. Afterwards it was OK though, the food came rather quickly.
The food tasted good, nothing to get excited about though.
Pros: good food
Cons: vegan items not marked in menue, slow service
Contributions +23
Best place in Zürich - Edit
This restaurant is definitly the best place to go for vegan food in Zürich! They change their menu quarterly and always come out with new great food like vegan Schnitzel, Burger, vegan Tiramisu, or now the lovely bouja-bouja ice cream. It is a vegetarian restaurant, but most of the food is vegan and they don't do boring vegan food. They have cream sauces for vegans, great desserts and always a smile on their face. Thank you for being here and making my life a bit happier!
Pros: buffet, great a la carte menue, best vegan food!
Cons: none
Contributions +56
my favourite restaurant as a vegan in zurich - Edit
since anoush had to close down his vegan restaurant, thats by far the best option for vegans.beautiful vegan brother and sister are owner of the place. close to 90 % is vegan food and they are friendly, not expensive and delicious ! i love that place in the middle of langstrasse, the red light district, so always something to watch while waiting for my veganisu (-:
mixed bag - Edit
veganisu is recommended!
had a gnocchi that was very bland and my friend had a schnitzel that was also very bland!
but friendly service!:)
Pros: price
Cons: hit and miss
Most recommended! - Edit
Very nice place with excellent food, friendly staff and cheap prices. The veganisu is highly recommended!
Pros: Exquisite food, Friendly staff, Cheap prices
Contributions +74
Mmm - Edit
Good! Get the tofu with white sauce if you're vegan! Or the weinerschnitzel! Both vegan :) once a month there's half off the weight of the buffet...
Pros: Good food, Clean
Contributions +27
Best place in Zurich - Edit
I live in Zurich and this is my favourite vegetarian restaurant - I have to agree with qter that "Tofu in persil and white wine sauce must be the best vegan dish I ever have had in a restaurant" - it is just outstanding. I also love the vegan mousse au chocolat.
The restaurant is quite popular, so you might want to book ahead, especially Friday night.
Pros: Great food
Cons: Staff can be a bit stressed
Contributions +66
My favourite place in Zurich - Edit
We live in Zurich and so we know well the different places here. The Samses is our favourite place. The food is good, the staff friendly, prices are good. Sadly there is no completely vegan place in Zurich (at least no regular restaurant), but the vegan options are clearly marked at the Samses and at the buffet you can always ask the staff.
Pros: Good food, Friendly staff, Good prices
Cons: -, -, -
Contributions +100
first choice in zurich - Edit
we had a wedding there. just perfect. my friend introduced them to the veganisu and the wienerschnitzel. only one time my food was a bit salty. guess the chef was in love that time.
staff is very friendly. most people go there frequently and know each other. so atmospheres great
so much better then hiltl which is mainly not catering for vegans a lot and is really pricey and sooooo busy that its more of a "custom clearance"
Pros: food, staff
Contributions +114
Yum, yum, yum - Edit
i really enjoyed my meal at this restaurant. i had a tofu dish (so tasty!) from the menu, which is in english and vegan options were very clearly labelled. And i agree the vegan tiramisu was great!
Pros: excellent food, friendly staff, great ambiance
Contributions +1287
Wonderful Vegan options! - Edit
Their menu has clearly marked vegan items, divided into two main categories of Tofu or Pasta dishes. They have a wonderful Veganmasu dessert & a vegan muffin. Like the many reviews below say, the food is wonderful, excellent presentation and great atmosphere! There is a buffet in addition to the a la cart and if you're in a hurry its the way to go, weigh your plate and pay.
I followed a reviewer below and tried the White Wine Tofu Dish, its a very interesting maybe Yeast based sauce with a wonderful tang and it comes with a bed of rice and grilled veggies. You might want to make a reservation, it filled up pretty fast on a Saturday night. English is spoken!
Pros: many vegan options, vegan dessert, english/atmosphere
Contributions +40
good eating - Edit
We found Samses via this website when looking up places we could eat at in Zurich. We had dinner from the menu on a Saturday night which was great, I had a tofu and coconut milk based curry and my boyfriend had a spaghetti dish which were both delicious. The atmosphere was lovely, and the staff were amazing. Our german is terrible, and they very helpfully spoke to us in english! We went back for a late lunch on our last day (Monday), we tried the buffet this time which was very good as well. It was great to find some vegan desserts, the vegan tiramisu was lovely, but I think it needed more of a coffee flavour, and there was too much of it (but that is not necessarily a bad thing). I would totally recommend this restaurant to anyone. I preferred it to hitil, much better value and better service.
Contributions +69
The best tofu I ever have had in a restaurant - Edit
Tofu in persil and white wine sauce must be the best vegan dish I ever have had in a restaurant. For most of the main dishes (not including pasta) you can choose whether you want to have it served with potatoes, pasta, rice or grilled vegetables.
Pros: free choice: pasta/rice/vegetables, fiendly staff, atmosphere
Contributions +18
Nice Restaurant - Cosy Atmosphere - Edit
The food was fresh and tasty and I found the staff really helpful,friendly and quite happy to explain about the vegan options (of which there was a good selection). I would definitely recommend SamSes if your in Zürich and I will definitely be visiting again soon.
Pros: atmosphere, Friendly Staff, Good, Healthy Food
Cons: Not the cheapest, Not in the best of areas
Contributions +15
don't miss this place - Edit
Any time again ;o) escellent service and great food in a relaxing ambience. The choice between a large buffet or a very tasty à laCarte.
Pros: excellent food, friendly staff, very nice ambience
Cons: good price, big choice of food, large portions
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