Papa Sam’s – The Father of Good Food!

by Iyath Adam

This week, we tried out some delicious food from Papa Sam’s in Hulhumale’, which has been around for some time and is well-known for their ‘Build a Burger’, chilli fries and affordable, tasty dishes.

With warm lighting and plants on one side and leather sofa seating on the other, Papa Sam’s is spacious and pleasant. Seating options are available for big groups as well as two-person parties.

We opted to go for a Chilli Cheese Fries appetizer, and the Crumb Fried Chicken, and a build-your-own ‘Sam Burger’ as mains. With the ‘Sam Burger,’ you can choose your burger meat (beef or chicken), your choice of cheese, (any two free) toppings such as lettuce, gherkins, jalapenos and grilled tomato and sauces. Additional charges are taken for premium toppings such as Provolone cheese, beef bacon, chicken ham, tartar sauce, PAPA hot sauce and more. And bonus, you can upgrade your usual French fries to a side of buffalo wings, onion rings and potato wedges for just MVR 45 – which we of course did!

The food arrived relatively fast. First up, the Chilli Cheese Fries, which were absolutely delicious. The French fries underneath, the beef Bolognese sauce mixed with black beans and the melted cheese on top created a dish that worked together with all ingredients extremely well.

Our burger was a beef one with American cheddar cheese, onion rings and mustard. Although the burger bun was a bit underwhelming at first sight, the beef patty was cooked very well – juicy and flavourful. From the upgraded side, the buffalo wings were both saucy, savoury and a little sweet, the onion rings were fried to perfection and the potato wedges paired nicely with the accompanying hot sauce and ketchup dips.

The Crumb Fried Chicken came with a big piece of fried chicken, fried rice, coleslaw and teriyaki sauce. The star of this dish was undeniably the teriyaki sauce which had a rich, umami taste to it and went great with the chicken and rice. The fried rice was cooked to perfection – fluffy with each grain separate and a nice, mild taste to it which worked well with the flavour of the chicken and sauce. A lovely, well-rounded dish indeed!

If you’re looking to hang out with a bunch of friends or even for date night, Papa Sam’s is definitely recommended and well worth trying out.