Sams On Edward Street

Sams On Edward Street
348 Edward St, Brisbane City (Corner Turbot St)



This is yet another of my regular lunch time spots. Part of the decision-making process as to where I should eat is how long I have and how far I want to walk. Sams is for those lazy days where I can't even fathom crossing a street for food. It's literally just a short stroll up from the dental school.



We nickname Sams Cafe as 'The revolving door cafe'. No prizes for guessing why. The cafe itself is on the ground floor of an office block (the IBM building, to be precise).


The usual cafe offerings are all here: paninis, sandwiches, muffins, pies, salad and of course, coffee. I practically live off cafe food so I'm developing a set of preferences and ideals.

My favorite thing about Sams is the steamed soy milk. Plain steamed soy with no coffee is one of my 'special' orders and I have a soft spot for any barista that does it for me without battering an eyelid or making irritable comments. At Sams, they've consistently only charged $1 for making my soy and it's absolutely delicious. I don't know what brand of soy they use, think it's fairly regular, but for some reason, it just tastes creamy, frothy and fabulous. Love it. Winter staple.

In terms of food, I've been on many occasions but will just talk about the items I took photos of.

Traditional lasagna

One day, our clinic group had a meeting with our course coordinator and we ended up eating there. Half the table ordered the lasagna. It's a huge serving with luscious, meaty layers and a fresh side salad. Everyone who got it enjoyed it and when the first plates of lasagna were served, some others changed their order to get lasagna as well.

Chicken and bacon toasted panini

The other half of the table ordered variants of toasted panini. I was one of this lot and had chosen a chicken and bacon panini. It was good (these things are rarely bad). Lovely and crisp on the outside with a hearty supply of filling. Some places push their toasters down hard and your panini ends up flat like a biscuit. Here, some volume is maintained and to me, that's a good thing.

Potato side salad

On one of my solo lunching occasions, I ordered a low-fat vegetable fritata with a side salad. They always have a salad of the day that you can order on its own or as a side, or you can get it take-away. I've tried the salad several times and though different each time, it's always been super fresh and well-balanced in terms of flavor.

Low-fat vegetable fritata

The vegetable fritata is something that's 'good' without being outstanding but I'll keep ordering it simply because it's prefixed with 'low-fat'. Yes, I'm a sucker for this kind of thing. It takes a bit like a moist savory muffin but with more vegetable than muffin base (I like it this way).

Inside of veggie fritata

There's a mildly Mediterranean flavor influence... probably because of the black olives. Only thing is it's a bit bland so I feel like cream cheese and/or chutney is warranted.

Latte

Coffee at Sams is nice and consistent. As I mentioned earlier, the standout for me has been steamed soy milk.

Overall, I've had only good experiences eating at Sams. It's a nice corporate environment that isn't too rushed, even at lunch times. The staff are efficient but friendly. There's a decent variety in menu items and they have a welcomed focus on freshness.