Overrated restaurants

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Irvinecommuter

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We talk a lot about food around here so I'm curious to see where people think is overrated, whether it be price or reputation.

A couple places for me:
1)  A&J.  Have been there a couple of times and the food is okay but pretty expensive for what you get.  Taiwanese food is awesome in Taiwan in part because it's really cheap.  It's mean to be a tapa-style eating...doesn't work when it gets too expensive and the portions are not great.  Service is not good even for Chinese restaurant standards...and cash only :(

2)  Roys' Newport Beach:  This pains me because I used to love this place but now it's pretty bad.  Everything is oversauced and the kitchen is slow.

3)  Gelato:  Basically any place that serves gelato...overprice and overrated. 
 
No Quarter said:
85 degrees:  Ridiculous lines.  You would think that its an iPhone release.

Food line:  when you get to the end of the line, you are forced through the maze by the swarm of people behind you to quickly choose from an assortment of bland tasting food with limited descriptions of what the hell it actually is. If you are rating these guys on originality of their pastry recipes, perhaps they get a high score.  On actual taste they would score below average if you have been to a bakery where pastries are actually available warm from the oven.
Click to expand...

I dunno man.. the Taro bun is the best pastry I've ever had.  I don't even think they have a competitor to this product.  Also, their cakes always very tasty as well.  Fresh and not too sweet.  Lines are crazy, but I can understand why..
 
I don't care too much for a specific bread at 85 degrees, but I do enjoy the Taro Bun as someone mentioned.  Then again, I think price has to factor in to my not wanting to try more of the breads.  I did actually start to like iced coffee beverages a lot more after drinking their Sea Salt Coffee.  I now own an espresso machine because of my experience with the sea salt coffee.

A&J is good.  I really enjoy the sauce in their spicy dumpling dish.  We typically get those dumplings and a 1000 layer pancake and dip the pancake into the dumpling sauce.  However, the dumpling themselves are ok.  I usually just order the chicken on rice and loved the pickled veggies it comes with.  My wife usually gets the beef & tendon noodle soup and likes it.  I'd eaten there multiple times and never felt that service was substandard.  For Irvine food standards, I think it's a great place to eat though I prefer Yu's Garden for the on the ice plates.

I've only been to Roy's once and never felt the need to go back.  I left feeling that the price didn't justify the meal at all even with the "romantic" ambiance that was created.

I would say that Class 302 is overrated.  I ate there once and was quite disappointed after hearing rave reviews. 

Guppy Tea House like 5-8 years ago (Cerritos location) felt like a much better deal than today.  Last time I went to Guppy, it solidified my intent to never return.

BCD at Diamond Jamboree is pretty overrated even though Yelp has horrible ratings.  The last couple of times I went there the beef was nearly inedible.  The last time I ate there made me vow to never eat it again. 

 
Yes, lines suck at 85 and it takes a while to get your drinks.  Avoid on weekends unless you get there in the morning within the first hour of opening.  During the week, lines are shorter between 12-1pm.
I haven't found a better Iced Peach Green Tea anywhere and their large is $2.95 which is reasonable compared to placed like Cha For Tea.  It would be nice to know when certain breads are available.  I've tried many of them over the years and enjoy the Mini Boro Buns, the Almond Coconut Twists, and the Chocolate Chip Bowls. 

A&J - I used to go here regularly and liked their black pepper beef fried rice.  The portions were large and came with a tea so I didn't think it was overpriced. 

 
I find this topic to be quite challenging.  When a place is considered overrated, are we blaming the restaurant for hyping their establishment where they declared they have best dish/price/etc and we're disappointed when we experience it first hand?  Or are we saying that other raters on say Yelp put too many stars for whatever reasons they gave and that in your view it doesn't deserve for your own reasons? 

Just an example, if I happened to go to 85C on a non-busy hour and ordered a sea salt coffee.  Thought it was great and rated it 5 stars on Yelp, am I wrong?  Should I have had the full experience (the long bread line during rush hour and tasted all of their bakery products) before I gave 85 a rating? Or should I have had sea salt coffee somewhere else (not sure where) before I gave my stars/review so that I have a comparison?  What if I've had it "better" at home, another city or country?  Would it be fair to knock 85 down a star or two because I can say "Their sea salt coffee is overrated.  I've had better elsewhere"?

 
Have to concur with Gelato. I grew up in Laguna Beach (proof once again, there is a God who blesses...) and the local 31 Flavors was taken over by a Gelato vendor. Driving through town with Soylent Yellow, I thought it would be interesting to give it a whirl seeing that so much buzz has been building aroung the stuff.  The person serving was nice enough, although you could tell the Masters Degree in 18th Century French Poetry wasn't working out as well as he thought it would. The guy was also 100% Organic Free Range Vegan, complete with Hipster (read: douche) glasses. Again, a very nice guy, but he reeked of fail.

The Gelato was much spendier than expected. The taste? Ever wonder what a frozen stick of butter might taste like? Try some of their product and wonder no more. The taste of milkfat overwhelmed the slight flavoring that was present in the Gelato. Even the "Belgian Cocoa" Soylent Yellow had had the mouthfeel of margerine mixed with oil of asphalt.

A big pass on it next time I'm in town. Didn't have the heart to push a Yelp review across as a warning to others. May reconsider though.
 
Club 33 at Disneyland.

The first time we went for dinner, it was so bad that we barely touched it. We stopped for a burger on the way home. The service was creepy & weird. (Think: Lurch from The Addams Family.) I was so bummed.

However, since then we've gone for lunch and it is better than dinner. The service is better, too, for whatever reason. Their chateubriand is very good - probably the best I've ever had. The rest is just okay but nothing to write home about. If I'm going to eat there, I want everything to be a winner, winner, winner! However, I do understand it's more than restaurant. It's a piece of Disney history. That would warrant one visit. Just not for the food.

It is overrated due to the insane membership cost people pay for the privilege of dining there.. Thankfully, it's always completely free for us. Otherwise, I would never pay just the menu cost alone to eat there. I'd get just as much satisfaction from Wienerschnitzel. #lowmaintenancegirl
 
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