J Zhou Oriental Cuisine — Restaurant in Tustin

Disclaimer on the length, it’s because they have a large menu.

This is probably the nicest decorated Chinese/Cantonese food restaurant I’ve been to outside of San Francisco (Yank Sing) or New York (Jing Fong, Buddakan, Joe’s). It’s also right in line with previously mentioned places pricing. Expensive to say the least, at least the way I eat dim sum. Ambiance is nice, not very loud.

It’s fancy, it’s shmancy, somewhat hotel lobby like. Probably a great place to take out of town guests that don’t want to pay quite fine dining prices, but want to impress. Personally I prefer the old women pushing steamer carts where you pick and choose on site, but it’s an interesting change of style. It’s large and has private rooms. Make reservations to cut down on wait times.

You wait to be seated. Not an inconvenient amount of time, but they do need to step their game up in efficiency overall. Of the 4 times I’ve been I waited an average of 10 minutes to be seated (2 midweek after work, 2 weekend both day and night). I have to add that although I was once seated quickly I waited another 20 minutes for tea, so think about that. The tea is not free and does not get refilled fast at all making it not as worth it. Get water and tea since they are slow. They were cordial, but not apologetic for the delays. They seemed in no hurry to change this issue in all my visits. I’m not sure if it’s incompetence in the procedure or laziness in the staff. I was thinking maybe the are just working on the rush coverage, nope. I think it’s just too big or they are understaffed.

It’s a massive menu, heads up. Shrimp Har gow is large, plump and juicy, a must get for the experienced or not alike. Pork spare ribs are well cooked, seasoned and despite being wok’d are tender and near fall off the bone, maybe a tad dry, oversauced with garlic and not abalone if you were hoping for it. The Beef short rib appetizer takes a long time to come out, but is also well seasoned, could use Szechuan peppercorns as all I tasted was black pepper. A little thin and a little on the small side, variances in portion size. Shrimp balls were good, not overly thick dough like some places. At some point you will realize how much each of these dishes cost since half my experiences were just me and I’m like” how did my dinner bill come to $60”. Calamari is bland and rubbery. Beef balls were average, but not dry which is usually the worst thing you go do to them. The red bean soup is great for cleaning the palate and it’s free. Hallelujah, I’m trying to “get your billions back A-meri-ca” (said in the H&R Block voice). Fresh Water eel and corn fried rice was a joke, tiny fish and bland rice. No seasoning and for the price I was like whoa, I know they are getting endangered, but more because we haven’t found a way to raise them well versus shark fin soup’s issues. Lots of Abalone dishes. None of them sounded interesting. Fresh egg and sliced beef congee was excellent, not too filling, but not sure if the lobster version is worth it. The vegetarian dishes are overpriced and not that filing.

Egg custard was good, nothing amazing, the durian mocha was well made in hiding the pungent odor associated with durian, refreshing and smooth. I personally love fresh durian and don’t mind the smell and eat it at home from time to time. Sesame balls were well roasted and lightly chewy and sweet. A solid dessert. Taro pudding was exactly what you’d expect and filling surprisingly.

It’s a nice addition, I can see the similarities to Happy House, but even for the décor I find it too expensive, inconsistent and the poor service will keep me from coming here often. Good luck since the 2 restaurants before here failed and I think it’s the...

My girlfriend and I stopped in for lunch today..

It’s a Beautiful establishment! One feels like they are royalty upon entering. The staff is dressed professionally and everywhere you look is very beautiful.

We ordered the geoduck and lobster noodles as our main, and filled in the cracks with some truffle dumplings, tripe, and a few odd and ends.

The truffle dumplings were okay. The rich aroma and flavor of the truffle really stood out but, the dumplings overall lacked taste, and I had to rely on the vinegar and chili sauce mixture to carry the burden of the flavor.

The tripe was also some of the best I have eaten. Not that I am very experienced with eating tripe. I have tried it on menudo, pho, and at a dim-sum in San Diego . Of those varieties, J Zhou has the best taste and texture.

I have no comparisons for geoduck. It was my first experience and I am absolutely thrilled with it. The dish was served in two components, one was cold sashimi style and it was crispy and sweet. And absolutely delicious!

The lobster noodles.. were just okay.. And that’s saying a lot coming from a white guy eating this style dish. The noodles were soft and slimy because the over use of corn starch and had little to no taste. The lobster was good but, once again, I was left feeling disappointed with the dish overall.

I am coming from a place where I have had this dish a few times. Once at A taste of Hong Kong in San Diego, the second time I had it was at a family gathering and the chef made the dish for roughly 15 people, and the last time was at The Noble Chef in San Diego.

Out of all of these places, J Zhou came in last place in flavor, texture, and appearance.

So, having spent almost $400 for lunch here. I left full but also deeply unsatisfied with my meal. I felt like a fool who had just been taken advantage of. But, I am an adult and accept responsibility for my actions.

Maybe that’s the lesson here. Don’t go a dumpling house looking for seafood. Just like one does not go to a sushi restaurant for steak.

And lastly to add insult to injury, I stopped to use the restroom on the way out and after waiting for the stall to open, a staff member exited the stall and left me a clogged toilet. Which I promptly proceeded to unclog.

This was the last straw for me and sealed the fate of J Zhou for me. The apathy of the cook, the staff, and the feeling of disappointment ensured that I won’t be coming back...

Super terrible experience here. My church leader and I had late lunch at J Zhou Sunday afternoon. The waiter, a Cantonese man who looked like in 50s first screamed at us "There is no way! Every table is reserved for a special party now!" "You should not be given special treatment by me!!!" when we asked if we could get a smaller table at the quiet corner. However later on we found other waiters took other customers to the corner and they confirmed us there was no party and no reservation there. Even when we finished our meal, there were several tables still available at that corner. We felt we were cheated. What was even worse, this waiter kept yelling at us loudly with horrible and angry facial expressions "You should order your food quickly!" "You should NOT use click in choosing dim sum as I need to you revise by 1,2 ,3!!! You are so bad!!! You are totally wrong!!!" We were shocked and scared. We friendly explained that logically we just need 1 dish and never wanted 2. We originally planned to try the food and seek an opportunity of organizing an event here. However, we could not believe your waiter could abuse us customers without stop! In addition, before food was ready, we friendly begged a manger with glasses and decent suit to change the waiter as we lost appetite after being bullied by this waiter. This manager orally agreed but he didn't take any actions at all. Before we left, we met him again and asked him why there was no change. This manager just replied without looking at us that he was busy and forgort it. Honestly this is the worst restraurant that we have been to. We lost appetite at all. Food was so so but your people made us believe there is no value here. How can your waiter scare your customers and lie to your customers??? How can your managing staff just use the excuse to play the game on customers?? Where is your business integrity? Where is credit in your business? We will never be back nor book any event here. Highly do NOT...