Which hyped restaurants have you found underwhelming?

[Kickinthenostalgia]

Went to happy restaurant london today and I just didn’t get the hype. It was okay as far as restaurants go, but I just found it a little underwhelming considering the hype it gets. DP, DS and my sister absolutely love it, they’ve been about 4 times, dd has been twice, she told me she prefers hard rock and tbh I have to agree with her.
what restaurant hypes did you find underwhelming?.

Another Ivy one. We had lunch at the Exeter branch and it was one of the worst meals I've ever had. The chicken satay starter had clearly been reheated and was like rock welded onto the skewer. Totally inedible. White wine like vinegar. The food in the cafe in Morrisons is better. Manager couldn't have cared less, took about £1.20 off the bill.

There was a Jamies near Moorfields Hospital.
The staff seemed to hate having to serve customers.

I think they also took over Côte, which has seen a similar decline in standards.

I always think of it as pub food. I like the decor though, and it's good for a cocktail or three.

Core.

To the posters saying Roast - we went to the one in Borough Market when it first opened and I almost never review restaurants, but left an online review that was so scathing the site called me to check we'd really been there. What absolute shite.

Five Guys is overrated and over priced!

The Ivy - ok on a deal but the host waiters are OTT but I do love the dessert platter from Ivy Asia.
Cote - why is their food always cold ? Eggs Benedict - cold sauce wtf?
Mowgli - small plates, big prices. Staff do a good deal of ignoring you.
Pizza Express - currently doing a 10 pound deal for a pizza and a drink - bargain!
Five Guys - greasy and expensive.
Miller and Carter - very expensive now for pub food
Gail's - overpriced and they won't heat anything for you

Totally agree. The general atmosphere was so full of itself too, as if there aren't hundreds of independent Indian restaurants offering better and cheaper versions of the same food. (Although nowhere I know offers the badly cooked curry served with a chunk of stale white bread - you'd have to ask a local student for that.) When we complained, we were effectively told it was our fault.

Noma. Utter rubbish.

Agree re Nando’s, went once and can’t understand why people rave about it.
Ive been to the Witchery in Edinburgh a couple times - once awesome, once decidedly not so. Love the location and the decor though.
The Ubiquitous Chip in Glasgow is also a bit hit and miss in my experience. It’s been awesome, and decidedly average at different times.
I enjoyed Dishoom in Edinburgh though, great food and service.

L’enclume. It was mid.

Sexy Fish in Mayfair. Very underwhelming. I find most London restaurants underwhelming. Far too much hype and not enough substance. Give me somewhere like Winchester’s Chesil Rectory or Portsmouth’s Maya any day.

We didn’t mind the H&F, but I agree with a pp that it’s overly salty and we season our food well at home! We went twice (once with friends and then once on our own), both times we stayed over the breakfasts were absolutely atrocious 😂 tiny, the single rasher of streaky bacon was rock solid and everything was cold.

i also agree with a pp that dishoom is disappointing - dd wanted to go once so we booked - we ordered lots to share but most of it was pretty uninspiring. The decor is themed to the point of tacky. The one we went to was just so loud aswell. Would not return.

My bugbear of a ‘restaurant’ is Bills. I refuse to go and have done for about 10 years now. Expensive, everything I ever ordered came out cold and it felt on a par with the quality of food from a Harvester. Just gussied up and an extra tenner plonked on every dish. I’m happy to pay good money for good quality food but this was good money for shit! There was a period of time where so many get togethers were planned for there and it’s fallen out of favour with everyone. I know it’s a chain but I still expect more. I prefer a good independent and have had some of my best ever meals there. I can’t think of anything in the big chain industry that’s really brilliant (although I do sometimes go to them).

Rio Steakhouse when it was open in Glasgow. The Edinburgh one was as bad but still not great. Meat was so salty I couldn’t eat it, alongside very fatty cuts of meat that could barely be eaten.

Six by Nico. The food just isn’t that good.

We’ve been going for years as friend is a member. The food is getting worse and worse. We went in Dec and had the Xmas meal. My god, the sprouts were rock hard and the potatoes were almost cold. We were all so disappointed.

I too was left disappointed! We had the choice of Betty's or the pub. Beginning to wish I'd chosen the pub!

Any of the Instagram type places are likely to be carp.

Also disappointing experience in Betty's.

Mowgli - I liked - it cheered up an otherwise desolate evening in Preston - though my dining companion woudl rather have changed a local curry house and get more.

Tayabs - incredible the first time - mid the next.

Dishooms - I like their food and it's far better than anything our local curry houses serve up. But I won't queue for it.

Not a restaurant but Dominos is overpriced, even with their " deals ". There is far too much competition to be overpriced and awful.

l went to Dishroom when it was super trendy about 5 or 6 years ago- it was lovely and a little different but l'm not sure what the hype was about.
Eating out is so expensive now l would rather fill my fridge and freezer with good stuff with the money saved.
That said about 10 years ago the Cafe Royal did a prix fixe lunch in the limited space available- that was absolutely fabulous and worth every penny.

Totally agree! I looked forward to going there for ages before we went, and it was such a disappointment. Average food with massive price tags :(

I know! Been to Canary Wharf, Blackheath and Brighton. It’s our favourite x

Gordon Ramsay's Bread Street Kitchen at Battersea Power Station - food was OK but have had better at far cheaper places. Almost £200 for 2 people for 2 courses and a couple of drinks (DH's non alcoholic). Staff were nice enough but poor attention to detail and service was slow considering it wasn't particularly busy. Disappointing and wouldn't recommend.

have to say we really liked both Mowglis (in Liverpool, though was a few years ago now) and Dishoom (Birmingham one last year)

Is that the one once voted best in world? More than once even?

Dishoom, food is bland mass produced rubbish. Also hate that they don’t take bookings and make you queue. Won’t bother going back.

Six by Nico, style over substance and they cram tables in so you feel like you’re in others laps.