J Zhou Oriental Cuisine

Let me start off by saying that I think the bad reviews are for the price, not for the actual quality of food. We always come here because it's easy to get in without a huge line. The dim sum quality is as good as you can get in the area, in my opinion. I can't eat a ton of dimsum anyway because it's so filling so price is not an issue to me. The restaurant is nice and clean and well designed. The service can be a bit spotty.

The experience has been great. The food at this restaurant is delicious. I think the staff are great but were more concerned if we can pay for the food than the service. They brought the check right as the food was being served. The food though 😋 was great.

In general the food was decent but the service was horrible. First was that my seat was not only wet there was still noodles on it. I told them the seat was wet so instead of giving me a new seat they handed me 2 napkins. But when I showed them that it’s not going to dry the seat they rolled their eyes and found another seat. After 5 dishes arrived we were still waiting for soy sauce and chili we asked the server but she kind of ignored us like it wasn’t her job or she didn’t speak English. I had to go to the entrance to ask them for sauces and then they came out with this dis with sauces in plastic cups not what I’d expect from a restaurant. It seemed akin to a food stall maybe. Of course when we asked for them to just make the last 2 items to go instead of packing it up they brought out the freshly made food and to go boxes and said here do it yourself. Mind you we just started eating since it took them 30 minutes to bring us sauce but the waiter came and brought us the check and said please pay now before the last 4 dishes were even served. I didn’t want to give them a tip but the waiter kept saying you have to give tip. My Chinese wife was astonished about tried to explain to me that this is just how Hong Kong people are it’s just their nature and culture, for them customers are just numbers and they don’t believe in good service. She concluded by saying welp never coming here again.

For a decade, this restaurant has never let me down. The service is impeccable, the food consistently fresh and delicious. Yes, it’s pricey, but the quality justifies every dollar. Hands down, the best dim sum in OC.

One of the best dim sum spots for OC. It’s always consistent and good. The wait at times can be pretty long but worth it. It’s either here or San Gabriel valley for dim sum.

The food here is a little pricey but it's definitely worth it. The interior design looks amazing and the waiters are professional. It's a great place to have anything from a casual conversation to a business meeting.

This dim sum restaurant offers a delightful dining experience with its combination of excellent service, friendly staff, and delicious food. From the moment you enter, you're greeted with warm smiles and attentive service from the staff, who go out of their way to ensure a memorable meal. Their friendly demeanor and humorous interactions add a touch of charm to the dining experience. As for the food, when it arrives at the table in its presentation, it is nothing short of exceptional. Each dish is meticulously prepared and bursting with flavor, showcasing the skill of the chefs. However, there are occasional lapses in the presentation of the food, which can detract from the overall experience. Despite this minor flaw, the restaurant's overall ambiance and delectable cuisine make it a must-visit for dim sum enthusiasts.

Authentic Chinese dim sum spot with a clean, elegant atmosphere. We had the shrimp dumplings and BBQ pork buns — both were fresh and delicious. Service was attentive and quick. Would definitely visit again!

My friends and I came here on a Friday morning, the week of new years. I think we arrived around 11:20 am and got seated right away. It feels like one of the fancier dimsum places, with the chandeliers and paintings on the walls, and the dimsum was on the pricier side in my opinion. The medium sized orders were about $8 and the large was around $10, and most items were medium. The dimsum was pretty good but some dishes had really small portions, despite the high price. Service was pretty good for a dimsum place (they don't talk to you much but they clear out your empty plates/steamers really quickly). I think my favorite item we got were the egg tarts; they were perfectly sweet and had a flaky crust. Spicy wontons were good but tasted a bit bland; maybe because of all the water/broth in it?

Food was decently authentic, I liked most of them, however, the tables were so close to other tables the point that it was kinda uncomfortable... and I'm normally quite used to that. Also I guess it didn't help that we were seated next to a kid that cried nonstop and his grandma just casually put her stuff on a seat of our table. The service was... while the food came quickly, the attitude was quite rude. I flagged someone down for soy sauce and chili sauce (which most dim sum places put on your table by default), the waiter was impatient and gave up the "hurry up and tell me which sauce" face. Finally, the place is way too overpriced. $100 for shit service and meh dining experience is just plain bs.

Delicious dimsum in a nice restaurant setting. Good service. Food comes out piping hot. Plenty of parking. Large venue with lots of tables. Can't go wrong.

I've been coming here for the past 3 years for work Christmas brunch & it's always a great experience however this time around we didn't receive as much dim sum plates as the past 2 years :( we didn't get any Har Gow so we were kinda sad but there were so many other delicious plates of food so no complaints! We always come with a very large party of about 15-20 people and service is always so great. The servers are extremely attentive and careful with large heavy plates. Highly recommend to anyone who wants some great Chinese dim sum brunch

I spent the first 11 years of my life in Hong Kong, so yes, I'm kind of a dim sum snob. That said, I also spent subsequent years in the greater LA area so I know what's passable vs what's pricey. J.Zhou dim sum has good quality and good variety. The important thing is that they feature some atypical dishes that taste delicious, and I give them stars for that. I think they were also reasonable in not charging my elementary-aged kids (who didn't drink tea) for tea. That said, it's on the pricey side so it would be a once-in-awhile treat rather than every-week treat. We went on an early Saturday morning (probably ~10:45am), and it wasn't hard to find a table. But when we left closer to noon, there were already folks waiting outside so try to beat the lunch rush if you can.

I had my wedding reception last week at the private room of J Zhou. I picked their $768 menu and it was delicious! There is enough food for everybody, and all my guests complimented on how yummy their food is. The service was also satisfactory, they regularly check our tables and replace plates and take empty dinnerware. Making a reservation is also easy, once you book and pay the down payment the date is yours. The manager & staff are all very friendly too. I highly recommend them for private parties!

For OC, it's one of the best options I can think of for dim sum. Unless you want to go further to Westminster or LA, J.Zhou has the most authentic food I've had in the area. The restaurant itself is beautiful and feels traditional from the moment you enter the big red doors in the front. Parking can get busy in the plaza but for the most part is not too much of an issue. Large lot with plenty of spots right outside. Service is like any other dim sum place. There's no carts like traditional dim sum so you write down on a list what you want to eat and they prepare fresh to order. Along with China Garden in Irvine which does have the traditional carts, this is the best local option south of the 55 for dim sum in my opinion.

Came here for dim sum on a Saturday, waited 5 mins. Put your name down on the waitlist IN the restaurant. Here are some things to note: PROS: 1. Good service, but you must flag them down 2. Seafood ChowMein ($19), Hargow, mango pudding, siu mai were good. 3. Seated quickly 4. Dedicated parking spots just for restaurant CONS: 1. Must check in yourself into the iPad at hostess station, but i did not know so was standing there for 5 mins. When hostess appears, she tells me to check in. 2. Chrysanthemem tea was not flavorful or aromatic & tea warmer flame was out, so didn't keep tea warm 3. Juicy pork dumpling, egg yolk bun (squirted literally everywhere), tea were bland. 4. Pricey Overall, it's a nice place, they have roasted duck with soft buns and special lobster which we saw a lot ordering in the special banquet room. Check it out!

Horrible service. I rarely give negative reviews, but this experience was exceptionally bad. We had reservations at 6:30 PM last night. After being seated, we ordered our food. We received our first dish after a 30-minute wait, but it came without rice. We kept asking for steamed rice, and since we were hungry, we finished the chicken by itself. Forty minutes into our first entrée, we ask where the same rice was. Another waiter informed us they were out of steamed rice and needed to make more. He asked if we wanted to upgrade to fried rice, which could be served faster, but we declined. Meanwhile, people who were seated after us were getting their food. Our entrées came out one at a time, about 15 to 20 minutes apart, instead of together. Once we started to get upset, the rest of our entrees arrived. By then, we were frustrated with the long wait. We asked to speak with the manager, Ken, to understand why we were receiving one dish at a time without rice and why the wait was so long. We checked the receipt and noticed they put in our order at 7:30 PM, an hour after our reservation. By this time, we were extremely upset. The manager explained there was a mix-up with our ticket but no apologies. Surprisingly, after we complained, the remaining food started coming out promptly. I've never experienced service like this, especially at a Chinese restaurant, where food typically comes out quickly. The manager eventually apologized and gave us a discount because we didn't leave until almost 9 PM. Spending three hours at a Chinese restaurant is unheard of. The food was okay, but the service was awful. We will never return.

I've never gave out any negative review on anything, I will definitely rate this restaurant a zero star if the system allows. An incredibly disappointing experience at this restaurant. I arrived in the early afternoon and placed my order around 1 PM. After waiting for half an hour with no food in sight, I started to notice that people who came in after me were already finishing their meals. Sensing something was wrong, I asked the server about my order twice, and both times I was told that they would check and "hurry it up." Finally, after waiting for almost an hour, I asked again, only to be told that my order had never even been placed in the kitchen. The worst part? There was no apology, no acknowledgment of their mistake. The server simply informed me, in a rude and dismissive manner, that my food hadn't been ordered. So what was the point of telling me twice that they were following up on my order? It felt like they were outright lying to me. I wasted nearly an hour at this place with terrible service and blatant dishonesty. This restaurant is a joke. Horrible service and a bunch of liars--definitely not coming back.

When I first walked in it felt like any other dimsum or Chinese restaurant id been to in the past. However the service was amazing and attentive and the go to dimsum dishes such as ha gau and siu mai were amazing. I'll definitely be back to try different things.

Very brighting atmosphere! The placed look very organized and the food was to our liking. Will be coming back.

Came here with some friends for dim sum and the atmosphere of the place was really nice and the service was good. My favorites from what we ordered were the steamed rice paper with beef and the BBQ Pork buns. It was a good dim sum experience and I will definitely be back for more.

I have removed one star from this review since there is one dish we waited for a long time, and it did not come even when we finished our meal. However, I do want to call out the exceptional service. The manager and the staff was very attentive to us. For the one dish that was late, when we followed up, they immediately apologized and allow us to cancel the dish since we are done with our meal by that point. In terms of the quality of the food, I enjoyed it a lot. it reminds me of the dim sum I have in Hong Kong. I believed their chef do come from Hong Kong, and I can testify that he brought the authentic flavor of dim sum to the US. Especially for the beef chow fun. Although the price is steep ($18.88), the portion is decent. It comes with tender and juicy beef, and the noodles are perfectly cooked. Additionally, the space inside is decent, it can comfortable sits 50 tables. I often seen large families come here to enjoy breakfast and lunch. I would definitely visit again for either breakfast, lunch, or dinner.

This restaurant has excellent (for American) dim sum, but that charm fades quickly when you see how rude the service staff is to non-Chinese (even those who speak fluent Cantonese) and how inflexible and unfriendly they are to single diners. E.g. Soup for 6 was the smallest order. The seafood entrees are better but, again, don't go with more than one person. It just seems like an overpriced and unpleasant experience when I could just go to LA. Fail.

We used love this place, but I think we got an off day and/or possibly a few of the cooks left. It's the second time in a row that we were disappointed in the quality of the dim sum. Prices are also up about 30%, but that's understandable given the way thing's are. We'll give it one more try in a month or two to see if it gets turned around. But if you're going for dim sum, keep an open mind.

Dimsum is my favorite cuisine. When people come to visit me from out of town, I usually take them to Monterrey Park or elsewhere in the San Gabriel Valley. But being that I live in the OC, sometimes you just want something nearby. J.Zhou is the best dimsum I've had in the OC. I went here about a week ago and was blown away. The restaurant is large, beautiful, and professionally run. Friendly staff, clean white tables, and of course delicious food. I decided to get some of my usual favorites: siu mai, chicken feet, har kow, rice noodle crepes, pork buns. I also decided to be adventurous and try some things I hadn't seen elsewhere like the eggplant with fish paste and taro with fermented fish. Everything I had was phenomenal with the exception of the taro with fermented fish. It was way too doughy for me and without any kind of sauce, it was tough to eat. Fortunately, it was the last item brought to me and by that point in the meal, I was already stuffed. I got to J.Zhou about 15 minutes after it opened and didn't have to wait long for a table. But even if I did, I would do it again for the best dimsum in OC.

Fully packed restaurant on weekends, get in their virtual queue ahead of time via Yelp! But the lines moves quickly. Decor is modern and clean inside. Food was not as good as a few other local places (China Gourmet) and is quite overpriced. So you are paying for location and faster service but if you want more tasty dim sum, I would not go here

Came for dim sum, knew it was going to be expensive but that's fine. Tastes fresh and good. However, my table for 2 got charged ~$4 for tea when all we got was cold water. We saw this on the bill, and they pointed out it's a "tea & place setting" charge. Lol. K. We had to ask for soy sauce and all they gave was 1 small dish of soy sauce..

Came here with a large party, and we all loved the experience! Quick service (chinese haha) and they were quick to refill out waters and tea. Food was great but normal for chinese, you could definitely get it cheaper some place else.

Appetizers: shrimps and cantaloupes. Interesting combination. I never had this before. Duck, pork, jelly fish. Delicious. I usually don't like duck but this duck was so fresh and it didn't taste ducky at all. So good! The jelly fish was yummy! Soup. Wow! Excellent. It was not salty. Just right! Seafood, possibly shark fin. I don't know what was in it, but it was crunchy and so good! Shaken beef and asparagus. The quality of the beef was very good. It was seasoned very well. Peking duck and steamed chicken. Both excellent. House special lobster. Delicious. They used two smaller lobsters and the sauce was delicious. I highly recommend this dish. Bacon and scallops. Different but very good Abalone and mushrooms. It was very good. I know it's not cheap. I wonder if it's fresh. Fried small fish. Not sure what kind of fish it was. Fried rice. Excellent. A must. Chow mein. Very good. Overall, I would come back and order this special menu. Some of these dishes are not on the menu.

Hubby has declared the dumplings at J Zhou were much tastier than DTF. I have to agree! Two types tried were bursting with juiciness well balanced flavors. Try the Chinese broccoli for a delicious side. Perfection! Was a tad concerned at the service comments on Yelp but we were treated well.

I love j Zhou, it's our defacto dim sum place to dine in Orange County outside of HKG. The food is always amazing and we always have a great time here. Surprisingly we discovered a dish here called Singapore style fried noodles, Tài hǎole and ngon. Enthusiastically enjoy

This is an authentic Cantonese restaurant. Many local Chinese were there. It has smaller and bigger tables for different party sizes.

very poor food quality & not truly authentic Cantonese cuisine while charging high prices. 1） Chow mein w/ shredded pork & leek (韭黃肉絲炒麵）turned out to be more like chow mein w/ soy sauce （豉油王炒麵）。very disappointed. 2） Steamed shrimp dumplings (蒸蝦餃）has vinegar taste in the juice of the filling, and the shrimps inside tasted tough (overcooked). very sad. 3)Shumai (燒賣）doesn't look good in presentation, and it has tough pieces inside the grounded pork --- totally a waste of money! Personally, I would not go back again. Totally not worth the price!

The food was amazing, but like the other reviews despite the ambiance being on point for an evening with friends or family, the service does leave a lot to be desired for any restaurant on a Michelin list. Sweet buns were worth the experience alone, seriously one of the best things I have ever eaten in my entire life.

I'm home and I have the flu. My family went to JZhou dum sum at 11am on Saturday 11-9-24 and they ordered me a Pork Chow Mein Togo. I am starving and in a lot of pain. So finally they get home at 1pm with my order. I open and up and and take one bite and there's a huge black hair that's so long!! So freaking gross! I'll never go here again because of this!! How does a long hair find its way into the stir fry! I'm going back to the restaurant when I feel better and I'm going to raise hell with the manager ! Raise hell!

If you're craving some dim sum and don't feel like making the drive to Arcadia or Garden Grove, this is definitely a place you should check out. I live pretty close to here and this always hits the spot when I am in need of some good dim sum. Although you are paying a premium because the restaurant is located in The District, the quality matches most other dim sum restaurants in Southern California. They have your usual favorites such as shrimp har gow, pork shumai, steamed spare ribs, various dumplings, and chicken feet. The menu is extensive though so definitely be prepared to deviate from your normal ordering pattern. The carts come pretty often and you never have to worry about there being a lull in getting the food. The restaurant is modern and clean. The service can sometimes be underwhelming but is understandable because the restaurant is usually packed to max occupancy during the busy hours. Overall, this is a great place in a good location with a lot of parking. So if you want dim sum without making the drive out of the Irvine, Tustin, Santa Ana area, I would check this place out!

5 star ratings Location: 4 plenty of parking. Menu: 4 Service: 1. Delivery of our order took about an hour, and it was not even a busy time of the day. If you are in a rush, don't bother coming here. Taste: 3. dim sum was mediocre. Ambiance: 3 noise level is a typical restaurant.

Love Shanghai food but this is awful. The waitress tried to make things right, but the cook must be blind. The string beans were burned; sent them back once and they were the same the 2nd time. They should be dry-fried not burned. The dumplings were juicy but had an of flavor like old meat. The chow mein was ok but given the other 2 items, I won't be back.

This is the best dim sum restaurant in Orange County. It's pricier than others, but food quality is much better. They have a large selection of authentic food as well as unique items. Our friends and family can always find something satisfying. And don't forget to try their fine desserts! It's usually a very busy place, so there might be a long wait. Their service could be further improved because it is like a typical Chinese restaurant. Just make sure to get someone to help you when needed instead of waiting to be served.

My kids brought me here for dim sum on Father Day. The decoration is nice and food taste good but the services are just like most other Chinese restaurants. Service people are careless about customers because they know that they will get the same amount of tips anyway, so why concern or work hard for people. Anyway, we found a hair on our chicken feed dish. Which make us wonder about their cleaners. We told the manager and he said "ok,we won't charge you for that dish". His attitude is like it is no big deal or it is our fault. We definitely do not come back.

The service was as expected for a restaurant. This interior is nicely decorated and thats about where the positives end. The food is waay overpriced and not even that good. Our food came out warm and very slowly like it was microwaved and forgotten about while other tables that sat after us had theirs food come way faster. There are plenty of better options in rowland & garden grove for cheaper, tastier, and probably fresher. Would not recommend and would not return.

The food was good. We came here on a weekday around 1145am and were able to get seated right away. We browsed the menu. They have images for every food on the menu which I really appreciate as it gives you an idea of what you are getting. Nice decor and interesting chandeliers. We got the fish paste stuffed chili peppers, house special shrimp dumpling, seafood congee and Singapore style rice noodles. Shrimp dumplings and seafood congee were the best. The rice noodles arrived extremely late, about 30 minutes. Good pieces of shrimp and pork. It was very salty. The tea didn't help. Service was poor, not attentive and only the staff in the suit understood our requests and were polite. I liked the food but not the service. Plenty of parking available(parking lot).

What a disappointment to this place. I been coming here for two years and the one time me and my little one decided to come and order 4 items, waiter decided to ask me if I am going to tip. First let me start by saying the items came out to $65 total. And as I cashed out, paid with my card he asked me why didn't I tip. I looked at him and said, bc I'm paying in cash! And he was like, "yeah, just making sure." Later, I place $20 cash on the table which is (over 18% tip) And the man comes back and says you want to give me the full $20 right and I'm like, no, please break it... How rude is this, who ask for fucken tips and in such rude manners. And then ask if I would be giving him the full tip. Just so you know, it's not mandatory to tip in US. There's no actual fucken law for that, and I probably would have been more generous like I have been but as of today, I will no longer be coming back! Just remember tipping is always appreciated but not always expected.

Oh boy, except for one great server, the rest of the service was quite bad. There was also lipstick on our water glass. And the food is overpriced for the quality. Detailed breakdown below: **Service, 1.5/5** From the moment we arrived, service was questionable. We came 10 minutes after they opened for dinner and the dining room was basically empty. Despite this, the man at the front told us there were issues with the waiting list we'd joined online, that we joined the wrong waiting list, that they didn't take reservations, etc etc -- I was pretty shocked because he could have easily just sat us. Once we were seated and ordered, we asked to keep a menu at the table. The server made SO many excuses pushing for us to not order again throughout the night, saying things like: you really don't want to do that, it'll take a long time, don't keep a menu here, we'll be so busy tonight (by the time we left, the restaurant was less than half full), it'll take over 30 minutes for it to come out, etc. None of us had ever been to this restaurant to have a good idea of the portion size, so instead of discouraging us to order again, he could have reassured us we ordered enough or told us off the bat it might not be enough food instead (we did end up having to order another dish and it didn't take long to come out, maybe 10-15 mins). Our other server was fantastic though, super quick and funny. **Decor & cleanliness, 3/5** Inside looks great, but yikes, one of the guys in our group found a lipstick stain on his water glass. **Price & portion, 3/5** Overpriced for the quality. **Taste, 3.5/5** Scallop fried rice had good flavor but was quite dry. Whole duck was tasty and presented in a way with mostly no bones -- lo and behold, there were still a few bones throughout, besides the ones left in intentionally in the legs. Crispy tofu did indeed stay crispy but were bland and weren't served with a sauce to compensate. Tofu and seafood soup was tasty! Great Umami flavor, texture, and pieces of shrimp and scallop throughout. Honey walnut shrimp was really good but the portion is very small. If you do still come here though, you must order the black pepper short ribs! So incredibly tender and perfectly cooked with a delicious and flavor-packed sauce! This was the only dish that completely blew me away and what took this review from 2 stars to 3. **Other notes** Located in The District.

The food is acceptable ,I enjoyed all the ordered dishes . The atmosphere is excellent but service really needs improvement. They didn't care to say a word . Server never came over to see if we wanted anything more, or how was our meal when I asked for the check, they just came with a check and again not a single word. The waiter seemed to be super unhappy.

Tasty dim sum, not too oily, there will be a 30 min wait if you arrive 12-1 pm on weekend and waiters can be difficult to get hold of. I like their butter bolo bao.

PHENOMENAL FOOD, SERVICE & AMBIANCE. I cAnnot recall such wonderment in an authentic chinese restaurant - My bday is coming up and i told the gang this is my choice!!

Came here for the brunch on Saturday and waited around 45 minutes to get a table after checked in on the waitlist. The food overall is good and tasty, but DEFINITELY pricy, especially for all kinds of vegetables, which we decided not to pay for about $15 just for a small plate of cooked lettuce. I believe they even have raised the prices because compared to my expressions in the past four years and multiple visits it's now more expensive. We enjoyed food we ordered, though the pork liver is sort of over cooked. BTW, the pork liver is not on the menu, you have to let waiter know you'd like to have it. The decor is nice and modern. Services perhaps are falling short: even though they have many staff we don't get good services. It takes too long waiting to be seated, 45 minutes for a party of two, a party of more than 4 might get priority in line. It takes too long to order, to get the tea and get the paycheck. This service is too overrated for their 2019 Michelin star. It's also very difficult to park the car around this plaza.

This place use to be ok, the prices were steeper but you pay for the ambiance and decor plus its one of the few dimsum places in the immediate OC area. However, the restaurant's food quality has taken a downturn for the worse during my most recent visit. To name a few.... the sparerib didn't taste fully steamed, it was like barely steamed the chicken feet sauce didn't taste right, it used to be much savory-er before the shrimp and pork shumai was only ok and def was not justified for the price you pay the fried noodles tasted like supermarket bought yakisoba but worse? the fried liver was overcooked and tasted like rubber according to my wife the service was top notch tho, management even refunded the liver dish off my bill however, in the end, the total bill was about $20 more expensive than the same dining experience with tastier food and cheaper bill if this was the sgv suffice to say, I'd not be frequenting this establishment any further in the future

I love j Zhou, it's our defacto dim sum place to dine in Orange County outside of HKG. The food is always amazing and we always have a great time here. Surprisingly we discovered a dish here called Singapore style fried noodles. Great service from Philip too.

Not sure if the one star reviews are warranted for this establishment. My husband and I walked in for lunch on a Saturday around 11. Was seated right away, the service was prompt and friendly. The food was good, it was very HK style. A little pricier than paradise cove in GG, but there's more of an ambiance here.

Best oriental cuisine and service. Absolutely recommend it. We try to go there once a week. The dim Sums are amazing!

My friends and I came to J. Zhou to get dim sum. We ordered a variety of dishes to share. Honestly, the dishes were okay. I've had way better Chinese food in the past. It's just basic and the food was mediocre. The noodle dish was really good though. There wasn't much service and they forgot one of our orders too. I liked how you can just order everything from the menu instead of them pushing a cart. Some of the servers came over to us with different types of food if we wanted to try it. The restaurant is very big and spacious for any parties. However, I feel like there's way better places to get Chinese food in Irvine, Tustin, or Costa Mesa.

I've only come here for dim sum. They have all the dishes you can want- prob the best dimsum in the from Tustin all the way to South county. Docking one star because of their high prices compared to other places in the SGV, but you are eating at a very elaborately decked out restaurant and the service is still pretty good - fast and somewhat attentive. This has become my go-to dimsum place!

Meh. You can put lipstick on a pig, but it's still a pig. Despite the instant queue for seating upon opening, the overwhelming prevalence of Asian diners, and the grand décor in the open and airy banquet room, J.Zhou is assuredly swine. With so many visibly reassuring indicators, I had much higher expectations of our Sunday dim sum brunch. I should have trusted the reliable Yelp reviews to better set my anticipation barometer -- if anything, three stars feels generous to me. As others have noted, obtaining condiments at this joint is a lesson in futility. What dim sum restaurant doesn't offer chili oil or hot mustard? I can't recall ever experiencing such a thing. We were seated next to a tray of chili oil jars that appeared to be for sale -- at no point did any of the servers explain that we could purchase chili oil for a surcharge, either. Like, what? When it comes to the quality of the food, the story sadly doesn't get any better. The crystal shrimp dumplings and sao mai were decent, but the shrimp cheong fun were disproportionately starchy, and the "scallion pancakes..." resembled papadam more than any kind of scallion pancake I've ever seen. The markup on ingredients and labor here is astronomical. The stir-fried rice noodles with a few sprigs of green beans ran a whopping $12. A bowl of preserved egg and pork congee ran nearly $10. If you told me there was even one whole preserved egg and more than two ounces of pork in our bowl, I'd be flabbergasted. All in, with tax and tip, our party of four ran up a $135-ish bill. We do about that much damage at Din Tai Fung, but the quality and service here maybe warrants half that price tag. Needless to say, if this is par for the course on Chinese food around Irvine, I definitely haven't been missing out. We might not have the relative proportion of Asian population in NYC, but our food scene is miles ahead.

Dishes were well prepared and all arrived fairly quickly. Wasn't a huge fan of the truffle infused chicken that the server was recommending to everyone, but our other dishes were great- especially liked the roast duck.

OC doesn't have nearly as many good dim sum restaurants as San Gabriel Valley, so J zhou is a pretty good choice when I crave some nearby. The restaurant is always busy on weekends and it would be best to go as soon as it opens to avoid the long wait time. My favorite dishes are the shrimp dumplings, tofu skin roll with meat and veggies, steamed beef tripe, and stir fried pea pod. For someone with a sweet tooth, the egg tart and bun with runny egg yolks are both delicious. Service can be slow sometimes and you may have to follow up multiple times for specific items to come...