Most Overrated Restaurant In Beijing

Reviewed by panjialang on Tue, 02/08/2011 - 16:24
panjialang's picture panjialang
panjialang
Joined: Oct 30, 2008
Posts: 1
Review of La Pizza
1

I just wrote a review for The Park Restaurant, a place which I believe serves up the best pizza in Beijing.

http://www.thebeijinger.com/directory/The-Park-Restaurant

My first and only (and last) visit to La Pizza was over a year ago but seeing as how I just wrote up The Park I figured I'd share my opinion about this place too since it recently topped Time Out's list.

First of all, I honest-to-God believe the owner is bribing people and/or has connections in high places. You'll notice this directory listing of reviews is full of either one-star reviews or five-star reviews. Believe the one-star reviews.

So I went there when it first opened and was super excited. There was a lot of hype surrounding its opening and interestingly enough that hype remains today.

We started with appetizers, some kind of meatballs, I just remember them being WAY too overpriced for what turned out to be like three or four really small, dry and cakey meatballs.

Then we got a vegetable spaghetti-type dish which I could've made myself at home and it would've tasted better and have been much cheaper.

At this point I was thinking to myself "WTF?" but I figured well, maybe they can't cook other dishes worth a dang because they focus so hard on making awesome pizza?

Then we ordered a pizza. First of all it took FOREVER to bring it out. Then when it finally arrived, it was served on ALUMINUM FOIL. How a place that presents itself as a gift from the Gods of Italian Pizza serves pizza on something your mom uses when she reheats Domino's in the toaster oven was a huge shock to me.

Anyway, the pizza, if you haven't guessed by now, was terrible. Totally bland, totally flavorless. It tasted like ketchup on matzo bread with Kraft cheese singles. <--- (OK, that's just plain disgusting...but it was pretty bad.)

You'll notice the differences in my writing style for this review and for The Park. That's because the people at The Park obviously take their time to meticulously present their customers with well-crafted food and drink, while La Pizza just shovels crap in your mouth. I'm just doing what I can to bring some justice to good restaurants and shed some light on the farce that is La Pizza.

Again, NO idea why this place is consistently trumpeted as #1...I suspect the Mafia has something to do with it.

Comments

LondonMilk's picture LondonMilk Submitted by Guest on Wed, 02/09/2011 - 10:11

I also agree, I have already reviewed this restaurant at the Solana location a while back. Although the pizza tastes ok-ish, the rest of the experience leaves a lot to be desired from decor to service etc.

Ive already got my favourites in Beijing, and this isn't it...

evenflow's picture evenflow Submitted by Guest on Wed, 02/09/2011 - 11:05

I can not agree with the above reviews at all.

I have only eaten at the Sanlitun location, which is no-frills, quality, Italian home cooking and very reasonably priced. The style of pizza is authentic, simple and good quality, just as it should be.

Don't go to the place expecting a deep dish, frilly, american style "pie," expect a simple, authentic Italian pizza.

It may not be everyone's cup of tea, but for those who don't like authenticity, there is always Pizza Hut.

LondonMilk's picture LondonMilk Submitted by Guest on Wed, 02/09/2011 - 15:45

Its not even that. I do like simple italian pizza, which they do. But everything else about eating there overshadows the pizza, its a ropey experience.

Its like a pizza restaurant in a retail park in the West Midlands in 1989.

thecakedoctor's picture thecakedoctor Submitted by Guest on Wed, 02/09/2011 - 15:51

I ate at the Solana location on Sunday and have to agree with this reviewer entirely. Pizza was extremely disappointing. Thin crust, but soggy with watery tomato sauce and cheap cheese that just fell off the crust and pooled on the plate when you attempted to grab a slice. Chicken salad that was mainly iceberg lettuce, with a few straggly, skimpy chicken bits served with thousand island dressing. If I hadn't read all the positive reviews about this place I would have sworn I was in some cheap chinese pizza franchise.
Awful.

tomomalley's picture tomomalley Submitted by Guest on Wed, 02/09/2011 - 22:35

I think for a place to get written up as Best Pizza in TO and come in for this much flak says one thing: Beijing isn't exactly Naples. There's a serious shortage of genuinely good pizza here.

For the record, I only ate once at the Sanlitun spot but my Diavola pizza had tiny shreds of salami, not much cheese and - worst of all - underneath the base was soggy with oil.

My best Beijing pizza experience - which didn't make the TO list - was the English Breakfast pizza at Twilight. Crispy, hand stretched dough with a good flavor and really tasty toppings.

Click here and your wildest dreams will come true.

walls's picture walls Submitted by Guest on Thu, 02/10/2011 - 01:27

"Evenflow", like none of us (even Americans) can understand what authentic pizza is, give us a break! I ate at the Solana location last year and I agree with the OP the pizza has no flavor. Last week I ate at the place across the street La Napoli, it is authentic style and has flavor. So one place is getting it wrong. Which one?

I love my planet Vulcan. I'm proud of being a Vulcan in the universe.

ukkemp's picture ukkemp Submitted by Guest on Thu, 02/10/2011 - 09:10

i agree, the pizza there is really nothing special. I love a good italian pizza and have yet to find one that makes them. La Pizzas are to soggy and just bla and not very tasty...until someone can recommend a decent place i'll stick to either Hung Ho or Annie's delivery.....

evenflow's picture evenflow Submitted by Guest on Thu, 02/10/2011 - 11:20

I am yet to try the Solana branch, so can not comment on the quality there, but have enjoyed every visit to the Sanlitun location. From the reviews above, maybe consistency might not be their strong point. Maybe I was just lucky that the right chef was working at the times I chose to eat there. Either way, I do find it hard to believe I am the only person in Beijing who likes this place.

Musicism's picture Musicism Submitted by Guest on Thu, 02/10/2011 - 17:42

Hmm, interesting debate. I've been once to sanlitun and once to solana and was actually impressed both times. I keep meaning to go back but haven't done so yet. I am now all the more curious to do so, just see if this is a consistency issue or just a difference between peoples' expectations.

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