My friend told me he had just been to the new Charlie Palmer that opened at South Coast and that it was good. I wanted to try it so we went there for lunch.

The restaurant was done in brown leather and cream fabrics. The leather booths that surrounded the edges of the dining room were made with rolled logs made of brown leather so it looked like a wooden bench. All the textiles had very lovely textures, similar to Frette sheets. The high ceilings and big modern chandeliers made for a comfortable atmosphere.

The food, however was very different than the well designed dining room. The menu was developed by making odd combinations in classic dishes in such a way that it was no longer traditional at all. I ordered the southern fried chicken sliders and my friend got the kobe beef sliders. We also shared the farro risotto with morels. None of the dishes we ordered were any good. The fried chicken sliders were probably the best and even they weren’t especially good. The cheddar gravy that topped the thick fried chicken breast was tasty but tasted more Indian than Southern. I had the new southern fried chicken sandwich from McDonald’s a few days later and I actually think the McDonald’s one was better. Surprisingly, they are approximately the same price as three sliders were $10 at Charlie Palmer compared to a little under $3 for the McDonald’s sandwiches. So I guess the sliders at Charlie Palmers is actually pretty cheap. It is sad though when you get compared to McDonald’s in a taste test and lose . The kobe beef sliders were actually very bad. The patty was pureed to mush and the meat did not taste fresh at all. My friend ended up only eating one of her sliders and she didn’t even want to take home her leftovers. The farro risotto was just off. It had a very strange taste. Even though it was made in the same style as a risotto, I felt it was a misnomer. It tasted nothing like a risotto, more like a very starchy oatmeal. We started picking out the morels and eating them alone and even thought they were my favorite mushrooms, I couldn’t even finish them. They were coated with the starch from the farro and the parmesan did not not pair with the dish at all.

My friend said the dinner menu was a lot better but I’m not sure if I’d be willing to go again. It seems very bad odds when three of the three dishes you get are bad. Though I should mention, they did have a fresh bread basket that had an awesome mini baguette. But unless you’re planning on just eating bread, I think I would pass on this new restaurant.