One thing I always liked to say about Perl-based services/sites, is that they, like Perl (and the Camel) are "Ugly, but efficient". No one could say del.icio.us or slashdot were the "flashiest" around, but it didn't detract from their functionality, or success. In fact, del.icio.us' new coat of paint doesn't disguise the fact that despite an entire site/codebase overhaul, the actual service remains about the same, with very little actually added to it.

Now, I may claim that RoR-based sites are not that "Flashy" which is in the eyes of the beholder, but I might not be alone in claiming that the more-successful services, like myspace or facebook are there not because of eye candy, but because of other things (not to mention highly-successful, yet visually-atrocious sites).

These days, I believe "flashy" is being (slowly) replaced by "clean, clear, and cool". Either way, it's nothing to do with the underlying framework. You can do ugly in any language.