Little pockets of deliciousness! (Ping Pong (London))

Member Name: glitter_princess

Product:	Ping Pong (London)
Date:	24/02/09 (250 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great and healthy food, buzzy atmosphere, reasonable price

Disadvantages: None

Ping Pong is a small restaurant chain that seems to have taken off in London over the last few years. It serves Dim Sum, which according to Ping Pong translates as "little pockets of deliciousness", and has been a big hit with me and everyone I've visited with.

My most recent visit to Ping Pong was to celebrate my 4 year anniversary with my boyfriend. We were going to the theatre at 7.30, so we wanted a restaurant that was central, reasonably priced, and that would not be empty and dead at 5.30 on a Saturday as I hate the feeling of being the only people in a restaurant and having all eyes on you while you eat your meal. In all respects Ping Pong matched up to this admirably and we ate at the Waterloo restaurant on the South Bank this time, although we have eaten at many others in the past and found them to be of a consistent quality.

The atmosphere in Ping Pong is great - walking into it I was struck by the décor, which is all dark wood, the lighting is fairly low, but not so low that you can't see what it is you're eating, and the background music tends to be fairly laid back electronica. All of these elements combine to give a trendy but laid back feel - it's not so uber trendy that it's offputting, there were a variety of people of all different ages in the restaurant, so definitely not a 'trendy' young person's place. There are different sizes of tables - you can sit at a small square table for two, or a huge circular table which seats about 10 people, or some Ping Pongs (the Great Marlborough St one I recall) have seating around the bar. The seating is low benches, so probably not suitable for those with a bad back, but gives a nice modern feel. When we arrived at 5.30, the restaurant was quiet, but certainly not empty with maybe 7 other couples around the restaurant. We were seated this time on a big circular table, sharing with another couple seated on the opposite side. I know some people find this communal style of eating offputting, but I don't have a problem with it myself, particularly when the restaurant uses circular table as in Ping Pong, finding it creates a relaxed and chatty atmosphere as it's much easier to talk to your partner if you are next to them rather than sat across a table. There are also coat stands to hang up your coat, so no need to put it on the seat next to you or on the floor.

Ping Pong serve a range of drinks, including Chinese beer, and a fairly large cocktail list (including non-alcoholic cocktails) with a large selection of martinis (lychee and roses appealed to my girly side) and long cocktails (Wasabi and Amaretto sour possibly one just for the adventurous!) We both went for cocktails - my Raspberry and Bourbon one proving a big hit with me! The most popular drink to opt for judging by the other diners though is the Jasmine tea. The tea is served in a glass with a jasmine flower in and the waiter will drop by to pour hot water into it, served from a beautiful copper kettle. As the hot water works its magic, the jasmine flower opens and blooms. The effect is really beautiful and spectacular, it's just a shame that the one time we opted for this, I realised very quickly that I really don't like Jasmine tea, however pretty it is! But if herbal/flavoured teas are your thing, this is a must have and a real attention seeker.

The concept of Dim Sum is very cute - each dish is made up of between 3-5 mouthful sized parcels, baked or steamed and included a variety of ingredients. When you sit down you are given a paper menu which lists all the varieties of Dim Sum available and a pencil. You order however many dishes you think will fill you up (and beware, it's easy to overorder, as my Grandma would say, eyes bigger than your belly!) by marking a cross against it and then the waitress will arrive to take your order. The choice of different dishes available is staggering and utterly mouthwatering - you can choose from pastries like Pork Puffs or Char Sui Buns (honey barbeque pork wrapped in steamed fluffy dough bun), prawn toasts, or veggie dishes like sticky rice wrapped in a lotus leaf (don't try to eat the leaf as we saw one lady trying to do!), or spinach and mushroom dumplings. There is plenty to choose from and plenty of veggie variations. I would say about 5 dishes should be enough to fill two hungry stomachs, or if you are feeling unsure, you can opt for a set menu which gives a selection of dishes from across the menu. We opted for the Char Sui Buns (the boyfriend's favourite), Prawn toasts (my favourite), Pork Puffs, some duck spring rolls, Spinach and Mushroom dumplings and some seafood sticky rice.

The dishes tend to be delivered as they become ready, which unlike Wagamama, isn't a problem as they are all bite size dishes which don't rely on the others to make up the meal, so you don't end up with one person eating and the other waiting. It also makes a nice laid back meal, as the remaining dishes tend to arrive just as you finish one. As the waitress delivered each meal, she would cross it off the paper menu where we had placed our order, so we could easily keep track of what the dishes in front of us were and what was left to arrive. After ordering our dishes, the waitress brought us two little dishes of dipping sauces, one was chilli oil, and the other was a chopped chilli sauce. For those with sensitive palettes, beware of the chopped chilli sauce - my boyfriend is a sensitive chap and found this far too spicy! For the more adventurous (like me!), this was the perfect accompaniment to a few of the dishes. The steamed dishes are served in bamboo baskets, to ensure they are kept warm until you are ready to eat them, while the other dishes are served on individual white china plates. The seafood sticky rice is particularly interestingly presented, arriving wrapped in a leaf bundle that you unwrap to reveal a square of very sticky and sweet rice. The table is set with your own plate, which you then serve the Dim Sum onto using Chop Sticks. Chop Sticks are the standard cutlery tool and you will need to ask for knife and fork if you need them, but to be honest, the Dim Sum are usually perfectly manageable, even for those not so proficient in handling chopsticks! And if that fails, there's always your fingers if you're sneaky!

The food itself is great. I love Dim Sum, as you can get such a variety of different dishes in one meal and really satisfies someone like me who often has real trouble choosing just one thing off the menu and normally ends up sampling other people's dishes as well! Because so much of the dishes are steamed, it's also very healthy, and because you eat a little at a time, your body has time to realise when it's full and you can stop eating. I find the dishes are generally lovely and tasty, the quality of the meat is good (not always the case in Dim Sum, and I am particularly picky when it comes to tough or gristley meat), and they don't tend to be particularly spicy, which is always good for the sensitive among us. For those who like things a bit spicier, the dipping sauces are perfect for hotting things up a little and giving it a little kick. The only problem when dining as a couple is that there tends to be either 3 or 5 of each item, which results in the inevitable dividing up of items at the end, trading off to ensure everyone gets a combination they are happy with.

Service is generally very good. We were seated promptly and our order was taken quickly. Drinks arrived quickly, as did the food. The only problem we encountered was in trying to get the bill, by which time it was very busy, with every seat in the restaurant being full, and was rather difficult to get the waiter's attention. Despite this, it wasn't really a problem and we did get the bill once asked promptly.

I did pay a visit to the toilet before we left and they were clean and fitted in the same dark wood style as the restaurant. The sinks are great - a steel trough, rather than individual sinks, and I was slightly taken aback to see that I could see someone washing their hands on the other side of the sink - the men's toilets! Strange, but made me laugh anyway.

Our meal cost us £48, including service, which when you bear in mind it included 4 cocktails is not bad at all. Because we were celebrating an anniversary, we were a bit more extravagant in what we ordered than we would have been normally, but the price still didn't come close to what it would have had we visited a more upmarket restaurant.

Ping Pong have restaurants in Waterloo, Great Marlborough St (just behind Oxford Street), Marylebone Goodge Street, Westbourne Grove, Hampstead, St Katherines Dock and Spitalfields and I would thoroughly recommend them for a reasonably priced meal out. It does tend to get very busy and popular on weekend evenings and you are not able to book, so if you are looking for something very quick, unless you're early like we were, this probably isn't the best option! I remember on one occasion last year waiting for nearly an hour to be seated (not a problem, as we had plenty of time and had a seat in the bar upstairs and were given one of those strange bleeping machines to indicate when your table is ready, but definitely something to bear in mind if you do need to head somewhere afterwards) I wouldn't be at all surprised to see Ping Pong expanding into other cities soon as they are clearly so popular and successful in London.

Summary: Step in for some Chinese Dim Sum and cocktails