This is the very original Ping Pong and I can remember the buzz and excitment it aroused when it opened about 7 or 8 years ago. People would queue out the door for a table and it I was always taking friends there to show them this quite funky dim sum restaurant. Well several years on and there are Ping Pong's all over London. I'm pretty sure this is still the busiest. I hadn't actually been to this one for a while as my during my last visit a couple of years ago it was all looking quite tired inside. I also felt the food was getting a bit tired despite the presence of the open steamer at the entrance to the restaurant.
Anyway after a very nice lunch at their market Place branch I thought I would pop back and give this a go. I had a supplier in on Friday so I took him over for a quick bite. We wanted somewhere quick and reasonable so this seemed a good choice. We were shown to a pretty small table for two and I explained to my guest the idea behind the menu. He is from Leicester so had no idea of Ping Pong or Dim Sum in general. I ordered the usual selection of fried and steam rolls and they came pretty quickly. The dishes do look nice and the presentation is good.
Yet again I was dissapointed with the fried rolls which lacked flavour and tasted very dry. I imagine a lot of these are cooked from frozen yet they are very short on taste. The steamed dumplings were better as was the lotus leaf rice which my guest really enjoyed. Maybe my taste buds have become used to the Dim Sum at the ever excellent "Royal China" but this visit left me dissapointed. Even the Cha Sui buns lacked a bit of omph! However it was reasonable with our lunch plus a beer each coming in at £44. Service was friendly and quick so really it did do what we wanted. I just wish they could raise their game a bit with the food. The restaurant is still busy though so it is obviously getting it right.
Monday, November 08, 2010
Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 8