Food
Back again, and all because Ping Pong is running one of their opening specials. Not only were we able to get the cocktails for free, we lot to do “Lazy Sunday” on a weeknight….and that is now we ended up eating the huge list of food below:
- Blackcurrant and hibiscus royale (£6.29) - Finlandia vodka, Chambord, blackcurrant and hibiscus iced tea topped with Veuve Delaroy Champagne - was really bad…tasted like medicine. So it just proves expensive is not necessary better.
- Pear and cinnamon (£6.19) - José Cuervo tradicional tequila, pear purée and apple juice sprinkled with toasted cinnamon - very funny, refreshing pair with a hint of sweetness
- Wasabi peanuts (£1.09) - Large peanuts coated in crispy spicy horseradish - I love wasabi peanuts, and these have a real kick
- Chicken wonton soup (£3.19) - Light broth with chicken wontons - these have good quality meat…and maybe that’s the problem….the meat is too good quality so didn’t give the wontons that fatty, slimy taste. These wontons were so solid and I am sure actually good for you.
- Hot and sour soup with quail (£3.19) - A hot and sour soup with quail, goji berries, bamboo shoots and water chestnuts - not that hot, and tasted quite strange with the goji berries.
- Lamb ‘Yuen Yen Ton’ soup (£3.19) - Sichuan pepper lamb with asparagus, baby corn, Chinese leaf in a sour soy soup - I like this a lot. The soup was tangy and a little spicy.
- Lamb puff (£3.29) - Tender lamb braised in soy sauce and Sichuan pepper in hand made puff pastry glazed with honey - small balls of puff that actually pack in a lot of flavour
- Spinach and beef dumpling (£3.39) - Beef and spinach with ginger paste in ginger sauce in wheat flour pastry - we hadn’t tried these before, and I was a bit sketical considering they were fried. But they were very nice, with good quality ingredients and not oil soaked as I expected
- Crispy Thai chicken spring roll (£2.99) - Chicken and prawns with chilli, coriander and lemongrass wrapped in bean curd skin and served with chilli fish sauce - we had these before, and they were kinda oily with not much in terms of filling, Thrills only for the crunch.
- Crispy prawn ball (£3.39) - Chopped king prawns and spring onions in shredded egg pastry served with sweet and sour sauce - a bit too oily for me, but has fresh taste of prawns
- Har gau (£3.19) - King prawns and bamboo shoots in translucent white pastry - the pastry seems to be done less well here than at St Katherines Dock.
- Scallop and shitake dumpling (£3.39) - Scallops and king prawns with shitake mushrooms in wheat flour pastry - ditto.
- Pork Shu mai (£3.39) - Pork and king prawns in an open pastry topped with a Chinese wolfberry - excellent.
- Seafood dumpling (£3.39) - Snow crab, prawns and scallops in carrot pastry - not the best dumpling, but good enough on a buffet menu
- Soft shell crab (£4.29) - Whole soft shell crab in a crispy coating - we ordered a lot – since you only get a tiny portion each time.
- Spinach and mushroom dumpling (£2.99) - Spinach and mushrooms seasoned with ginger and garlic in wheat flour pastry - still one of my favourite dumplings
- Choy sum (£3.19) - Steamed choy sum in soy sauce topped with garlic - I knew if this wasn’t a buffet, I would never order this. But we got our fill of the vegetables – which were a little oily, but fresh.
- Crispy aubergine (£3.29) - Fried marinated aubergine chunks with garlic and sesame oil - quite a large portion and a little too heavy on the batter.
- Ramen noodles
and poached salmon (£3.99) - Poached salmon with baby spinach with ramen noodles tossed in a sesame soy dressing with fresh basil and lemon - this was lovely. The salmon was fresh and generous with a yummy dressing. I skipped the ramen though. - Pak choy (£3.19) - Steamed pak choy in ginger and garlic sauce - yummy vegetables, but we were getting quite full to do it justice
Rating - 6.5
Atmosphere
Well, all the Ping Pongs look the same. We were unfortunately put in a very bad position, close to the door and very close to two other talbe, as we had only 2 people, even though some of the bigger, better table were empty. I like the St Katherine’s space in terms of layout better, but I guess you have to work with the space you’ve got.
Rating - 1.5
Service
Our waiter was certainly honest, and tried to advise everyone to order so they could get the best deal. When he forgot to give us our drinks for free, he freely admitted to his mistakes. He actually made our meal more memorable, definitely something I didn’t expect from Ping Pong.
Rating - 4
C-factor
We had the "lazy Sunday" on a weeknight, and got our cocktails for free. The final bill came to £34.99, good value in my books considering how much we ate. I would never order some of these items, such as the wasabi peas, if it wasn’t all you can eat though, as they are definitely overpriced.
Rating - 1.5
Brownie Points - 13.5
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3 Appold Street
London
EC2A 2AF
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