24. April 2010: Restaurant Ping Pong
The Restaurant Ping Pong is situated close to the Thames river, in walking distance from “London Eye”, the “Big Ben”, the “Houses of Parliament” and the “Westminster Abbey”. Furthermore, it’s in walking distance of the “Waterloo” station (National Railways, Bakerloo line, Jubilee line, Northern line and Waterloo & City line).
It looks somewhat nice from the outside and also the impression in the inside is good. It’s stylishly furnished and it offers wide space with big tables inside. It’s really nice to sit outside when the weather is good, the only shortcomming there is that you’re somehow close to the street plus the tables are quite small when you’re having more than one dish.
The waiters are friendly and helpful, serving you the menu right away. It takes quite some time though till they bring you the drinks as they take the full order including food order at once and not in two pieces (so you’d actually already have something to drink). The order-concept is quite funny as you have to actually choose by crossing the dishes on a list which you then hand in to the waiter.
A highlight is definitely the special teas they have. Not so much in taste (it’s tea and it’s good, but that’s it) but much more the way the tea bag evolves in the hot water. What seems to be a dry flower which is your tea bag, becomes a real “blooming” flower after a while (see picture below). It really looks impressive and is a nice surprise! There are around four different teas and you should definitely try at least one of them (furthermore, because you can get spicy sauce, it’s also good against the spicyness).
We enjoyed a vast amount of different dim sung plates and I must admit, that they were very good! Although I personally do not really have a benchmark when it comes to Chinese food, I absolutely loved it. The only thing which somehow wasn’t optimal is the fact that you get three of everything – especially when you’re two people, it’s kinda suboptimal (as 2 or 4 would be dividable more easily). Furthermore, we’ve ordered two kinds of rice and we only got one – service or kitchen failed here. But the quality of the food with regards to taste is great!
Finally, we’ve had desert and the chocolate cake with chili is definitely good, but make sure you still have something to drink in order to actually prevent from the spicyness (as it really is spicy).
The surprise at the end was the price because although each dish costs only around $3.99 it adds quite up when you’re having several of them plus drinks. Still, the Restaurant Ping Pong is a great place to go when you’re close to Big Ben or London Eye as it is in walking distance, in a quiet neighbourhood, giving a nice atmosphere, good service, great food for resonable prices!
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Contact Details:
Restaurant Ping Pong
Festival Terrace
South Bank Centre
Belvedere Road
SE1 8XX London (UK)
Tel.: +44 20 79 60 41 60
Homepage: http://www.pingpongdimsum.com
About the Author: Sven
I started the blog in October 2009, while living in Milan which I definitely consider to be one of the food capitals of the world. I was in touch with food since my early childhood (as my father is a former chef). Whenever I can, I travel the world to discover new places, to meet people but mostly to try local dishes and to find hidden gems! If you know a place worth going, please drop a line to: info@thediningexperience.org.
Currently, I am a member of the following food-related associations: Chevalier @Chaîne des Rôtisseurs Zurich-Ville; Membre Gourmet Dégustateur @Ordre Mondial des Gourmets Dégustateurs [OMGD]; Gesellschafter @Goldener Fisch and Member @Slowfood Convivium Zurich City. 
