Ping Pong (South Bank)

Yes, the ersatz Japanese decor looks wrong...and the piped, coffee-table dance music is irritating, but I genuinely enjoyed eating here. The staff were friendly and attentive, the place spotless - (In contrast with the Marylebone branch, which felt like eating in a rubbish-strewn corridor) - and the dim sum just the right side of stodgy for tired feet on a lifeless, rainy afternoon.

I don't think Ping Pong has ever pretended to be the finest dim sum dining experience - and I do appreciate gripes about some of the prices - but I think it's perfect for a quick fix of comfort food.
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Mark
Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 4
Friday, August 29, 2008

Not good. Poor food and service, which is such a shame given the location and decor are both breathtaking. Ok, I know it is a chain, but within a few years it seems to have gone downhill. I agree the food lacks delicacy, and most importantantly any definiable taste. The puffs are underfilled, the dumplings stoggy and spring rolls greasy. All dipping sauces came straight out of a jar. The only good dish was the aubergine. Service is completely disinterested.
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SP - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 5
Sunday, June 29, 2008

Went there for a sunday lunch with 7 friends. In a nutshell:

- slightly overpriced compared to other other sim sum places

- food quality was good but in itself doesn't warrant a premium over other dim sum places

- very noisy room. They need to apply some of that noice absorbing stuff on the walls. It certainly didn't help foster in-depth discussions

- on a positive note, loved the lychee ice tea! i recommend it!
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Louis
Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 4
Saturday, May 03, 2008

I had dinner in Ping Pong and I have to say that the food was good but not as tasty / good quality as Yauatcha.The service is awful, we had to ask for everything otherwise they ignore you. I have seen this waiters attitude in a few restaurants in london like Busaba. The waiters just bring the plates to you but do not try to be nice or helpful. They basically ignore you.The manager should keep an eye on the waiters but was to busy talking and laughing with her colleagues. It is a real pity coz the restaurant and bar are quite cool and trendy. So I will spend my money in a better restaurant next time. Will not come back!!
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aida
Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 3
Saturday, May 03, 2008

Disappointing. As other review have pointed out, most of the dishes are cooked from frozen, the spring rolls were chewy, overcooked and tasteless. The dumplings meanwhile were slimy, although the fillings were passable.

There were some positives, the drink selection was interesting and the iced tea with lemongrass was a nice clean relief from the greasy end of the menu. The service was chaotic and a little odd, but it was personable enough.

Overall, its not too expensive, but the food is bland and poorly prepared. Decor and service fail to make up for its culinary shortcomings.

Possibly worth popping in for a drink, but otherwise go to feng sushi, canteen... or anywhere else on southbank. Pity as was looking forward to a relaxed sunday lunch, defintately didn't feel like a treat.
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Doug
Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 4
Sunday, April 27, 2008

I've been keen to try this place for a while having often walked past and seen them queuing out the door. The food was pretty good on the whole - lots of choice and quite good portion sizes for the price.

However, the service was appalling. It was very hard to get anyone's attention to order. Then they kept on bringing the wrong dishes and quibbled when we pointed this out. They also managed to bring one too many orders of one dish - they didn't want to take it back so said 'just keep it, we won't charge you'. Unsurprisingly this extra dish popped up on the bill and it took a lot of arguing to get it removed. We didn't feel they really deserved the 12.5% service that had been added to only paid half - this of course was noticed and again they tried forcing us to pay up. Not a great experience.
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Louisa
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 7
Thursday, April 24, 2008

Ate on a Sunday afternoon. Dim sum fine. Limited menu at this time.No noodles available to bulk things up a little, especially for the kids. Great "exploding" teas well worth the novelty first time round. This isnt china town, but then again it isnt china town if you see what i mean. Average overall bill, good value wines. For 4 1/2 it was £85. Service was fine although a little distracted and leisurely.
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Mark Hindley
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 7
Thursday, March 06, 2008

Difficult to find any positives here.

For anyone used to dim sum, the food is disappointing: the dumplings are cooked from frozen, and none of the food had any delicacy.

The tables are filthy - the staff clean them with anti-bacterial spray and paper towels whilst you eat next to them. Nice.

The wait staff are inefficient, but hardly to blame here. This is simply a bad product.

It's inexpensive, but for the same money you can eat well in Chinatown.
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macabstract - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 3
Sunday, December 02, 2007

Fab food! my hubby and I dined at this restaurant on Friday night prior to catching a show. The restaurant doesn't take bookings, we arrived at 6.15 and was promptly able to get a table (there was a long queue when we walked past at 10pm though) The food was fantastic, the service very efficient and I think the bill very reasonable. We had 6 steamed dishes, the Wakame Prawn wrap and the crispy hoi sin duck. All of the food was really tasty however the Wakame prawn wrap, chive dim sum and spicy chicken dim sum were absolutely beautiful. We found that our order was just enough, any less and we would have still been hungry, but might have still been able to have a little more that what we did order. We were done by 7.15 and the bill came to £35 incl of drinks. Would highly recommend this place and will definitely go back
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Swati - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 9
Monday, September 10, 2007

Good place for dim sum if you can't make it to China Town for whatever reason (I am normally reluctant to recommend a non-China Town eaterie for dim sum so this is an exception!). Ping Pong is relatively pricey but it is very nice. The atmosphere is more chilled than a manic China Town restaurant and the pork puffs are always a winner. Just gotta remember not to over order next time. It is a lovely restaurant aestically and the acoustics are better than the one in Great Marlborough St.
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Ella - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 7
Saturday, August 11, 2007