Ping Pong – South Bank

Just before the Christmas holidays, we were lucky enough to be taken out for dinner by our friends from Digital Tribe. It was a fantastic evening at Ping Pong filled with amazing food, good company and a great atmosphere.

Ping Pong is a funky dim sum restaurant and feels quite unique. It’s atmosphere is helped by the DJ style music playing in the background.

Our evening started off with some cocktails. There was a huge range of drinks including cocktails, wine, juices and teas. The flowering teas are very pretty to the eye and also taste good to the palate.

The pineapple, coconut and lime non-alcoholic cocktail is a favourite of mine. It’s served in a tall glass and is a really moreish drink. I could easily have had a couple of these throughout the meal but it is a filling drink.

We couldn’t decide on which dim sum dishes to have as there was so much choice. So to make things that little bit easier, a couple of us (not including myself) took the executive decision to order the Extravaganza and the Vegetarian Extravaganza Set Menus.

To start the Extravaganza, the nibbles were spicy nuts and seaweed crackers. They were nice to have as an accompaniment to the meal. For the rest of the main meal, I only had items from the Vegetarian menu.

The dim sum included a selection of steamed, fried and baked items. The baked hoi sin vegetable puffs were really nice with the sweet taste of the glazed honey coming through. The baskets of steamed vegetable dumplings were made up of crunchy golden dumplings, spinach and mushroom dumplings and spicy hot dumplings. All were great and it was difficult to have a favourite. But if I did have to choose one, then it would have to be the spinach and mushroom dumplings.

Two different types of spring rolls came as part of our meal. One was filled with vegetable and tofu and the other had mixed vegetables. Both were equally nice and crispy.

There were two dishes that were quite different and that I wasn’t expecting. The vegetables and beans in a black bean sauce was the dish of the coconut rice clay pot. I really enjoyed this combination of vegetables and beans together with the rice. The five spice Chinese mushrooms and black fungus were presented in a steam basket. The mushrooms were really juicy.

To go with our huge Extravaganza, we had lots of different dipping sauces! These included five spice chestnut, spicy mango, sweet and sour, and hoi sin.

If that wasn’t enough food, we still had the dessert part of the Set menu to come. The mango pudding with mango puree had the right sweetness and texture too.

For chocolate fans, there was the chilli and chocolate mousse. This rich mousse had a real kick to it and the chilli was just that little bit too strong for me. Another chocolate based dessert was the fluffy white bun. This had a filling of Valrhona chocolate and came with coconut puree. The bun was really soft with the melted chocolate inside. It was a lot lighter than the mousse.

The pudding that looked the most intriguing was the black and white rice with mango puree. The rice was split into two layers with the puree on the side. I was surprised that I actually liked the taste of the rice as a dessert item.

Ping Pong gave us very fast and efficient service. The dishes were brought out all throughout the meal. The staff were friendly and very attentive. It was nice that they pointed out which dishes were pure vegetarian including the desserts.

Ping Pong has a great variety of food and drink. There are lots of different dishes and flavours and it has something to suit everyone’s tastebuds. They always seem to be updating their menu with new items. One thing to note is that Ping Pong only take reservations for groups of eight or more.

Ping Pong, Festival Terrace, Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London, SE1 8XX

Rating: ★★★★★
Ping Pong Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - ZomatoPing Pong Southbank

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.