Ping Pong Dim Sum

Ping Pong is just two blocks north of the Chinatown/Gallery Place Metro on the Red line, close enough to still be considered a part of Chinatown DC proper. If you’re not entirely sure of this fact, look across the street. Even the Hooters has Chinese script on their sign out front. Have you ever seen Chinese Hooters?

No?

Me neither.

I’m not writing this post to talk about Hooters though, it’s about the latest addition to Chinatown’s actual Chinese food offerings.  I can’t remember the last time that’s happened.  So what makes Ping Pong so great?

Dim Sum.

All.

Day.

Long.

It’s almost my fantasties come true (throw in a pool noodle, a ping pong paddle, lots of bacon grease, and some bunny slippers, and we’re a lot closer).   I love yum cha.  Why?  It’s my gastro-fascination with compartmentalized food, which is clearly a result of my upbringing.  Yum cha was a regular event when I was growing up, so I was frequently exposed to steamed buns, dumplings, all all sorts of delicious Chinese delicacies.  So when Jen and I were walking around town, I made it with no unclear terms that we MUST eat there.

The decor is sleek and modern, outfitted as a modern Chinese teahouse.  Black paneled wood adorns the walls as well as the furniture, and seats are either stools or benches, just like you’d find in China.

Maybe in 3000 BC.

Still, it’s not a discredit to the efforts of the decorator-  everything is tastefully done.  The restaurant has a very open and expansive feeling, and nothing comes off as gaudy or cheap.

The food is admittedly a bit more expensive than what you’d pay at any other local yum cha-ery, and you don’t have quite the same experience.  Little steel cart mavens are not weaving between tables, hawking steel containers of delight. Tour buses do not drop off traveling, hungry, bug-eyed Chinese tourists here.  The bathrooms are not nuclear hazardous waste dump sites.

Definitely not quite the same experience.

The restaurant here wasn’t completely quiet, but perhaps us coming in at the tail-end of lunchtime helped.  We were immediately seated, and I dove into the food menu, as Jen did the same with the drinks.

It’s hard to recall exactly everything we ordered, as yum cha usually involves a large wide swath of destruction reaped on the food as soon as it’s brought to the table.  Jen and I did just that, like two raptors viciously tearing into a fallen T-Rex.  a raptor tearing into a T-Rex, and an ankylosaurus, gently nibbling on some trees.  We found it easiest to each go with a set menu that had a variety of things to try, and then added a few additional dishes a la carte.  All the fixed menus come with two baked vegetable buns, stuffed with mooli and spring onions.

Jen had the Vegetarian Lunch (2 golden vegetable dumplings, 1 vegetable bao (white bun) , 2 spicy vegetable dumplings, 1 vegetarian sticky rice parcel) and I went with something, well, more appropriately named to my fixation on yum cha.  The ‘Dumpling Fix’.

Dumpling Fix - 1 chive dumpling, 1 shrimp dumpling, 1 scallop and shiitake dumpling, 1 seafood dumpling, 1 golden vegetable dumpling, 1 spicy chicken dumpling, and a sticky rice parcel

We added several other dishes, like the Char Siu Bao (BBQ Pork Bun) for me, some vegetarian spring rolls for the two of us to share, and even some Valhalla Chocolate Buns for dessert.

Char Siu Bao

Spring Rolls

Valhalla Chocolate Buns

I was very happy with the food here.  The dishes are excellent, and some of the modern twists and uses of high quality ingredients are evident with every bite.  Jen enjoyed the food as well, but maybe not to the same levels of fanaticism displayed by me.

I’d highly recommend Ping Pong to anyone who enjoys Chinese food (and who doesn’t enjoy Chinese food? Maybe the Taiwanese)  and the all-day availability is a huge bonus.  Steamed prawn dumplings at 11am?  No problem.  BBQ pork buns for a mid-afternoon snack?  No problem.  Sticky rice parcels at 9pm?  No problem.  A Chinese hooker who claims she has your baby after your last visit to Shanghai three years ago?

Well.  That’s definitely a problem.

So what gives?  Why is this place so different from your typical American yum cha establishments?

It turns out that Ping Pong is actually a chain, imported straight over the pond from London, where they boast 12 locations throughout the city full of limey blokes, wankers, and chavs (just kidding, I actually love the Brits).  And the universal truth of British gastronomy still stands- The only good food you’ll find in London is either going to be Indian, Middle Eastern, or Chinese.

Ping Pong can be seen on a map here.

Recommended for:

• Dumpling whores
• Chinese food lovers
• Vegetarians
• Germaphobes

Not Recommended for:

• Budget diners
• Chopstick klutzes
• Zone Dieters
• Paleo heads