This place is a great spot for happy hour! You’ll pay as much as you would for a full dinner but it’s worth the cost. Top pics are the pulled park sliders and the honey roasted chicken puff. The cocktails are great– I’ve had both the lychee and rose martini and The Ping Pong and don’t deviate because the lychee martini is so amazing! Don’t do the regular dinner– prices are quite high and portions are small. Be prepared to wait awhile for each plate to come out.
Jasmine T.
Rating des Ortes: 4 Virginia Beach, VA
This is one of my favorite places to come in DC. I never come here without stopping at Ping Pong. I was a bit disappointed that there was a private party at the bar so I couldn’t sit there and watch the NBA finals. Total bummer. My food was ok. They took away so many of my favorite dumplings. The only thing still recognizable was the pastry puff. They also took away the lavender margarita which was a favorite of mine. The lychee and roses martini is always perfect so that did not disappoint. They also had misinformation on the website. It says they have late happy hour from 10pm to 12am. My waitress said that’s incorrect. They also advertise the shrimp and chives dumpling. That’s not on the menu anymore. To be honest with so many things off I don’t believe I will make it a point to return. I didn’t take off many stars because I don’t want be biased based off past experiences. To a new person this would probably all be acceptable
Jennifer E.
Rating des Ortes: 4 Lacombe, LA
We ordered lots of items and shared with the table. Photos posted. Service was very attentive and the servers explained what each dish was. Drinks were good as was the sake, tea and bubble tea. Highly recommend.
Tom L.
Rating des Ortes: 3 Columbus, OH
Ping Pong Dim Sum has an interesting modern layout and nothing seemed very traditional or authentic. Came on a Saturday and they had a smaller brunch menu available. They did not have a typical dim sum menu and the selections were just dim sum inspired. Overall the food was actually pretty good. It was definitely different than what we expected in a good way. The best thing was definitely the char sui bun. It is a little on the pricey end and the service was not very good. Our waitress was a little rude and forgot what we needed. All in all, a decent experience but not the best.
Tiffany L.
Rating des Ortes: 3 Fremont, CA
Good food, but not as delicious as authentic dim sum places nor terribly unique. We went during the happy hour, which was reasonably priced — the regular prices would’ve been atrocious for the amount of food you get. We tried the shrimp wontons(good but tiny), pork bao(good but one for $ 4 is a bit insane), the jasmine rice($ 2, basically the standard bowl of free rice you’d get anywhere else with some scallions on it), char siu bao(good), and the five spice pork rice($ 8, and the only thing on the menu I really felt was amazingly good and worth the price). Hubby had the coconut lychee rum drink which came fruity and pink but tasted great. Ambiance was nice. Definitely dim sum meets upscale sort of place. Service was good. Unfortunately, it just didn’t impress and we won’t be back.
Hoang T.
Rating des Ortes: 3 Philadelphia, PA
This is a «higher» end dim sum place that does not have dim sum carts. You use a card to check which dishes you want(like Nom Wah Tea Parlor) so the food is «fresher». They have a lunch special, $ 16 for a tapas portion«main dish» and 5 different dumplings. The dumplings weren’t your traditional dumplings… they offered some unique combinations. I’ll admit, they were pretty good except for the bluecrab one. which was disappointing as i saved that for my last bite and it wasn’t that good. For my main, i got 3 duck baos. These weren’t bad. The duck was pretty sweet, but that’s because they put the hoisin together with the meat like a sloppyjoe instead of spreading it on the bao. My colleagues got the same set menu but different main. The sichuan tofu was pretty spicy but nothing too special. The chicken with orange sauce was small as well. I think the 3 bao lunch special was the most economical and filling. The service was ok at the beginning but definitely fell flat throughout lunch. Dishes came out when they were done, which is fine but the kitchen was terribly slow for my two colleagues dishes. You’re paying for a modern, chic, and hip restaurant. The food was decent but not traditional dim sum flavors. and it cost $ 4 for jasmine tea which is basically free at all down and dirty dim sum places. Definitely expensive place for lunch and it wasn’t that filling.
Angela P.
Rating des Ortes: 4 San Diego, CA
Spacious restaurant with modern décor. My wife had the steamed dim sum sampler and it was in a perfect portion. I had the crispy chicken in orange sauce and the sauce was light and tasty. Not a heavy syrupy sauce like some places. Since we had been walking all day, we were still hungry after having our entrée so we added veggie spring rolls and the beef and spinach potstickers. Again, nice light and tasty fare! We stayed and enjoyed our wine after dinner and did not feel rushed at all. Great service!
Heather F.
Rating des Ortes: 1 New York, NY
Ugh… I only showed up to this place as my friend was throwing a happy hour networking party. The service is slow and looked like they would rather be any place than there. The drinks are nothing to write home about and the food was barely edible. Honestly, I don’t know how this place has stayed in business so long.
Erin R.
Rating des Ortes: 1 Washington, DC
It pains me to do this, because I used to love Ping Pong but my latest brunch was *extremely* disappointing. Their brunch is $ 28 for 1 entrée and 3 dim sum selections, which is a good amount of food but after my first bite I was excited to continue eating none of it. I ordered: Diet Coke: Only mentioned here because the soda was entirely flat. I informed the waiter and got a second one, which was only marginally better Hangar Steak: the menu didn’t mention eggs and this came with two fried eggs and about ¼th of a steak. You aren’t asked how you like the steak to be cooked, so well do it shall be, and loco sauce just wasn’t up my alley Chicken and Green tea dumpling: Sounds interesting but this just doesn’t work. Beef dumpling: Way too plain, it was like eating some steamed plain ground beef Shrimp and Pork Shumai: This one was ok, a lot of meat compared to the others, but nothing special Duck steamed bun: The best thing I ordered by far, flavorful duck and chewy steamed bun So after tax and tip I ended up pay $ 40 for a meal that I did not like. Sad.
Be C.
Rating des Ortes: 5 Temple Hills, MD
Ive only been to this location three times but Im never disappointed. Honey roasted chicken puff Jasmin rice Chicken and black pepper spring roll This is what I ordered my last time here. I was in a rush as I had to meet clients at the Renaissance. Its not what you think lol. The food came out very fast and was vera delizioso . I actually want to go there now but they don’t open for another couple of hours. Ping Pong is meant to be shared with friends because its like tapas. But if you order 2 or 3 dishes and your alone, youll be satisfied. If youre not familiar, ask the waiter for suggestions and come during happy hour. Thank me later!
R S.
Rating des Ortes: 1 Laurel, MD
I say PINGPONG the dimsum !!! BLUECRAB with Corn? Questionable ! Either old or came from a bag/previously frozen blue crab on top of it steamed it ? Lobster Dumpling… gummy lobster plus a oatmeal like filling. so Fishy aroma, YUCKIE texture and mussy filling on both. The dumpling skin itself was gummy and artificial looking… i just have to scrap the dumpling skin and eat the inside so it don’t go to waste. The drink was good tho… Mockcocktail($ 5.00) was ingenious flavors. I will come for the drinks and other Dimsum’s but no the two I mentioned.
Rebecca D.
Rating des Ortes: 4 Washington, DC
I went to Dim Sum Ping Pong for brunch on Saturday and had a great experience. Initially I was a bit nervous about going here for brunch because they don’t serve traditional American brunch food, but it definitely exceeded my expectations. We opted to do the bottomless brunch where you get unlimited champagne/mimosas and choose 1 entrée and unlimited dim sum. This offer is quite the steal in my opinion and I loved tasting all that their menu has to offer. In addition, it was really fun to try their desserts, I especially loved the gelato which was served in a sweet rice dumpling. The bill ended up being about $ 45 pp which for a group of 17, was pretty worth it! Overall, not sure I would run to go back, but definitely a solid option if you’re in the Chinatown area!
Sarita T.
Rating des Ortes: 3 Annandale, VA
So this is one of those«once in a while, special occasion» places in my book. The service was great, the ambience was great, the food was great – there just wasn’t a lot. There were 3 of us, and we each ordered a tray of dim sum or dumplings, and shared. There was consistency with 3 dumplings per tray… so we each had 1 piece. It was very ‘tapas’ like but with Asian food. Some were smaller in size, like bite size… other’s were more bigger. But at the end of the meal, it basically came down to the fact that we had 3 dumplings each… as a meal. Granted we got 2 appetizers but they weren’t very filling either. The cocktail selection was huge, and the vegetarian option was moderate. This is probably a good place to grab something light to eat with some drinks. Not a bad place at all, maybe I’m just not foodie or trendy enough to splurge $ 14 per a tray of 3 dumplings. I do love mochi ice cream though and ordered the green tea, which they decided to 86. Then asked for Ginger, also gone. But the manager was kind enough and gave us a tray of 4 mochis complimentary at the end ^_^(vanilla choco chip, mocha, mandarin orange [tasted like a creamsicle], and passion fruit [that was a yummy exotic flavor]). Kudus to their fresh take on the mochi ice cream. Definitely a great night hangout, lounge. They also have a fixed price menu if you want to try to the wide array of fried, griddled, steamed, etc. menu options they offer. I’ll come back again, but probably with some out of town friends.
Michelle N.
Rating des Ortes: 2 San Jose, CA
It was that awkward 2−5pm period where most places are closed to prepare for dinner, and I was hungry, so we made our way to the only open place we knew of(ping pong dim sum). We tried: –crispy duck spring roll: egg roll w/duck and hoisin sauce inside –crispy prawn ball: this came out too oily for my liking –poached lobster dumpling: definitely my favorite. If I were to ever return, I’d order 10 of these and call it a day lol. –shrimp and winter bamboo shoots –shrimp and scallop sticky rice in a banana leaf: definitely skip this –pulled duck and hoi sin sliders –the ping pong cocktail: light, refreshing, and lychee tasting w/boba. Just wish it came with a straw for me to drink the boba! Definitely order this if you’re here. Just 2 stars for average food and subpar service at a high premium. I knew the food isn’t authentic dim sum(more so fusion), so I wasn’t expecting much, but to pay $ 7 – 15 for average food is too much for me. Plus the waitress looked and acted like she didn’t want to be there, which was off-putting. Skip ping pong dim sum.
Lauren A.
Rating des Ortes: 4 Houston, TX
Decided on a late lunch while visiting the museums. Walked in and waited a second before being seated. The restaurant was dark but quiet as it was later in the afternoon. Our waitress greeted us and we placed an order. We decided on pulled duck sliders, some dim sum, chicken & pepper egg rolls and a few beers. The food came quick and the beers were cold. Our waitress was friendly and helpful. Although this place was good, it didn’t blow me away. I’ve had better dim sum elsewhere.
Dan A.
Rating des Ortes: 2 Baltimore, MD
Came here with some friends the other day even though I knew nothing about it. All I knew was that this place was not a traditional dim sum restaurant. Ping Pong ended up being pretty mediocre at best; while the food was decent enough, the service here made this one of the worst dining experiences I’ve had in a long time. We came in on a Sunday afternoon, sometime a little before 3PM. The first thing you’d notice is the décor; it’s a modern, beautiful space. We walked to the hostess and were told we’d have to wait at least an hour. The restaurant was busy but there were still many tables that were empty. Maybe they were reservations or lacked staff? Either way, we put our names and phone number down(so that the hostess can call us when they are ready) decided to go walk around the area some and return later. It hadn’t been an hour when we came back(it was cold outside). We figured we’d just wait inside or something. But we were immediately seated(by someone other than the hostess). It was a little off-putting considering we didn’t get any notifications or calls. We also were taken to the bar area, which had seating available earlier. We weren’t offered that option the first time around. Nor were we offered a dining room table the second time around(it was mostly empty when we were back). Our waiter came by and, upon hearing that this was our first time, took the time to explain the entire menu. After he left, we looked at the menu, picked a few items and decided on beers instead of cocktails(which seemed like they were going to be on the sweet side). There’s a decent list of beers, both Asian imports and domestic. We decided to go for something different and ordered the Lucky Buddha beer. My dining companions and I already had suspicions that this beer was going to be so-so at best: it’s in a very ornate bottle(trying to compensate for something?) that also happened to be green(green glass doesn’t do a good job protecting the beer from UV light that can«skunk» a beer). But we wanted to try something different… so we ordered it. What we got was one of the most condescending«Do you even know what that is?» remark from the waiter. I wasn’t expecting a remark/tone/facial expression like that… So my reply was a pretty dumb, «uhhh… beer?» lol. Smooth, I know. but yeah… waiter condescension isn’t really cool. Well we got our beers(which was so-so… kind of like a Heineken that failed out of school) and eventually got our orders. All the dim sum come in groups of threes(kind of weird number): Crispy Prawn Ball — It’s been fried with strips of what I’m guessing is dumpling wrappers. It gives the ball a very cool visual. The inside was flavorful, though it reminded me of the seafood dishes with white sauce that you can get at many Chinese restaurants(I’m drawing a blank on the name at the moment). One warning though – if you take a big bite, all the fried strips on the outside of the ball can hurt your mouth a little bit. Honey Roasted Chicken Puff — This was good, though definitely NOT a traditional dim sum dish(it had flaky filo dough pastry). But I liked it enough. Chicken and Green Tea Dumpling — I’d pass on this. The green tea flavor is very subtle. And it wasn’t really special. One friend said that it reminded him of the dumplings you can buy frozen at the Asian grocery markets. Yikes. I could kind of see why he said that too. Double yikes. Soup Dumplings — Biggest disappointment. They seemed smaller than a ping pong ball(haha…see what I did there? ok i’ll stop.) and didn’t really taste all that good. None of my friends liked it either. Pulled Duck And Hoi Sin Baos — Probably the best dish we had, although at $ 14.50, it’s quite pricey. It was sweet and savory and had a good proportion of bun/meat/veggies. But – and maybe I’m being a little too critical here – one thing I did not appreciate was that the bun on two of the three sliders were ripped(as if it got stuck to something prior to being served). It didn’t affect the dish other than making it look ugly… but to me, it suggests a lack of pride in the food being served and perhaps a lack of respect for the guests. I personally wouldn’t serve something like that to my guests. I’ve been around enough cooks/chefs to know that most of them wouldn’t want to either. Hell, even the buns on the burgers at McDonalds are almost always perfect! So why Ping Pong(a restaurant that is trying to position itself as upscale) would choose to serve ripped buns(on some of its most expensive menu items no less) makes no sense to me. Yeah, I know – this is first world problems at its finest… but still… Overall, a disappointing experience. You can do much better for the same(or even less) money. DC’s Chinatown is just around the corner. And even if you got lost and ended up at McDonald’s, you probably would still get better customer service than at Ping Pong.
Mel B.
Rating des Ortes: 4 Washington, DC
***HH Review*** This place is awesome for happy hour, mostly because of the drink selection. Ping Pong offers a nice variety of cocktails for $ 5 during HH. I started with a hibiscus mojito and I was pretty surprised by the size of the drink(in a happy surprise kind of way). It was delicious. Next I went with the recommendation of my gf –the lychee and roses martini. Very pretty to look at and equally enjoyable to drink. I ended with the ping pong, which was only OK. All of these drinks were an amazing deal for 5 bucks. My personal fav was the lychee and roses martini, so fun! We ordered a lot of the HH food. Everything was good. The food isn’t as great of a deal as the drinks, but it is tasty. The stars of the food show were the green beans, the honey roasted chicken puff, and the crispy chicken and peanut satay slider. All in all, solid HH that goes until 7PM.
Katya K.
Rating des Ortes: 5 Arlington, VA
I go to this place a lot, they have a great Happy hour with hand crafter cocktails for half price. Wonderful venue and atmosphere! Service is always very nice and helpful. One of my favorite spots in DC. Recommend.
Melis D.
Rating des Ortes: 5 Chicago, IL
Taste was amazing, I mostly recommend«chicken puff», «steamed dim sum» and«loco moco», you wanna eat more after the dim sum because it was like a mix all tasty dim sum dumblings. Also I like«char su bun». I always prefer to eat in front of the kitchen because I like to watch them while they preparing my food. All staff are very polite and clean this is most important point for me.
Mark M.
Rating des Ortes: 2 Northville, MI
Very slow service. Ended up cashing out early after waiting over 30 minutes between our small plates. Never got offered more drinks or water. We were at the restaurant 2 hours. Unfortunate since food tasted good, be we opted to go somewhere else. Won’t be coming back or recommending it to anybody.
Kat W.
Rating des Ortes: 4 Washington, DC
I love Ping Pong. They offer unique food and drinks in a modern/trendy setting. Everything is small plates so great for sharing or order a couple and eat them all yourself! They have decent happy hour food and drink specials the weekend brunch is a great deal — $ 25 for all you can eat dim sum plus a brunch entrée. Add on $ 10 for a bottle of champagne or $ 15 for all you can drink mimosas. Come prepared to eat a lot and waddle out of there. But it’s a great way to try out their many different offerings. My tip is enjoy the dim sum and skip dessert!
Michael S.
Rating des Ortes: 3 Washington, DC
Like other reviewers my concerns stem from the food quality versus service(our waitress was actually the best part). Not sure why but all the food tasted processed or pre-made which means that the food didn’t taste very fresh. Perhaps it was an off night, but with all the staff standing around the kitchen I think they would benefit from a bit more quality control in the kitchen.
Mary Beth H.
Rating des Ortes: 2 Washington, DC
Once upon a time, I loved Ping Pong. I used to be a regular. And then the service and food went to hell. It was a gradual decline. Because I had such good experiences in the past, I put up with awful meals that would have put me off other restaurants. I was hoping against hope that each time was a fluke and it would return to its former awesome self. Nope. Totally incompetent servers(botched orders, botched checks, painfully slow service) devolved into straight up rude servers. And then they served me spoiled mussels and I decided I’d had enough. Bummer.
Chii T.
Rating des Ortes: 5 Arcadia, CA
Came here for dinner after having dim sum brunch at the source. Lol The dim sums are quite creative. Lobster dumpling, garlic shrimp dumpling with squid ink skin, mushroom avocado sliders, and etc. After lunching a 8-course at the source, I was still able to finish 4 dim sums here. Not bad! Pics attached.
Chancia M.
Rating des Ortes: 3 Washington, DC
The atmosphere was really chilled. Dim lights and candle everywhere. The food was really good. I especially liked the peanut butter chicken in in flaky dough. I gave them three stars though because the glass was very dirty, and we sat at the table for about 20 minutes before someone came to take our order.
Mario C.
Rating des Ortes: 5 Washington, DC
Best ever Chicken and waffle… i will never regret to come back and enjoy the brunch environment… music, service and food… dont forget the bubbles mimosas!
Buket D.
Rating des Ortes: 5 Washington, DC
We had dinner here Saturday. I loved the food here and while the service was good, Guney, who I believe was the manager, made our evening with fantastic customer service. He’s awesome! We are coming back!
Scott H.
Rating des Ortes: 5 Washington, DC
Came in to this modern Dim Sum restaurant after seeing the caps win and I wasn’t disappointed! When I arrived the server explained how the ordering works and recommend the Stir fry Tofu, even though I normally hate tofu, I LOVEDIT! We had a great time and it was capped off by the Ginger cake which was awesome. I’ll be back!
Abby L.
Rating des Ortes: 5 Charlottesville, VA
Dominick was an awesome server! Shots for the birthday girl! And great food! Definitely will be back! Wonderful experience and he was great!
Melissa C.
Rating des Ortes: 5 Elkridge, MD
Pretentious hipsters hate this place; all the more reason for me to come! I enjoyed everything I had here and can’t wait to return.
Michael P.
Rating des Ortes: 5 Stevenson Ranch, CA
Great experience. Very nice atmosphere. Try the bao sliders and lobster dumplings. Also, I love the ginger cake.
Tina B.
Rating des Ortes: 2 Silver Spring, MD
This place has a very nice interior, but the food wasn’t what I would expect it to be if you were going for actual Chinese dim sum. Pros: friendly staff, great atmosphere, pretty presentation for the food Cons: food is overly priced, very little portions, & tasted bland. If you want to come here for the food it’s better to go an authentic Chinese dim sum place.
Deborah K.
Rating des Ortes: 3 Frederick, MD
Modern décor — lively — good energy — seated immediately — comfortable for singles, couples, and groups. Loved the Hibiscus Mojito. Waiter was good, but … two of our selections never appeared. We waited, realized it wasn’t coming, couldn’t get the waiter’s attention at that point. Finally, we brought the missing dim sum to his attention, and we had to review our selections with him before he admitted that we had not received part of our order. He offered to put the order in to the kitchen. But, we had been there a long while(enjoying the food and drinks and talking,) and we were ready to go. So he brought the check. Would liked to have received some consideration for the oversight on our order. Also, menu was whisked away before we looked at dessert menu — didn’t get a chance to ask for it later. So, the waiter took our order, dim sum served by bus boy. We might have ordered more dim sum and dessert, but waiter paid no more attention to us.(sigh) We arrived at Ping Pong around 9:00 pm and mussels and avocado dip were not available. I think that indicates they purchase fresh seafood daily. The lobster and blue crab dumplings were fresh and delicious. Enjoyed the duck spring rolls a lot! Enjoyed the dim sum and the overall dining experience.
Vincent M.
Rating des Ortes: 3 Washington, DC
Huge place. Doesn’t feel like a chain though it is. Dark and not really to alluring interior. Maybe too modern? Great dumpling entrée is the 5 piece steamed plate with a shrimp pork beef veggie choice all piping hot. Really enjoyed ice cold Sapphoro beer. And you will too.
Logan T.
Rating des Ortes: 4 Washington, DC
I went here a week ago for, you guessed it HAPPYHOUR with some of my fav gals. The Dupont Circle location is closing for good today so I thought I should post this review in case this one is in jeopardy as well. The feel of this restaurant is awesome. Its super trendy and hip with low lighting. Because of the distance from Gallery Place, the bar doesn’t fill up as quickly as the other places around. During my visit the bar actually never filled up and there was a ton of sitting throughout. We ordered a few of the small plates from the Happy Hour menu and decided to share. The wings are to die for!!! I love them! If you do not specify the flavor you will receive their traditional wings which are a little on the hot side.(I love spicy food so it was a go for me). We also tired the chicken & black pepper spring rolls that were also pretty good. Bao sliders are 1 of $ 5. They are pretty small. If you want to share, you may opt to order from the regular menu(3 for 14 vs 3 for $ 5 each) We selected the Crispy Chicken Satay which was also really good. The baked Honey roasted chicken puff is both sweet a savory. Crispy Green beans are a yes too. All menu items are $ 5. Now for drinks. Do try the Chinese Mule it is made with REAL ginger and tastes amazing! The drink is made with tons of ingredients(like mint) that may get in the way of enjoying the drink, but it’s a good drink none the less. Other than that, I had the house red(gato negro). All in all I will return. It’s a great alternative to bar food and the ambiance is relaxing. Do it people.
Arugula F.
Rating des Ortes: 1 Washington, DC
Terrible service, over priced, and mediocre(at best) food. Do not go here. Went here for Sunday brunch, the server did not place the order, and even though the restaurant was less than half full, food took forever to come out. Orders were incorrect, and servings were heavy on the filler(rice, bun, dumpling wrapper) but very light on the meat fillings.
Mary H.
Rating des Ortes: 3 Falls Church, VA
This place has such a great concept but poor execution. I really want to love this place. This is my 5th visit here and I must say my last. We let things slide on previous visits. We liked the atmosphere. The food is good but service falls short. How can you deliver a great product when your staff doesn’t appear to care. Mind you the restaurant wasn’t busy. We came for brunch, a party of six. Talk about a confusing system to order. With 6 people ordering different items on the pick 4, seriously… How would the server know who gets what dish? When things come dim sum… Like you can really tell what’s inside? Plus the fact they only gave us 2 menus to write on. Few items were labeled and not consistently. Food arrived beautifully prepared but cool. Our server was hard to find and when it came time for desert they were out of what we ordered and instead brought us green tea ice cream which we didn’t order. They didn’t even bother asking us if we wanted it.
Perkins B.
Rating des Ortes: 3 College Park, MD
Excellent choice for an impromptu happy hour on a holiday! Pretty much sampled everything on the Happy Hour $ 5 menu. All was tasty, some more than others. But non the less filling. Try the Hibiscus Mojito… Interesting twist to a classic drink.
Rhonda C.
Rating des Ortes: 1 Atlanta, GA
TERRIBLE experience. And here’s why: 1. It took about 15 – 20 minutes after being seated to be acknowledged by ANYONE.(The restaurant was not crowded. Maybe 4 other tables in the establishment) 2. The waiter forgot to bring our drinks which we ordered before our meal but didn’t come out until after we received our food. 3. We had to stop the waiter to place our food orders. 4. My boyfriend ordered the prix fixe menu and didn’t receive his 3rd course. Which would’ve been fine if the waiter would’ve just recognized the error and bought out the missing food. INSTEAD he argued with us for over 20 minutes about food we’d not yet received. Even after explaining to him all of the items we received and asked him if the missing dim sum was somehow one of the items we’d eaten(which he told us it wasn’t), he still didn’t believe that we really just wanted the food we’d ordered(weird concept right??) Eventually a manager had to come over and another waiter was re-assigned. This was definitely the straw that MURDERED the camel. I’ve never in my life wanted to leave a restaurant so badly. I was OUTRAGED. Safe to say, I will NOT be returning and I’ll be sure to encourage my friends to do the same.
Devin A.
Rating des Ortes: 2 Phoenix, AZ
I am a huge fan of the typical dim sum experience — sitting in a restaurant with friends while waitresses push carts around stacked with steamed pockets filled with joy. Unfortunately, that was not the experience we had recently during a trip in the Washington DC area. They take a different approach here — I get that. I just wish their execution was better… My friend and I were downtown to watch the Caps game. We looked at a few options and settled on Ping Pong, conveniently located just a few blocks away from Verizon Center. Ping Pong is an upscale dim sum restaurant that has an impressive cocktail menu, along with a nice number of dim sum options. They have an expansive bar area and a large, dimly-lit main dining room. Unlike the dim sum restaurants I’ve eaten at in the past, they do not take the«traditional approach» with moving carts — you order everything off their menu. For drinks, they have a number of interesting options. I was getting weary reading all the different descriptions so I went with their Lemongrass and Lime, a vodka-based cocktail flavored with lychee juice and lemongrass. True to its description, it was light and refreshing, though a bit sweet for my taste. We started off ordering a few plates. We got the following: Pulled duck sliders — Three mini«tacos» of pulled pork and hoisin sauce wrapped in a delicate steamed bun. They were very flavorful and I loved the texture of the steamed bun. Was it good? Absolutely! Was it worth the $ 14.50? Um… Crispy beef — deep-fried strips of beef, served up with a citrus lime sauce. Very good, and a nice serving size to be shared by two people. But again…$ 14.50? It is one of their«signature dishes,» and is one I would still recommend, despite the price. Poached lobster dumpling — I was really looking forward to these. I mean — what’s not to like about lobster dumplings? Unfortunately these were pretty disappointing — soggy dumplings without much lobster flavor.(I’ll stop complaining about the prices…) Blue crab and sweet corn shu mai — I LOVE shu mai and these were okay. The sweetness of the corn mixed nicely with the crab. Pork shu mai — At last! Exactly what I was looking for! My basic, go-to, simple pork shu mai. i should have ordered more of these! At the end of the day I was disappointed in the quality of the dim sum here given the price. I understand that this is an upscale, downtown establishment so the prices are to be expected. I just wish the food lived up to the expectations…
Nicole W.
Rating des Ortes: 2 Fairfax, VA
I wanted to love my experience here last weekend… However I left quite disappointed. This was my third visit to Ping Pong(possibly my last). I came once for brunch and another time for dinner. This particular visit was on a Saturday night around 8pm. We sat close to the hostess near the window(great seat for people watching) That particular night I was super hungry(and thirsty for an alcoholic beverage)! My main complaint about the evening was the service. Our middle aged Asian waiter seemed to be in a huge hurry and didn’t seem to care about us at all. He was rushing all over the place. He would stop by… then run away… telling us he would be right back. His behavior was strange/awkward. And it took him about 30 mins to actually take our food order. Another complaint is that the lemon grass sangria was a total rip off. There were so many leaves and sticks shoved in there and hardly any wine/alcohol. My cousin and I barely had one glass each before the pitcher was empty. Definitely not worth the price. I can say that the lobster bun and the steamed vegetable dumplings were tasty! However another disappointment was that they were out of three items on the menu that we wanted to order :-( Overall, I eventually had my hunger satisfied… however it was not an experience that I want to have ever again. Poor service and other mishaps make this a future no go for me.
Ariana R.
Rating des Ortes: 4 Anaheim, CA
Would frequent this place often because of my love for Asian food. I throughly enjoyed the lycée martinis here and the happy hour never disappoints. That is why I am shocked with the ratings and feel as though maybe the restaurant has gone down since I moved from Washington DC. My suggestions: 1) Dumplings– garlic shrimp or vegetables 2) Shrimp and scallop sticky rice 3) Jasmine Rice 4)Crispy Eggplant Cons: This place can get crowded for happy hour, its always a good idea to get there early.
Pamela M.
Rating des Ortes: 3 Minneapolis, MN
My experience at Ping Ping was mediocre. Other than the upscale ambiance, everything else was just ok. I went during peak lunch hour on a weekday and ordered the lunch special. The pork belly bao sliders and the ‘fusion’ dim sum was average. I’m all for new tastes, but the crab and corn dim sum was a bit odd for my liking. The service was not personal and slow. Bottom line: If you desire out of the ordinary dim sum, look elsewhere and you’ll likely find better.
James Kimo L.
Rating des Ortes: 1 Washington, DC
This is a late review for a dining experience we had last month but it was so frustrating enough to revisit and write a Unilocal*review. We’ve been here once before and it was not all that bad. And we have also been to the Dupont location so the brand itself isn’t particular off-putting…but our experience one evening just completely through my positive impression of this place out the door. I open table a lot and didn’t realize my points got me a nice dining voucher and decided to use it on Ping Pong. We were on a couples dinner date with friends of ours. Once we arrived we got seated fairly quickly considering we did have reservations… ok so far so good. Once we got seated, we got menus and ordered drinks… aaannnd then it’s all downhill from there. We never got water. First cocktails came out and placed our initial orders with our waiter and then we never saw our waiter again for a good half hour or so. Once we saw him, we ordered another round of drinks… aaand we waited for another good half hour… by the time we were done, we had an almost 2.5−3hr stay that I’m sure could have been shorter… thank goodness we didn’t have a show or event to catch afterwards. We rarely rarely complain but in this case we definitely talked to the manager and despite her being somewhat nice, she was just full of excuses. I also addressed the issue of having a voucher to use but did not feel like it should be used for our meal and bad experience and she didn’t even bother providing some sort of compensation. We weren’t really angry but just frustrated by the whole situation… customer service is key and the way the restaurant handled our experience that night was just rather disappointing. Yes we know you’re busy but it’s not an excuse to say you couldn’t provide good service because there’s a private party in the back that needs more tending to. Lame.
Lesley b.
Rating des Ortes: 4 Washington, DC
Ping Pong gets a lot of hate for what people think it should be. So it’s not an authentic hole in the wall dim sum restaurant. It’s obviously not trying to be! Guys, it’s located downtown, is swanky inside, and has a cocktail bar. Ping Pong is one of my go tos for catch up happy hours with friends downtown. Their drinks are tasty(love the ping pong one) and the chicken puffs are must haves. Four stars because it’s better for happy hour than dinner.