Ping Pong

wer gute dim sum in London essen möchte, dem empfehle ich das Pingpong… nette Bedienung, Wahnsinnsauswahl an dim sum und gediegenes Ambiente

Good dumplings but way too expensive for what you get. Everything comes in portions of 3 which is daft if there’s 2 of you on a date… who gets the 3^rd one… urggghgh!!!

The dim sum is good and the service is usually fine. Lazy Sumdays (all you cut eat) is great, although I very rarely actually meet the charge (they charge you separately if so).

Great selections, lovely space, good service. I would go back again on a day when I had time to wander along Southbank,

I hadn’t been to this branch for over a year, and I’m sad to say that it’s still a pretty poor example of a Ping Pong. While the food is on point (try the new pork soup steamed dumplings — I can’t spell it but you’ll see it on the menu), the ambience is rather lost when you have to sit outside because they still have those awful eight people tables in the main dining area.
But at least we managed to avoid those again. Instead we ended up on a rather small two person table outside — which was made better once the nearby heat lamp was turned off as suddenly it felt like we weren’t being cooked.
Food was fine but the manager who took the order slip from us didn’t notice we had ordered two portions of the pork buns. So once our waiter realised it was rectified but came a while after everything else.

Ping Pong has always looked so stylish from the outside so I was excited to go in and try the food.
Ordering can be a bit tricky, as you are called to fill out a form with all the items on the menu. We were four people and 3 of us went for the set menu so when the items started arriving it took a while for us to figure out which one belonged to what menu and explain to the waitress she would have to tell us what was what.
The food itself was very satisfying, I particularly enjoyed the fried selection but the dumplings and vegetables were quite nice too. The black tea was a bit bitter but full of flavour so I enjoyed that without needing to add any sugar.
I felt quite full after that meal but the guys in the group (the other two set menus) did mention they could still eat more so you may want to keep that in mind and order a couple more dishes. I’d say ordering lots of things and sharing would be the best option.
In general it was a lovely place for a midweek lunch with my team and I hope we go back again.

This is a decently trendy place, a while back at another branch a waiter told me that the owner hired the same interior designer who did mega trendy and expensive Nobu’s interior and Ping Pong’s is almost copy. However here they seem to have refreshed from then and the concept and the design has moved on since then to keep it current.
The main waiter was great, making sure we had everything we needed and really attentive. Although the other staff were nice, they did have that disturbance of feeling a bit rushed.
The dim sum is superb, this is a chain though so the food does feel a bit like it is made to a formula, but is good.
It is starts at about £26-£30 because will need to order a lot as it is a few dim sum with each order.
A good dim sum place that will not dissapoint.

How can I not love this place!!!
It’s the fusion Chinese restaurant with unique style. I love the bar while you are waiting for your seat.
The dim sum here are delicious. Worth the wait.

Want Chinese food that’s half the quality and twice the price? Well look no further because this is your joint. As an added bonus, the waitstaff will stay as far away from you as possible to ensure your privacy is maintained throughout the meal. Who wants people bothering them with food orders or cluttering your table with food and drinks?
Seriously, if you’re jonesing for Chinese food and your in Southbank then I suppose this place will do. It’s good for groups because it’s huge and they serve something that resembles Chinese food. But you can really do a lot better in the area.

Muito bom. Serviço rápido. Bom local para uma saída em grupo. Grupo ideal de 8 pessoas.

I love their all you can eat offer on their Dim Sum Sundays. It’s bottomless dishes (selected ones only) with a complimentary cocktail if you arrive for 12pm. It’s perfect for a big party get-to-gether…no faffing with the bills and you can also order whatever you like, however much you want. We also were left alone to enjoy our menu without the pressure of feeling like you are being watched or needed to give your table up for someone else. It’s one of my favourite places to go and chill out with my mates whilst enjoying some decent dumplings.

This is my second visit to a Ping Pong and I’m glad to say that the food was as good as I remember.
The dim sum, while not matching up to what I had in Shanghai, is reliable and the restaurant itself seemed easy enough to just rock up and get a table.
In the evenings the staff seem pretty rushed off their feet so you really have to be patient when vying for their attention!

I know some people are ehh about chains, but i really really like Ping Pong. I miss good dim sum, and honestly this is a good place to take a bunch of people with a decent atmosphere with good food. Its not super greasy like the hole in the wall places in San Francisco but not as pricey as the fancy ones I have been to in SF either.
For three of us with plenty of dim sum, wine and tea, it came out to £55 in total, which I actualy think is great. I am going to come back for sure and especially this one because its in the southbank area (one of the best areas in London in my opinion).

Hands down this was the best dim sum I have ever eaten! We came in for an early dinner and we were promptly seated and the process was explained (to me anyway, my boyfriend is a dim sum aficionado).
I ordered the hibiscus spritz which comes in two parts, with a flower frozen in an ice cube and a tower for the drink. It was amazing, sweet and refreshing with a unique presentation.
We sampled a variety of food and the first out was the shrimp balls. They were filling with a good mix inside, though difficult to eat since fried bits were on all ends. The dipping sauce that came with this was fantastic. Next up were my boyfriend’s favourite the char sui bun, which was good. When I tasted the har gau I thought that would be my favourite of the night but the last up crab and prawn dumpling trumped it. Everything we had was delicious and we left completely stuffed.
Our waitress was attentive, the drinks were expertly crafted and all the food we tried was phenomenal. If you are looking for a good meal in London I would definitely recommend coming here.

We had such a mixed experience here that I wish I could rate food and service separately.
Food: 4 stars. The dim sum came out as it was ready, and it was nearly as good as the dim sum we had in Chinatown in Seattle. The Char Siu buns in particular are not to be missed. It was all hot, tasty, and in good sized portions.
Service: 1 star. Absolutely appalling. We were ignored for about 15 minutes, then caught the attention of the very friendly waiter for the table next to us. We asked him about how ordering works, and as he was getting ready to take our order, the grumpiest man alive came over and brusquely asked what we wanted. It was clear that he was meant to be our waiter but had been nowhere to be seen for 20 minutes. He took our order and stomped off.
Things did not improve. Dishes came out in a timely manner, but it took us flagging down the friendly waiter to order a second round. Hot water for my tea arrived 10 minutes after my dry flowering tea ball. We ordered steamed buns that have broth in them (and are served with a spoon to catch the broth), but no spoons were brought over. We had to use our soy sauce dishes instead (serendipitously, our soy sauce was empty so we hadn’t used the dishes yet). 15 minutes after we asked for our cheque, I again had to flag someone down (a host) and ask for it again. It came, and I spent 10 minutes waiting for the grumpy waiter to look at us so I could get him to bring the card reader.
All in all, we spent most of our visit being totally ignored by our waiter, who was incredibly unfriendly. We were pretty frustrated with the automatic 12.5% tip, as well, as he definitely didn’t earn a penny of it.
We enjoyed the food, but because the overall experience was so poor, we won’t be returning.

The Ping Pong menu is a stylised and sterilised form of a dimsum portfolio. So much so that it loses the dimsum edge. Dimsum is a Chinatown thing and should just stay that way.
The Southbank Ping Pong is definitely one of the better ones, not just because it looks and feels like cool dining, but also because of the efficient and friendly service level. There’s a chance you order might be delayed on busy occasions, but overall, I’ve never had a bad experience here.

Really good food and great value. Steamed pork rolls were a particular highlight!
We went on a Friday night and had to wait about 40 mins — not too bad as we were able to sit in the bar upstairs. But get there early if you don’t want to wait!

I have been on a Ping Pong hiatus for about two years, but was recently in need of a quick bite before a show at the Southbank in December 2014 and decided to revisit. I was craving steamed buns, so we were determined to get in despite the queue that was trailing outside of the restaurant. We barely managed to get food, however, and our experience was utterly tainted by overburdened staff and misinformation– I can confidently say we will continue to avoid Ping Pong for future as a potential dining venue.
In particular, we were told that the waiting time for a two person table would be 20 minutes, but it was at least a 40 minute wait before anyone made any effort to seat us. Only after we complained were we directed to a communal table, so we put our foot down and demanded a two person arrangement as we had originally requested. To our astonishment, we were then swiftly seated.
We nearly had to physically grab a server because we were having difficulties getting anyone’s attention and were forced to order all of our food in a frenzy while stressing that we only had 20 minutes to dine. The server attempted to be congenial and arrange for our bill to be presented immediately to help speed things up, but was still very slow in manifesting this and to take payment. We had no sauces on our table and asked another passing server for these, but they never arrived and we ended up sharing with our neighbours. Our table was literally so close to both adjacent tables that we were pinned to the wall as well– it was the most stressful and uncomfortable meal I have experienced in recent memory.
It must be acknowledged that they did honour an NUS discount and that I have previously eaten at other, smaller and speedier branches of Ping Pong in the past, but the Southbank branch is best avoided if you wish to enjoy a relaxing meal. I can barely recall the quality of the food because we were so dissatisfied with the visit and were forced to voraciously stuff everything in our faces, but I recall that the steamed buns that I did order would have otherwise proved satisfactory as they are a specialty of the chain.

After this last visit I think I’ve now given up on Ping Pong, it’s overpriced, the service is rubbish and the food is mediocre.
Came here as I had an offer and even then I get I paid too much, the portions were small and the server pretty much ignored us. We didn’t get any free refills on our tea and trying to pay the bill was a challenge. The only good thing is the food was tasty, just wish there had been more of it.

My favorite dim sum in town! They have great deals and set menus :) the drinks are awesome and really refreshing, the ginger and lime tea is delicious!
the place is also nice and after you fill yourself with food theres nothing better than go for a little walk around the river and appreciate the view while you digest all that amazing food !

One of the worst meals ever. Located near Royal Festival Hall, this is a very happening spot. Dim sum and swanky modern décor, the wait was long and the food looked good. We had high expectations and the anticipation was exciting. Our server was not very friendly and seemed shocked we did not want anything but tap water. The ordering process is like a sushi bar where you mark your own list of dim sum. We picked items and tried to flag our server down. She comes back, took our order sheet, then a while later says they are out of a ton of stuff, crossing out several of our order list and other items… okay thanks. We decided to stick with the remaining first and ended up adding one item (shrimp toast).
The food took forever to come out and when it did, it looked pretty good but tasted terrible. Sometimes the temperature was off (our first dish was the honey chicken on rice and it was partially hot and partially cold). As my mom put it, the food got worse with each dish. The duck spring rolls were mushy and bland, the beef lettuce wraps (a special) were just boring plain shredded beef with no flavor, and it was just so disappointing.
Unfortunately, it was pricey too, and we left spending way more than we should have for a meal that was barely edible. Don’t be fooled by the crowds and go somewhere else!

I’ve been searching for great dim sum for a while now in London. Unfair as it may be, I compare it all to the stuff I had back in the states, and no one has quite been able to live up.
Good Dim Sum should be two things. Tasty and cheap. Ping Pong comes close. It’s cheapish and it’s tasty. Not everything is mind blowing delicious but when I’m really craving dim sum, it’s a good spot to be.
This particular one is gigantic, with seating both inside and out. It’s very chic and you feel a little cooler just sitting there (despite it being, simultaneously, insanely touristy.) You pick what you want off a long sheet of items and turn it in to your server.
Now, this is where they really gain point, because the service here is A+. Top of the line. Despite them having a ton of people dining all the time, it’s never hard to grab a waiter. The food then comes down quick. So quick when they brought it, we weren’t quite sure it was ours. Damn, efficient. Damn efficient.
Standouts from our evening were the dumplings with crab, the crispy spring rolls with duck and the pickled carrots. Mmm. Edemame was a bit soggy and not nearly as well cooked as I would like and the ribs were a bit bland. But overall, tasty for sure.
This is not a bad spot for dim sum at all. Enjoy the walk on the river and stop in for some food.

Nice food & nice location & good service!