Celebrating the Chinese New Year with Dim Sum Feast / 点心大餐庆贺新年

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I haven’t had "dim sum" for some time now. So, with my husband being up for some traditional Chinese dishes, we popped in at a restaurant aptly called Ping Pong to celebrate Chinese New Year at the weekend.

Ping Pong is an Asian inspired chain restaurant, whose main objective is introducing Londoners to the Chinese “Yum Cha” culture. This group is doing quite well, opening branches in some pretty iconic locations across the whole of London, such as Southbank, Covent Garden, Soho and St Paul’s.

We went to the Ping Pong branch located inside the huge shopping mall of Westfield near White City and Shepherd’s Bush tube stations. What a convenient location to stop by and have a quick bite or a more substantial lunch break during a busy shopping spree, lol.

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The restaurant has a large outside terraced area which is perfect for summer parties. In addition, there is a small bar area in the centre within. I heard the cocktails in this place are a must try!

The whole place looked stunning and beautiful, attentively designed in great detail. The décor is nice and somehow reminded me of ancient Chinese tea houses. I also found it quite interesting that they designed the seat array facing around the kitchen, so you can enjoy your cocktail whilst watching the chefs cooking your dim sum right in front of you, lol.

Or you can choose to sit near the window and watch the shoppers amble by. The dimly lit setting of this place creates a relaxed atmosphere, offering up a warm romantic dining experience.

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We were greeted immediately upon entering and promptly offered a table. The service was excellent as there wasn’t much of waiting around. Soon after, the waiter approached and explained the menu in further details, before taking our drinks order.

On the "drinks" menu, you will find a diverse range of cocktails with an "Asian" touch, such as lychee & rose martini or Matcha Tea-Ni. I decided to go for the classic Cosmopolitan! You can never go wrong with that, right?. They also have a wide variety of teas, some unusual like Tai Chi Tea which sounds quite interesting. Will give that one a go next time perhaps, lol.

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The Ping Pong menu offers a variety of dim sum dishes including a selection of steamed, baked and fried variants. This included items such as dumplings, spring rolls and spare ribs, as well as an eclectic "set menu" option that catered towards vegetarians and "gluten free" customers.

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We ordered a variety of dishes of which we were not disappointed whatsoever.

My husband @ezzy loves Crispy Duck Spring Rolls as well as the Crispy Lamb Gyoza. Both starters were fantastic, having that great "crunch" appeal to it whereas the meat was super tender with strong, intense taste. They went perfectly well with the sweet and tangy chilli sauce.

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The Spare Ribs were also one of the highlights of the evening. The pork on the bone was succulent and the flavours just perfect with a delicious honey sauce. It was juicy, tasty and tender in it's quality deliciousness!

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Next, our Bamboo steaming baskets arrived. Although you can't see it in the photos, the food served up was piping hot!

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Beef Satay Dumpling is one of the Chinese New Year Special dishes from this restaurant. It consists of beef, shiitake mushroom and spring onion, wrapped in a steamed beetroot pastry. Quite an unusual recipe but very creative indeed as well as being super yummy.

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Though my particular favourite has got to be the Shanghai Xiaolongbao. This is a traditional soup dumpling dish made with pork and spring onion. The skin is sliced very thin contributing to a delicious soup from taking your very first sip… Absolutely the best! I wish I had ordered a second one now, haha.

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We also opted for the Long Stem Broccoli and Honeyed Chicken Rice Pot, of which both were adequately good. Special mention also for the tasty sesame dip on the Broccoli. It paired together exceptionally well.

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Last but not the least, the desserts! I opted for the "Chinese New Year Specials" - a beautiful Salted Caramel with coconut rice. A really lovely sweet rice pudding made up of coconut and several layers of salted caramel sauce. Absolutely delicious! In comparison, @ezzy was far less adventurous as he went for his usual of three ice cream scoops with different flavours, haha.

Ping Pong is not your typical China Town establishment. It produces Chinese dumplings in its own unique style and art form as well as their servings of top notch food quality. Everything in this restaurant is very classy, modern and quite fancy in decor.

We really enjoyed this great assortment of tasty dim sum with amazing flavours and the lovely cocktails. Definitely comes recommended and will be returning soon.

Happy New Year to my Steemian friends!!

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我好久没吃点心了，所以决定和先生一起去一家名为“Ping Pong “的中餐馆吃点心大餐庆贺春节，呵呵。

Ping Pong是一家亚洲风味的点心连锁餐馆，在伦敦各个标志性地区都设有分店并向伦敦人民介绍咱们中国的“饮茶”文化。我们去了位于White City和Shepherd's Bush地铁站附近，在大型购物中心Westfield内的Ping Pong分店。这个地理位置相当不错，购物完过来这里享受点心，方便得很！

餐厅有一个大型户外露台，盛夏季节来这里一定很棒！餐厅内有一个小酒吧区。 我听说这里的鸡尾酒值得一尝！

Ping Pong 的餐厅设计让我联想起旧时中国的茶馆，很漂亮也有点儿时尚。从精致的家具和板凳到工艺制品和灯光都是经过精心设计，特别注重细节。餐厅中心有点心台，顾客可以围着点心台坐，能够看着点心是如何准备的，很有意思吧，呵呵。

喜欢休闲的朋友也可以选临窗的座位，坐看人来人往。餐厅里昏暗灯光设计营造出轻松，浪漫的温馨氛围。

我们没等多久就被安排坐下了，服务生也很快过来向我们介绍菜单并点饮品。服务十分到位。这里的鸡尾酒品种不少，还有带点儿亚洲风味的，如荔枝口味马提尼酒。我点了最经典的大都会鸡尾酒，这个一定错不了，呵呵。

这家店提供各种点心菜肴，包括蒸的，烤的和煎炸的，有各式各样的饺子，春卷和小菜，以及各款套餐。其中也有适合素食者的菜式。

我们两人各点了几样点心，味道真不错！

我先生@ezzy很喜欢这里的脆皮鸭春卷和羊肉煎饺，两样都美味地道。那个表皮炸得金黄脆口，里面的肉味浓郁，很赞！

他们家的蜜汁排骨也是亮点之一。这道菜不但色泽诱人，更有甜蜜的滋味，真的让我食指大动，胃口大开，哈哈。

接下来的是期待已久热气腾腾的蒸笼点心。

牛肉沙爹饺子是餐馆特别为过年而准备的新款菜式。面皮拌了红头菜所以颜色艳丽，象征着好意头！里面裹着的是牛肉，香菇和葱。非常有创意，而且味道也不错。

我最爱吃的要数上海小笼包了。它是一种传统的猪肉加洋葱饺子，内馅带有汤汁的“灌汤包“，又称为”小笼汤包“。咬上一口，满嘴都是浓郁鲜美的汤汁，肉馅鲜嫩，那滋味真是难以形容！一下子就被我们消灭光了，真有点儿后悔没多点一笼，呵呵！

我们还吃了西兰花和鸡煲饭，味道都挺好的。要特别提到的是配西兰花的芝麻酱很不错。

最后当然少不了甜点咯！我选了厨师特别推荐的咸焦糖椰子口味的糯米布丁。听起来怪怪的组合，但吃起来口感绵密，味道很棒，而且颜值也相当高！@ezzy 则选了他最爱的三色冰激淋作甜点，也说不错。

Ping Pong与唐人街的中餐馆不同，它以自己独特的艺术风格制作中国传统饺子，并提供一流的品质。我很喜欢这家餐厅优雅的环境和艺术气息，当然最重要的是他们家美味的点心和鸡尾酒，很值得推荐。