I had heard and read all the great reviews of this place and in general love Dimsums and trooped in there with the entire family last weekend.
The food, ambience and general quality of service (their interest / pride in the food they serve!) lived up to the expectations. The question that we debated in the table was ... "what would it take for us to go there again?"
While it tried to carve a niche in the crowded space of Chinese restaurants, I wasn't convinced that I would compromise my usual favourites (read Mainland China, Aromas of China) for Ping in a hurry yet. We differed on that view across the table and here is my feeling.
I believe that the distinguishing feature of this place centres around the Dimsums and the signature dishes. However, I feel that in the rush to cater to a variety of palates, it compromises these distinguishing elements in the general crowd of the regulars (or dishes which non-Chinese gourmet folks can barely grasp).
I had a few simple suggestions to address that:
1) Have a combo-platter page calling them "specials": These can be a set of choices across Lunch and Dinner menus for Vegetarians and Non-vegetarians and can highlight the distinguishing / signature dishes ... maybe complimented with a small paragraph on the unique aspects of that combo.
2) Clearly the Dimsums are cool ... however, I would suggest that if a "Hongkong" style of distribution can be planned where there are a set of Dimsums in plate and a set of such plates carried around in a trolley that people can see and pick what they want. This can also be complemented by the waiters explaining the different unique Dimsums.
Both these ideas are focused on de-mystifying the unique elements of the restaurant and making them accessible to the mortals!
Chao ... all the best to the folks at Ping!!! (the pleasure of giving suggestions when I don't have to execute :-)
apalit
Replied by: Culinary Connoisseurs, Management , on Sep 29, 2009 Flag this
Thanks for your valuable feedback and further more, for the time that you have spent in giving us these valuable suggestions
You are right in saying that at P!ng we aim to appeal to all palates. Having said that, we do not do so at the cost of creativity or authenticity - two aspects which I hope you noticed during your dining experience
We believe that P!ng has what it takes to bring freshness to the way Bangalore understands Chinese cuisine and we are also quite sure that are moving in that direction
Both the suggestions made by you are very valid and indeed very helpful. You will be happy to know that we are thinking in this direction. You must see some small, yet significant changes soon at P!ng when it comes to the way we serve Dim Sum
Till then, however, hope you do dine with us - because as we say at P!ng - "no matter how many times you dine here, the variety is such that no experience is the same"