Young & Hungry » Ping Pong Dim Sum http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/youngandhungry D.C. Restaurants and Food Tue, 14 Feb 2012 22:54:55 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.2 What a Dumpling! Ping Pong Dim Sum Opens Tonight in Dupont http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/youngandhungry/2011/08/17/what-a-dumpling-ping-pong-dim-sum-opens-tonight-in-dupont/ http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/youngandhungry/2011/08/17/what-a-dumpling-ping-pong-dim-sum-opens-tonight-in-dupont/#comments Wed, 17 Aug 2011 13:23:37 +0000 Chris Shott http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/youngandhungry/?p=44885 London-based chain Ping Pong Dim Sum officially opens its newest D.C. location in Dupont Circle on Wednesday. According to the eatery's Twitter feed, doors open at 5 p.m. For some perspective, read my Young & Hungry predecessor Tim Carman's take on how Ping Pong's fare stacks up against the hand-made dim sum at Wheaton's Hollywood East Cafe here.

Thrillist has video from inside Ping Pong's new dumpling digs, located at 1 Dupont Circle NW, after the jump:

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Photo by young/Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license

]]> http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/youngandhungry/2011/08/17/what-a-dumpling-ping-pong-dim-sum-opens-tonight-in-dupont/feed/ 1 Free Bubble Tea! Ping Pong Dim Sum Woos Dupont Denizens With Refreshments http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/youngandhungry/2011/08/08/free-bubble-tea-ping-pong-dim-sum-woos-dupont-denizens-with-refreshments/ http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/youngandhungry/2011/08/08/free-bubble-tea-ping-pong-dim-sum-woos-dupont-denizens-with-refreshments/#comments Mon, 08 Aug 2011 15:10:22 +0000 Chris Shott http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/youngandhungry/?p=44183 Staff of the forthcoming Ping Pong Dim Sum location in Dupont Circle will be promoting the place with a free pop-up tea shop this week, dishing out complimentary samples of various bubble teas, including the house specialty raspberry and black pepper flavors, to passersby.

Ping Pong is a veritable tea emporium, as our illustrious Y&H predecessor Tim Carman notes here. Read his review of the Chinatown location's dim sum here.

Full details on the free tea fest below.

Cool off with Free Bubble Tea!

Ping Pong Dim Sum Hosts Popup Tea Shop in Dupont Circle

What: In anticipation of the opening of the new Dupont Circle location this month, Ping Pong Dim Sum is hosting a free Popup Tea Shop for neighbors and passerby to sample some of their refreshing bubble teas and get to know the team at the new restaurant.  Guests can cool off with one of their specialty raspberry or black pepper teas and also have the chance to win parties at the new restaurant. Ping Pong has partnered with Dupont Circle non-profit DC Hunger Solutions, which fights to end child hunger in the district, and will accept donations for the organization. The team at Ping Pong Dupont is excited to get to know their new neighbors at this free event!

About: Serving “Chinese with a twist,” Ping Pong introduces an innovative take on traditional dim sum. With the success of their Chinatown location, Ping Pong is bringing their unique and contemporary concept to the Dupont Circle neighborhood.

Where: In front of the restaurant, located at 1 Dupont Circle NW

When: Monday, August 8 from 5pm-7pm

Tuesday, August 9 from 11am-1pm

Wednesday, August 10 from 11am-1pm

Cost: Free!

About Ping Pong Dim Sum

Ping Pong Dim Sum is in the heart of Washington’s Chinatown neighborhood, open regularly Monday through Thursday from 11:30 a.m. – 11:00 p.m.; Friday and Saturday from 11:30 a.m. – 12:00a.m.; and Sunday from 11:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m.  Call 202-506-3740 for reservations and party planning. Ping Pong has several restaurants all over the world including the United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, and Brazil and serves a signature range of over 40 delicious dim sum dishes and specials. The accessible and affordable cuisine is designed for sharing in a cool and contemporary setting.

]]> http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/youngandhungry/2011/08/08/free-bubble-tea-ping-pong-dim-sum-woos-dupont-denizens-with-refreshments/feed/ 0 Chefs Veg Out: Darren Wightman of Ping Pong Dim Sum http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/youngandhungry/2011/03/23/chefs-veg-out-darren-wightman-of-ping-pong-dim-sum/ http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/youngandhungry/2011/03/23/chefs-veg-out-darren-wightman-of-ping-pong-dim-sum/#comments Wed, 23 Mar 2011 19:13:46 +0000 Stefanie Gans http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/youngandhungry/?p=35331

Short ribs and baby octopus may dominate many menus in the city, but that doesn't mean local chefs can't find love in an acorn squash. In our ongoing series, Chefs Veg Out, we'll prove D.C.’s chefs can play with more than just meat.

  • Name: Darren Wightman
  • Title: Executive Chef
  • Restaurant: Ping Pong Dim Sum
  • Cooking Since: 29 years ago, cooking in Australia (where he's from), Hong Kong, Bali, Greece, Dubai, Paris, and Los Angeles.
  • Random Fact: "I was a fullback playing Aussie Rules Football in high school. We were legends."
  • Favorite Vegetable: Chinese vegetable daunew, snow peas shoots. "I fell in love with them in Hong Kong. I quickly blanch them in boiling salted water, then throw them in a wok with smashed ginger, chopped garlic and oyster sauce."

  • Least Favorite Vegetable: Cauliflower. "I loathe the smell of it being boiled. It's probably from having it poorly cooked when I was a kid."
  • Memorable Meatless Dish: Balinese vegetable curry. "It's almost like a staff meal. It's from my time at Intercontinental Hotels Group. It's a turmeric base with curry, coriander, lime, lime leaf, peanuts, sauteed smoked curry paste, blue ginger (galangal), smashed up lemongrass, aubergine, potatoes, beans, tomato, and broccoli. We served it with rice steamed in a banana leaf. There was nothing refined about it at all, just fantastic flavor and so cheap."
  • Best Vegetable Dish at Ping Pong: Spicy vegetable dumpling. "It's fresh and clean. There's shiitake, water chestnuts, glass noodles, lots of cilantro and red jalepeño. We serve it with a fresh red chili sauce with a little crushed yellow bean and seaseme oil. It's a textbook Chinese master sauce."
  • Quick and Dirty Meatless Idea: Pencil asparagus. "Quickly blanched and grilled with a splash of extra virgin olive oil, a squeeze of lemon, sea salt and ground black pepper. It's so simple, so quick and tastes amazing and can be eaten warm or cold."

Photo courtesy of Ping Pong Dim Sum

]]> http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/youngandhungry/2011/03/23/chefs-veg-out-darren-wightman-of-ping-pong-dim-sum/feed/ 3 Changing Tables: Arlington Rooftop Bar and Grill Now Open, Another Matchbox on the Way http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/youngandhungry/2010/12/08/changing-tables-arlington-rooftop-bar-and-grill-now-open-another-matchbox-on-the-way/ http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/youngandhungry/2010/12/08/changing-tables-arlington-rooftop-bar-and-grill-now-open-another-matchbox-on-the-way/#comments Wed, 08 Dec 2010 19:05:25 +0000 Andrew George http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/youngandhungry/?p=30627

The latest in restaurant openings, closings, and highly unstable target dates.

Coming Soon:

Openings:

Closings:

Photo by Arlington Rooftop Bar and Grill

]]> http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/youngandhungry/2010/12/08/changing-tables-arlington-rooftop-bar-and-grill-now-open-another-matchbox-on-the-way/feed/ 2 Changing Tables: Sweetgreen Opens Today in Ballston http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/youngandhungry/2010/12/02/changing-tables-sweetgreen-opens-today-in-ballston/ http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/youngandhungry/2010/12/02/changing-tables-sweetgreen-opens-today-in-ballston/#comments Thu, 02 Dec 2010 17:10:04 +0000 Andrew George http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/youngandhungry/?p=29993

The latest in restaurant openings, closings, and highly unstable target dates.

Coming Soon:

Openings:

Closings:

Photo by Tom (andertho) via Flickr/Creative Commons Attribution 2.0

]]> http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/youngandhungry/2010/12/02/changing-tables-sweetgreen-opens-today-in-ballston/feed/ 4 Changing Tables: American Tap Room and Ping Pong Dim Sum Are Reproducing! http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/youngandhungry/2010/11/24/changing-tables-american-tap-room-and-ping-pong-dim-sum-are-reproducing/ http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/youngandhungry/2010/11/24/changing-tables-american-tap-room-and-ping-pong-dim-sum-are-reproducing/#comments Wed, 24 Nov 2010 20:19:21 +0000 Andrew George http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/youngandhungry/?p=29601

The latest in restaurant openings, closings, and highly unstable target dates.

Coming Soon:

Openings:

Closings:

Photo courtesy of American Tap Room

]]> http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/youngandhungry/2010/11/24/changing-tables-american-tap-room-and-ping-pong-dim-sum-are-reproducing/feed/ 1 Hollywood Vs. Chinatown: A Tale of Two Dim Sum Palaces http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/youngandhungry/2010/05/21/hollywood-vs-chinatown-a-tale-of-two-dim-sum-palaces/ http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/youngandhungry/2010/05/21/hollywood-vs-chinatown-a-tale-of-two-dim-sum-palaces/#comments Fri, 21 May 2010 15:05:31 +0000 Tim Carman http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/youngandhungry/?p=20845 Hollywood East

This week's Young & Hungry column takes a look at two very different dim sum parlors, Hollywood East Cafe in Wheaton and Ping Pong Dim Sum in Chinatown. One is a local, family-owned operation, the other an import from London. We're publishing the full version of the column in the blog, so that you can enjoy Darrow Montgomery's photography, which tells its own story.

Our waiter at Ping Pong Dim Sum, in an attempt to give us some perspective on the Chinatown restaurant, has just described its cuisine as “Western dim sum.” Now, I’ve been doing this beat long enough to recognize a gift when one is presented. I mean, in my two previous visits here, no other server had dropped such a broad suggestion that this London-based chain doesn’t trade in traditional Cantonese-style dim sum.

“What do you mean by ‘Western dim sum?’” I ask the waiter.

“Look around you,” he responds.

He’s got a point there. The main dining room has a black-lacquered sleekness about it, almost nightclub-like in intensity. There are no steam-heated carts here. There is only style: The tabletops are black. The stools are black. Even the floor is black. Throbbing, club-like music thumps over the sound system. The ambiance generates an almost Pavlovian response: You feel like you need a cocktail asap, and Ping Pong can accommodate—in ways that wander far from the streets of Hong Kong. Asian Manhattan. Kumquat mojito. Ginger and limoncello caipirinha.

Hollywood EastBut our waiter wants us to understand that the dim-sum menu itself leans more West than East, too. His speech is intended to be prophylactic: He’s trying to ward off any potential disappointment, should we want to order, say, fried taro dumplings or fried turnip cakes or steamed chicken feet or any other standards of the Hong Kong dim sum menu. He even tells us one startling fact: Ping Pong’s head chef is Australian.

When I tried to confirm the chef’s background, I was met with resistance from Ping Pong’s corporate offices. A locally based publicist informed me via e-mail that the chain’s “focus is on the food and not on the head chef at Ping Pong at any location. With that they would rather not send his information.”

OK, despite what you may think, I don’t have much interest in turning this column into an anti-chain, anti-corporate screed, which I find knee-jerk and tedious. The truth is, I’ve had some good plates at Ping Pong: three browned squares of puff pastry in which the stuffing of honey roasted barbecue chicken smartly balances sweet with savory. A trio of tiny toast rounds, each crunchy bite pregnant with delicately spiced prawn meat. A steam basket of shu mai, in which every little pork-and-prawn package comes encased in a wrinkly egg-based wrapper; the combination’s so soft and meaty that the dish lives up to its name: “cook and sell” dumplings, a reminder that chefs back in China can barely lift the shu mai out of the steam pot before they’re gobbled up by greedy customers.

But I’ve also had some dreadful plates at Ping Pong: honey-glazed pork ribs so bland and chewy I left most of the meat on the bone. Thin translucent tubes of Vietnamese spring rolls, presumably stuffed with prawns and vegetables, whose only discernible pleasure was their deep-fried crunch. A pair of Valrhona chocolate buns that were, essentially, gummy white-dough balls barely redeemed by their dark, liquid interiors. Even plates that had previously pleased my palate could turn disappointing: A second helping of prawn toast tasted only of fryer oil.

The selling point of any restaurant chain is supposed to be its consistency, its ability to put systems in place that almost guarantee a level of quality each and every visit. I haven’t found that to be the case at Ping Pong. And on my final visit, to Ping Pong’s dim sum bar, I may have received a small glimpse into the reason why. I chatted up one of the cooks who told me that the dim sum is not prepared in-house, but in Rockville, where imported ingredients are turned into dumplings and buns and then trucked to Chinatown every 48 hours, sometimes frozen. You could be, in other words, choking down a dumpling that is two days old. (By press time, Ping Pong had not yet responded to my question on this matter.)

Hollywood EastTwelve miles to the north, at the recently reopened Hollywood East Café in Wheaton, the dim sum cooks hand-make every single item on premise, hundreds and hundreds of sweet and savory bundles for the restaurant’s daily lunch-time service. How do I know this? Because I asked owner Janet Yu to give me a tour of her kitchen, part of the restaurant’s new spacious digs at the Westfield Shopping Center. It was the first time, she said, that she had ever allowed a journalist to see the inner workings of Hollywood East.

H_east-10What you find inside Yu’s kitchen are not gleaming, show-pony steamers like you see behind the dim sum counter at Ping Pong, where a short tower of bamboo baskets gets a steam treatment before arriving at your table. Instead, you find a narrow maze of prep tables and industrial-sized woks and cramped walk-in coolers, the quarters so tight you routinely have to walk over and around boxes of fresh taro roots or containers of sliced pork butts marinating for the following day.

Hollywood EastAround one corner, you might run into head chef, Kenny Lei, who’ll be slicing up a thin roll of rice dough. He’ll flatten each piece of the wheat-starch dough into a perfect circle with his cleaver and then scrape that skin off the work surface so that the next cook can fill it with, say, a shrimp mixture and crimp it into these gorgeous, pleated, sea-shell like dumplings known ashar gau. The process will be repeated over and over and over again, perhaps 200 times in a short, 30-minute span.

Hollywood EastAround another corner, you might meet the wiry woman who handles the noodle crepe station, perhaps the most demanding in the entire kitchen. Next to her station, there is a container of rice flour and water, which she will pour onto a perforated tray in a thin layer and let steam for a few minutes until it turns into this large translucent membrane. The cook then peels the sheet from the tray and places it onto a work counter, where she adds cooked shrimp and begins the painstaking process of rolling and cutting this delicate pan-size noodle until it resembles those folded-over crepes found on Hollywood East’s dim sum carts.

Did I mention that Ping Pong Dim Sum doesn’t offer rice noodle crepes on its menu?

Hollywood EastNor does Ping Pong serve fried taro dumplings. Allow me to attempt an explanation why—well, aside from the obvious notion that the starchy root doesn’t play to Western diners. Another reason may have to do with the dish’s preparation. The dumpling cannot simply be tossed whole into a basket fryer, like all the fried dim sum dishes at Ping Pong. At Hollywood East, chef Lei has jerry-rigged a device for deep-frying those dumplings: He takes a perforated metal disc and lowers it by hand into the hot vegetable oil—yes, by hand—via a handle fashioned out of old wire hangers. The stuffed taro balls sitting on the disc must be dipped gradually into the oil, little by little, until fully submerged. The technique ensures proper cooking and creates the taro balls’ fright-wig appearance. The technique, I’m sure, must require the arm strength of Albert Pujols.

Hollywood EastSome of the skills demonstrated in Hollywood East’s kitchen are virtuosic. I’m thinking particularly about Lei’s ability to take a small wooden roller and quickly fashion a stack of round, almost cup-like dumpling skins from a length of dough. But like all good kitchens, this one also demands classical skills, like the ability to roast a whole duck and debone it for the chopped meat necessary for duck dumplings. Or just the knowledge to demand the right cut of beef short ribs for the braised, peppery dish on the dim sum menu.

Out in Hollywood East’s cavernous dining room, I suspect few customers understand how much work Lei and his team put into the plates that crowd those rolling steam carts. The fact is, I didn’t know until recently myself. It’s part of the perfect deception here: You show up for dim sum, you sit down, and you immediately start shoveling down one succulent dish after another. Finished with one plate? Three more are ready right now, if you’d like. It has the feel of an assembly line—just press a button and your dim sum arrives!

Hollywood EastIt’s a beautiful lie, of course, designed to mask the human, hand-crafted, and hard-earned skills responsible for every single bite at Hollywood East. Ping Pong Dim Sum seems to have diluted this art form into a multi-step, multi-location process in which the people who actually steam or fry or grill your dim sum at the restaurant sometimes have very little knowledge of the dishes they’re cooking. Something can’t help but get lost in that cumbersome process. It’s the main reason why I’ll choose Hollywood East over Ping Pong Dim Sum any day of the week—and not because the latter is part of a multi-national chain.

Ping Pong Dim Sum, 900 7th St. NW, (202) 506-3740

Hollywood East Café, 11160 Veirs Mill Road, Wheaton, (240) 290-9988

twitter.com/timcarman

Hollywood East

]]> http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/youngandhungry/2010/05/21/hollywood-vs-chinatown-a-tale-of-two-dim-sum-palaces/feed/ 6 A Look Inside Hollywood East’s Dim Sum Kitchen http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/youngandhungry/2010/05/19/a-look-inside-hollywood-easts-dim-sum-kitchen/ http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/youngandhungry/2010/05/19/a-look-inside-hollywood-easts-dim-sum-kitchen/#comments Wed, 19 May 2010 14:31:56 +0000 Tim Carman http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/youngandhungry/?p=20724

This week's Young & Hungry column takes a look at two different dim sum palaces: the sleek, lounge-y, London-import Ping Pong Dim Sum in Chinatown and the informal, family-oriented Hollywood East Cafe, which recently reopened in the Westfield Shopping Center.

In preparation for the story, I asked Hollywood East owner Janet Yu if she would give me a tour of her kitchen, so that I could better understand the skill and labor that goes into her daily dim sum menu. City Paper photographer Darrow Montgomery joined us for the tour and took these short videos of head chef Kenny Lei preparing the skins and the actual har gau dumplings.

The second video is after the jump.

]]> http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/youngandhungry/2010/05/19/a-look-inside-hollywood-easts-dim-sum-kitchen/feed/ 0 Last Week’s Greatest Hits on Young & Hungry http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/youngandhungry/2010/03/29/last-weeks-greatest-hits-on-young-hungry-5/ http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/youngandhungry/2010/03/29/last-weeks-greatest-hits-on-young-hungry-5/#comments Mon, 29 Mar 2010 13:30:31 +0000 Tim Carman http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/youngandhungry/?p=18503 chinatown 3

It was a week in which newcomers — the theme of this year's Best of D.C. issue — also dominated the Y&H blog. The Queen's upcoming appearance on H Street NE (The Queen Vic, that is) drew most of the attention, as is proper, but the reigning royalty of sandwich-making, Taylor Gourmet, was not far behind, with news of its third location in Bethesda.

Take a look at your favorites from last week:

  1. The Queen Vic to Make an Appearance on H Street with Eel Pies (*)
  2. Taylor Gourmet to Open Third Shop in Bethesda
  3. My Day in Chinatown/Penn Quarter Food and Drink
  4. Crepes: Are They the New Cupcakes?
  5. The Truly Awful Thing About the Cupcake Craze: The Wasteful Packaging

* A certain light-drinking Budweiser beer was, once again, a popular item among readers, but we’ve stopped counting it.

]]> http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/youngandhungry/2010/03/29/last-weeks-greatest-hits-on-young-hungry-5/feed/ 0 My Day in Chinatown/Penn Quarter Food and Drink http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/youngandhungry/2010/03/23/my-day-in-chinatownpenn-quarter-food-and-drink/ http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/youngandhungry/2010/03/23/my-day-in-chinatownpenn-quarter-food-and-drink/#comments Tue, 23 Mar 2010 20:24:49 +0000 Tim Carman http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/youngandhungry/?p=18219 chinatown 1

The weather was so warm on Saturday, really more summer than spring, that Carrie and I decided to wander the streets of Chinatown/Penn Quarter, going from lunch to dessert to cheese to beer to wherever the spirit took us.

I feel bad in retrospect. We didn't explore Chinablock, the small strip of real estate that represents what's left of D.C.'s historic Chinatown. Instead, we mostly stayed on the sidewalks outfitted with the kind of chain and Party Central businesses that attract the well-heeled and the high-heeled alike. I definitely didn't earn any Jonathan Gold ethnic-eating bonus points on this outing, but aside from the guilt, we had a helluva time.

Take a look:

chinatown 2

We did manage to avoid these chains in "Chinatown."

chinatown 3

But we did stop at another one, the London-based Ping Pong Dim Sum, for flowering tea and some shareable plates. The food, whether spicy chicken steamed in delicate folds of rice pastry or chopped prawns fried into little brown burial mounds, showed considerable improvement over my first visit weeks ago. The dumplings were not as gummy. The pork shu mai not as bland. The chicken puff not as sticky sweet. The turnaround was remarkable, as if a whole new team of cooks had taken up residence. More investigation is required.

chinatown 4

We stopped at Crepes on the Walk for dessert, a rich and rubbery pancake slathered with Nutella.

chinatown 5

Not food-related, but we were tickled by this scene in the alley, where folks renting Segways were getting driving lessons before attacking the streets (and the people walking them).

chinatown 6

The Cowgirl Creamery was packed with cheese heads like us.

chinatown 7

We picked up a pair of cheeses, including a block of Ouray from Sprout Creek Farm in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., which produces this firm, slightly crumbly cheese with sweet buttery flavors.

chinatown 8

We thought about experimenting with the chocolate wine available at the liquor store next to Cowgirl but couldn't bring ourselves to taste what could very well be a desecration of two great products.

chinatown 9

Animal activists were trying to shake some sense into the kids walking into the Verizon Center for a Ringling Bros. show. I suspect the Coke went down bitter after that.

chinatown 10

One man had discovered the joys of fresh fruit in Chinatown. Don't worry, I'm sure it won't happen again.

chinatown 11

A soccer match was competing with March Madness for a beer drinker's attention at RFD. Or maybe I should say there was a soccer match on TV at RFD. I'm not sure anyone was watching it.

chinatown 12

Carrie ordered a Floris Apple Ale, a crisp, slightly tart pour that combines unfermented apple juices with a classic Belgian white ale. It tastes more like apple juice than beer to me, but it goes down smooth on a warm day.

chinatown 13

I also went the Belgian route with a glass of Duvel Green, an equally crisp golden ale that balances citrus with sweetness, with only a mild hoppiness. It's a good thing RFD was charging $8-plus a bottle draft for the Green, because I could have drank these all afternoon.

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