A very welcome addition to the South Bank, dim sum at Ping Pong is snazzy, stylish and fun.

The Venue
Ping Pong opened its first restaurant on Great Marlborough Street in 2005 and now has outlets in James Street, Paddington Street, Newman Street, Eastcastle Street and Westbourne Grove. This new venue is on the Festival Terrace, adjacent to the wonderfully transformed Royal Festival Hall. The design is modern and sleek with a mix of round and square tables. The bar upstairs is cool with its low, shiny, black lacqueur tables and Oriental lattice screens. Stylistically, Ping Pong is head and shoulders above its other multi-site counterparts.

The Atmosphere
There's a no booking policy unless you're in a group of eight or more people, which adds to its fun and ever so slightly chaotic charm. You can always have a drink in the swish bar upstairs until a space becomes free. The restaurant tables are fairly close together, but that the kind of eating experience they’re after. There are also tables in the outside roped-off area.

The Food
Dim sum translates as heart's delight, and with over 40 of the little dishes available, delights are plentiful. There's no particular way of ordering, but it's ideal to have a mix of fried, steamed and baked dishes. Around four or five plates per head should do it, and the little parcels work out at approximately only one pound each. This is the sort of meal you should pick over at leisure, appreciating the different morsels.

The baked pork puff is uncannily like a mini Cornish pasty and the spinach wraps are succulent, with the spinach leaf giving way to the firm prawn hidden inside. The meat on the spare ribs (always a good, if messy, dish to order) fairly flakes off the bone. A must with dim sum, the tea is a pretty jasmine flower that's dropped into a tall glass and left to blossom out. The sticky Thai rice is highly recommended, and highly filling and comes beautifully wrapped in a lotus leaf. The mango pudding in coconut milk is sweet and delicate, but the chocolate Chinese-style sweet bun, a dough-wrapped ball with chocolate cake-like filling, is absolutely delicious and worth the visit alone.

The Drink
The Ping Pong cocktail, made of white wine, martini bianco and lychee juice is recommended, as is the very fine kumquat mojito. But in keeping with the healthy menu, tea is the order of the day. Bubble tea is a spin on iced tea and is blended with cardamom seeds, mint, and tapioca pearls that burst in the mouth.

The Last Word
Modern, healthy and fun, Ping Pong is a fantastic alternative to the other chains of the pizza, burger or noodle variety.

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