ping pong's summer session

during the week i was invited along to ping pong's summer menu launch at their stratford restaurant. those who live in london but are not familiar with ping pong (who are you?), you need to educate yourselves immediately; as london's leading authentic dim sum restaurant, if you haven't experienced the steamed pork buns or crispy prawn balls yet, you're really missing out.

this summer though, ping pong have added a little british twist to their menus - not just to their little parcels of deliciousness, no, but also to their summer cocktails - which we also got to sample on the night. and by 'sample' i mean 'make ourselves', which... danger.

group bar manager daniele ziaco was on hand to demonstrate the 'correct' way to make each of the cocktails we were to be making that night, and then also on hand to critique, judge and throw away perfectly good booze until we did it right. i'm more of the mindset that all booze is good booze, but to the bloke in charge of all the drinks menus execution across all nine london sites and the three abroad, his cocktails are his cocktails.

we did as we were told, and tried again. of the three (three!) mojitos we were encouraged to recreate, the hibiscus mojito - with a twist on the original, was my fave; bacardi superior rum, fresh limes and mint leaves, topped with a refreshing home-made hibiscus syrup - the perfect blend of flavours to make a well-rounded drink. i mayyyyybe added too much bacardi, but who's to say (well, daniele was quite sure, but... i wasn't so sure)?



while we watched the other attendees compete against each other as they tried to recreate both the blackberry and chambord, and the longan and sake mojitos, we (thankfully, so much booze!) sampled some of the pieces from the new menu. anyone who has been to ping pong before knows how good the standard menu is, but with new summer additions like the beef and black pepper shu mai (open top wonton pastry with asparagus, carrots, marinated beef topped with black pepper and goji berries, nom!), the citrus squid and chilli carrot salad, and crispy squid in lemongrass and chilli, there's lot of new tasties to try this summer. oh, that's even before we talk about the additions to the dessert menu with the inclusion of new mochi flavours; mango, and yuzi flavoured icecreams inside a soft rice pastry ball. sounds weird, huh. trust me, it kinda is, but totttttally delicious and refreshing... trust me, i don't lie about ice cream!

so, as if all those little treats aren't good enough of a reason to get you visiting, ping pong are also giving away an incredible summer holiday, so us brits can chase that sun a little longer; two nights in hong kong followed by seven nights in thailand. all flights, accommodation and transfers paid for. i mean... i've entered twice.

thanks so much to ping pong for having us over on a busy thursday night, and to daniele for his continued patience and encouragement as we tried to recreate his masterpieces. sorry, daniele. i'm sorry.