(Photo thanks to gq.com)
So I’m just a white guy with an opinion and one of many in this town. I gotta say though, WTF dudes. I keep hearing all this talk about Ping and how great it is. I like food. I like good food. I’ve been eating at PokPok for a long time now, and holy crap it’s good food, but somebody droppd the ball when they opened Ping. The differences between the two are night and day. Pork buns my buns.
Alright, let’s break it down. PokPok and Ping side by side. Take the two best dishes on the menu away (kuaytiaw pet pha lo – Ping, Fish sauce Wings- PokPok). Those two are fantastic… I mean gold. Don’t change a thing. Then take everything else on the menu. PokPok has it in the bag, but we need to tell Ping to step it up. I was hoping, because PokPok’s food is typically savory and flavorful that its little brother would be the same, but I guess the apple does fall far from the tree. The skewers don’t satisfy and most are just okay, baby octopus was weird, chewy, the ramen is bland and I gotta say, the drinks were just moderate. I don’t know, I just wasn’t impressed.
Enough of me ripping the restaurant. They do some things right. The innovation is amazing. Talk about real love for cooking. They do have some exciting examples of real authentic Thai food, the blog is a fun place to get info and you can tell the owner is passionate about the menu. The look is hip, the waiters are of course well groomed and intelligent, and the location is perfect. They have so many good things going for them (GQ named them a top 10 up-and-coming), I just don’t know why the food’s not a step up.
To summarize, if you wanna be seen, go to Ping and order a couple skewers, maybe a drink, and enjoy the atmosphere. If you want to eat well though, do yourself a favor, get yourself some PokPok and marvel at the cuisine.