ALL HAIL PING PONG

People say fashion is a religion, which for some it is. You may think fashion and food can never go together but believe me you could never be further away from the truth.

If fashion is a religion then Ping Pong dim sums are like the bread for communion and the cocktails are like the red wine. I still rant and rave about Ping Pong because it is one place in London I cannot get enough of. The whole relaxed atmosphere, amazing food, cocktails and chilled out music really makes you feel like a real life Gossip Girl or even a member of SATC. I know this is going to sound so strange but I totally feel this every time I enter a Ping Pong restaurant. It's like putting on a sexy Alexander McQueen outfit, you instantly feel a lot more confident, sexy and ready to go; Eating in a Ping Pong restaurant gives you exactly the same feeling. You feel cool, sexy and important and the best thing is, it's still very affordable!

Ping Pong have just released their brand new menu which I have tried and trust me it is absolutely gorgeous! Everything from Prawn, Chicken or Vegetarian, Ping Pong can cater to all your needs so you really do not have to worry about any problems with your food.

Below are some images of the new dishes which are now on the menu. Try 'em out!

06 Chive dumplings

King prawn and chives in an elegant green chive pastry

21 Spinach and Prawn wrap

Prawns rolled up in spinach, steamed and served with shallots and soy sauce

271 Ginger cake

Baked moist Ginger cake served with a scoop of sorbet

264 Maodou

Freshly steamed soya beans served warm in their pot and sprinkled with celery salt

197 Chilli Squid

Chilli Squid with a crispy coating, served with a spicy Mango sauce

PING PONG PART III

So Reena finally got round to having a bash at her THIRD birthday (spoilt cow!). 15 of us all went down to the Great Marlborough St restaurant, and my was it an experience.

Ping Pong kindly gave us unlimited dim sum and alcohol on the house as a good will gesture after our hideous experience before. We ate like there was no tomorrow and a couple of other fashion bloggers including Fiona of SAVOURSHOES and Frankie of SWELL-VINTAGE graced us with their presence, it was mad! When we first arrived we all sat down by the bar sipping cocktails and gossiping about anything and everything and much to our surprise, when we were seated at our table we had wine and snacks waiting there for us. We got slightly tipsy, all perved on Reena's new gorgeous lace top and slightly O.D'd on loads of dim sum!

If you are a newbie to Ping Pong, here are probably some of the things from the menu you should definitely try:

1) Spicy Chicken Dumplings

2) Crispy Prawn Balls

3) Veggie Sticky Rice

4) Coconut Chicken Rice-Clay Plate

5) Blueberry Martini

Totally lush and totally j'adorable! I'm sitting here feeling like I am pregnant with 21838220099000 million babies! I cannot stop eating at this place and with LFW around the corner I will have to hit the gym tomorrow morning to burn all that off!

Finally, I have to say the service this time was utterly and disgustingly fabulous! And a very big thank you to Lucy the restaurant manager, I need to marry her!

Me & my BFF Irina

Grace & Fiona

Frankie, Pav, Me and Reena

Me, Lucy (Great Marlborough St restaurant manager and Reena)

PING PONG REDEEMS ITSELF

You may have read the previous post about my extremely hetro experience at Ping Pong on Monday. So when I had woken up this morning, I was very surprised to have received an email from Ping Pong's PR. I was told that my complaint about my bad experience had been taken seriously and was being dealt with immediately. Commercial Director for Ping Pong, Tina English, issued a statement on my blog comments about the incident:

"Hi Ozzy,

I am just writing to offer our sincerest apologies to you and your friends following your recent visit to Ping Pong. On behalf of everyone at Ping Pong we are sorry that we did not meet your expectations, particularly as this was a birthday celebration. At Ping Pong we want to make sure that every customer has an outstanding experience each and every time they visit one of our restaurants and this should translate to amazing food and drink as well as outstanding service.

The level of service which you experienced is unacceptable. We have discussed this incident with the restaurant manager to ensure that this type of incident will not happen again.

Again, please accept our sincerest apologies.

Tina English,

Commercial Director, Ping Pong"

Now, that was very sweet of Tina to do. But to top it all off she called me personally later today and wanted to apologise to me over the phone. I was told that the complaint had even been discussed in the board of directors meeting! Talking to Tina was like talking to someone you just really want to go have cocktails with, go shopping and chat about boys! Ha. She was actually F.A.B.U.L.O.U.S. Tina was extremely friendly and made me feel assured, confident and relaxed. She handled the situation very professionally and I was quite impressed with how quickly Ping Pong dealt with the situation.

The outcome was VERY positive and still very thankful to Tina & Ping Pong for apologising... This has definitely restored my faith in Ping Pong, but have to say the down side to all this is that London Fashion Week is almost a month away and all that dimsum is really not going to help my waist for the shows and parties!

But then again, I don't care! If I was given excellent customer service then you could sell me a bloody brick! I'd probably eat so much food at a restaurant that it would actually be a crime against fashion!

BOYCOTT PING PONG

I am so angry, so disturbed and so disappointed that I can actually feel my piss boiling and venom about to spit out!

Tonight I went to my friend Reena's birthday dinner and as Ping Pong is usually our favourite hang out spot, Reena only naturally chose that place to have her little get together. We had loads of fun and laughter until we were served by the ever so horrendous, pale and rather unfortunate looking manager of their Eastcastle Street restaurant.

As it is a Sunday, Ping Pong have a special offer called 'Lazy Sumdays' which basically means all you can eat for £18. Quite a deal right? So, we ordered lots of food as we were extremely hungry and the manager who took down our order first says to me "WHY ARE YOU ORDERING SO MUCH? I DON'T LIKE WASTING FOOD... CHILDREN ARE DYING IN AFRICA BECAUSE OF STARVATION" I mean wtf??? We are paying the bill! We are paying for what we are ordering! What the fuck has it got to do with you, you bloody donut!?!?!?

So, I let that one slide even though I was in disbelief? We managed to eat the majority of the food thanks to one of Reena's friends Naz. Later on, our good friend Fiona came along with one of her friend, Grace, to say happy birthday to Reena. Fiona and her Grace didn't want to order the 'Lazy Sumday' so they were made to sit "separately" from the group which was absolutely ridiculous! Then Fiona and her Grace just tried a tiny big of our food, like I mean TINY bit of food just to taste and the stupid manager charged them both for the buffet! I mean what sort of policy is that??? If the food is being paid for, who cares who's mouth it goes in to? We then spoke to the manager who was absolutely rude to us about the whole situation, I have never been spoken to like that in my life, her attitude stank like she has never washed in her life! Finally, she agreed to void the bits that they hardly ate... Still with her stinking attitude

THEN, when we all paid, Fiona and Grace needed a £1 change back (that place did NOT deserve any kind of tip) ... THE MANAGER GAVE THE £1 CHANGE BACK IN COPPERS! How bloody rude? Not 2 50p's or 5 20p's but COPPERS!!! I have never seen such disgusting behavior, I really hope Ping Pong get to read this post and do something about it.

It has really put me off Ping Pong and totally destroyed the experience of enjoying the food!