Kokova Magazine

Mixing Oriental customs and a cool, urban setting, Ping Pong Wembley is a trendy addition to Wembley Park's popular Designer Outlet.

Offering a wide range of Asian treats, the sleek Ping Pong restaurants offer a big choice of dumplings and steamed buns along with an array of fragrant Chinese soups and rice pots.

If you're looking for a new way to enjoy the Chinese cuisine, then perhaps dim sum is for you. Perfect for relaxing and sharing (or keeping all for yourself), Ping Pong's Dim Sum menu is little pieces of flavour, leaving you satisfyingly full. Ping Pong offer the traditions of tea houses with the modern twist in your cocktail.

We arrived at an open restaurant that was surprisingly well lit for such dark decor, resulting in a warm and inviting space. In the centre was a dim sum preparation counter surrounded by a bar at which we sat; we would have liked to see our food being prepared for us but unfortunately it wasn't in use that day. Any slight disappointment we felt was washed away as soon as we sat down and began looking at our menus.

Our server recommended we eat four or five dishes - each of which are served as small portions - picked from each of the sub menus. Take one baked dish, one rice dish, one fried or griddle dish and a dumpling dish or two; this should be the perfect amount to eat. To places your order, you simply tick off the paper menu also found on your table and alert your server.

We asked if we should have one thing at a time, or did everything come at once? When told either way was acceptable, we chose to have everything come out when it was ready. In future, we agreed we'd have a dish or two at a time as all our food came out at once and we struggled to fit it all on the table in front of us.

The staff at Ping Pong definitely take pride in their work. Everything was served with a flourish, from the bartenders shaking up our cocktails, to the whisking of the lids off our dumpling and even the way my tea was delicately poured. Each piece of food was perfectly placed and wonderfully styled - it was almost a shame to eat it.

The favourite dish of the evening was, without a doubt, the roast pork puffs. These were under the baked section, which only includes two dishes - the pork puffs and a hoi sin vegetable puff. They were beautifully presented on a square dish when bought to our table and when I took that first bite I was in heaven. We loved them so much we ordered a second helping.

The rest of our meal was very enjoyable. Our dishes from the dumpling menu came out in the wicker steaming baskets, labelled so we could easily identify which was which, without having to try to remember what our server told us they were.

The turnaround between ordering was exceptionally quick, which was a good thing for us as we were very hungry. The small size of the portions and the chef's speedy fingers meant the dishes were on our table in a flash, some still steaming in their wicker baskets.

The cocktails were all deliciously mixed. From where we were sitting we could see the barmen shaking our cocktails in true fashion. Each one was a burst of colour. The Kumquat Mojito was a tangy taste to a classic drink and the Strawberry and Passionfruit fusion had an unusual twist with the Asian basil seeds sprinkled in.

We tried their Dancing Dragon cocktail, part of the seasonal menu, which was very reminiscent of bubble tea due to the tapioca balls. The dark tapioca balls stood out against the creamy colour of the rest of the cocktail and the slightly chewy consistency offers a contrast to the smoothness of liquid when sucked up through the straw.

A thoroughly enjoyable evening, delicious food, and one we would definitely repeat again with friends.

Find your nearest restaurant at www.pingpongdimsum.co.uk