03/03/09

Quite Terrible

by xlove2eatx

I don't understand the good reviews - after reading the good reviews, I tried it this past weekend. (1) the place is too small for carts to be pushed around which is part of the dim sum experience - rather, waitresses walk around ONCE IN A WHILE with trays of cold food; (2) food was greasier than other dim sum places and simply was not tasty; (3) my friend got sick after we ate here. There are so many other authentic dim sum places in chinatown I will definitely not be returning to this one.

• Pros: English speaking servers
• Cons: overpriced, greasy, cold food, not much variety

01/20/09

Great selection - if you've got the time.

by Joleensta

We loved the food here - but had to wait for our favoritates to come out again. I've been to many large banquet style dim sum places that had a great hustle/bustle about them but awful food. This place is smaller with a more intimate feeling. As we sat down there seemed to be a rush of variety and great tasting choices on the carts that rolled by. Then there seemed to a long pause of nothing...and then carts came again but with none of our earlier favorites but lots of other choices. Would definitely recommend and would go again!!

09/22/08

Excellent Dim Sum and reasonable prices

by wisebrain

This is the best Dim Sum I've had in NY so far. They have a wide variety and and we didn't spend that much money.

• Pros: Delicious, Cheap
• Cons: Crowded, Wait Time

06/26/08

One of the best Chinese restaurant in NYC, great dim sum and seafood

by maddawg995

I was checking out the Best Chinese Food section and was shocked by the list and felt compelled to write a review for Pings. On average since it has opened, I go to Pings about once a month for both dinners and dim sum and have rarely been disappointed. For the price and quality there's really no better place for seafood. My favorite dish for dinner is the "cold crab". It's a fresh king crab that's cooked then soaked in some type of soup and served chilled, sans soup. The flavor is amazing and really brings out the sweetness of the crab. It is served with a sweet and sour sauce which I've never even bother to use. Some of my other favorites include their house special fried rice (it translates to gold and silver fried rice in Chinese). I noticed many Chinese restaurants serve this now but as far as I'm concerned, Pings did it first and still does it best in NYC. Their winter melon seafood soup is also phenominal but I believe it's seasonal and must be ordered in advance.

As for dim sum, the most important thing for me is freshness. There's a lot of restaurants that serve dim sum that you know is not fresh when they try to mask it with tons of MSG and/or sauce. Everything I've tried at Pings has tasted crisp and fresh, especially the dishes with seafood. My favorite is their "hai gow". They also have different variations of it with other seafood which are also very good.

I noticed the previous reviewer said he was "ripped off". I can't say whether that's true or not but from my dozens of visits, I have never encountered it. In fact, there has been many instances where I was comped for soda or rice. Service wise, there's room for improvement but their wait staff is better than most if not all of the Chinatown restaurants. The midtown ones are definitely better though.

Bottom line, if you're looking for dim sum or good Chinese seafood, Pings is a no brainer.

• Pros: Dim sum, seafood, house special fried rice, various noodle dishes
• Cons: Impossible to find parking during weekends

02/27/07

Avoid Ping's - Rip off artists! - They will overcharge you. Take your good money and go somewhere else!

by tiffany1012

I went to Ping's for Dim Sum February 2007. They have big round tables which you share with other parties. There were two separate parties at the table with me. One party was too far away for me to see their bill. However, the other party was next to me and they knew the restaurant owners. Each time we ordered THE SAME ITEM my party was charged for a LARGE, meaning more money, while the party that knew the restaurant owners was charged a MEDIUM, meaning less money. I thought they were giving the other party a discount since they knew them. This party then left the table and another party was seated in their place. This party started ordering some of the same items that my party ordered earlier; again they were being charged a MEDIUM. Now I know we were being ripped off. Everything we ordered was a LARGE except for 1 item.

Since we now knew what was going on we decided to leave a little tip since they made their tip by overcharging us. When we got up to leave one of the waiters had the nerve to ask how we could leave such a small tip. We told him about how we were being charge a LARGE when the other parties were being charged a MEDIUM for the SAME ITEM and he said "Ok Ok" and ran away. It acknowledged that this is a COMMON ACT at their restaurant. If they had any ethics they would have wanted to rectify the error.

The takeaway message is: ITS COMMON PRACTICE AT PING'S TO OVERCHARGE CUSTOMERS.

It?s very upsetting to be ripped off. Don't take the risk; if you want to have a nice day and enjoy good foods go somewhere else.

• Pros: NONE; ABSOLUTELY NOTHING
• Cons: Common Practice to overcharge you! Why risk the aggravation?

01/14/07

decent manhattan dim sum...

by suebeelin

the dim sum is pretty decent. Ping's specializes in seafood. However, as with any Chinatown joint, be prepared to sit next to strangers, feel rushed, and deal with servers who do NOT speak english. As a manhattan dim sum place goes, Ping's is reliable. The best dim sum I've ever had in the tri-state area, however, was over in flushing, queens. My only time there for dim sum, and i have no idea where my friends took me, but we waited 30 minutes to get in, and it was amazing. Go explore your dim sum in Flushing if you have time. Otherwise, Ping's is a solid Chinatown joint (unless you want to head uptown, pay three times as much, and have tasty clean dim sum at Shun Lee Cafe).

• Pros: solid, reliable, good food
• Cons: crowded

11/18/06

Nice Chineese Place

by juliecute

I' ve been to this place many times. And all the people I brought there were impressed by the fact they could get some pretty unusual dishes like snails, shark, ox tails or duck tongues for a comparably reasonable price. I would recommend not to go for a basic dim sum and ask the servers to bring you a special menu with pictures. This menu is made for people, who don 't recognize the dishes by chineese names. They also have a good selection of vegetarian dishes.

The thing that I don't like is that the servers speak very poor English and sometimes just don't understand you :)

The other little problem is that some dishes contain too much oil, so it would be better to ask the servers to reduce the oil in your dishes before the order goes to the kitchen :)

• Pros: good food, cheap, fresh seafood
• Cons: severs don't speak English well

01/24/06

Best dim sum I can find in NY.

by jojo211

American tourists/_retentive New Yorkers, get over yourselves! In China the phrase for a good restaurant is "hot and loud." The people with carts of food don't understand you because they don't speak English, their job is to give you the delicious food you point at. You can also special order any kind of dumpling,etc. from an English speaking staff. Also, if you don't want to sit at a certain table, you don't have to!

• Pros: delicious, fun time, clean place, good experience
• Cons: a little noisy, a little crowded

01/12/06

weekend dim sum is the tops!

by boomoola

Having discovered Ping's on the internet, we entered with qualms but were instantly put to ease by the fish tanks that greet you as u walk in. Where tanks in other Chinatown restaurants display a lurking myriad of sad-looking marine life in their murky waters, the tanks at Ping's are clear as glass with healthy-looking creatures who do not yet know that they will be part of some dim sum lover's brunch. The dim sum is delectable while the prices are quite easy on the wallet. The service is a little scatty at times but all is forgiven when the food arrives. To give you an idea of how good we thought it was, we ended up going to Ping's three weekends in a row!!!

• Pros: dim sum

07/02/05

A Bit Disappointing

by b00pi3flak3s

I had heard such wonderful things about this place and saw all the awards they had decorated the doorway, so I was excited to have Dim Sum / lunch there. I had to share my table with a loud group of kids and the service was rude an unattentive. The Dim Sum was so-so, but not spectacular. Based on the reviews for dinner, this is a place I would reconsider revisiting for that, but definitely not for Dim Sum again.

• Pros: Cheap, Abundant Food
• Cons: Service, Dim Sum