Ping Pong — Restaurant in Brisbane City

I rarely give out one star reviews but I feel I have to for this place. A quick summary -

Overpriced: what you’re seeing cost the table $50 AUD, there are some fees that aren’t properly communicated (tap water, surcharge, etc)

Uninventive menu that isn’t executed well

There is also a lot of insensitive racial imagery without any Asians manning any front of house roles. More on this later.

Our experience - Service is really terrible, I thought we had just come on a bad night as the owner was explaining why we had to wait in the line for so long was because of how liquor license people had come to check on them (?). However reading other reviews I can see it’s a consistent thing with this place. Our waiter seemed distracted the entire time and when he found out we’d come for desserts it was almost as if they wanted us out of there as quickly as possible. Which is fair enough given how busy it was, but there wasn’t a need to be as rough with how he talked to us as well as our food and drink.

It didn’t seem to be his fault though, more like just the culture of this work environment as the manager was also quite ... distracted. First mistaking us for a different group and wanting us to leave even though we’d only be in the restaurant for five minutes (and he was the one that lead us to the table!)

No one even welcomed us to the restaurant despite waiting in a line in the cold outside for around 12 minutes.

We were seated in the elevated jungle part of the restaurant. The “booths” were the hard plastic chairs you find in the playground, the lighting is akin to that you’d find in an interrogation room.

Now onto the racial insensitivity. Which many probably do not care about, but it was a defining factor of my experience.

My group were the only asians there when we went to dine (9pm).

While ping pong is popular in Thailand, the words “ping pong” relate more to mandarin (Chinese) than they do to Thai. Despite that, Ping Pong serves are very limited Thai menu.

The staff have to wear uniforms that say “love you long time” on the back. This is a statement that has negative r4cial origins relating to the fetishisation of asian women. Popularised in 1987’s Full Metal Jacket, about a VIETNAMESE woman. The statement is often used to portray asian women as more “exotic” or “submissive”. This attitude is reflected in how this restaurant lacks any asian women at front of house, instead shepherding them all to the kitchen to prepare the very limited menu.

The menu tries to be cheeky (i.e. calling their desserts “happy ending” which also has negative r4cial connotations) however the attitude of the staff doesn’t match. No one seemed to particularly enjoy being there, but as it was super busy I understand if they were fatigued.

I would say this is the type of asian restaurant designed just to cater to caucasians but honestly I feel like there are many better options for this market (like phat elephant or something).

Lastly I should end with things I liked - the design of the main area with the pink walls and white lights that look like ping pongs was nice.

But a beautiful room does not make a restaurant. I urge any owners reading this to reassess why they wanted to make Ping Pong because if it’s a passion for Thai food, it isn’t translating.

I know right now times are tough, and this review was tough as well. I appreciate that there is a lot of hard work going into working a restaurant but no matter the circumstances if there’s room to be nice to patrons (especially ones who’ve booked in advance) you should take it. Even if it’s as simple as greeting the customers as they come in.

A lack of appreciation for Thai culture and Thai food, as well as the disempowered servers, choppy ambience, and an overpriced menu made for an uncomfortable dining experience. I couldn’t really recommend this place to anyone.

Edit for their reply: this review popped up again as my friend was telling me of their experience of getting food poisoning from a seafood meal just past Sunday. So while the photos may be old, quality...

Updated review : 2024 After coming to Ping Pong many times over the years and introducing all of our friends and family to it, we’ve never really had anything negative to say.

(In fact, I left a positive 5 star review in 2020 as seen below)

My partner and I booked a dinner for 10 guests for Sunday, April 21st, 2024 , back in November, 2023, so we could ask our closest friends to be in our bridal party for our wedding in 2025.

We chose Ping Pong specifically because of our positive experience there and knew everyone would love the vibe and the food/ drinks.

We requested to be sat along the back wall of the venue because we knew we’d be a slightly louder group, and we had decorations / a set up planned for the table. The female staff member we spoke to at the time was very helpful and kind when securing our booking. We asked her to make sure we were at the back table of the restaurant to minimise disruption to other patrons + so it could almost be like we had a private area.

We called again 4 days before the booking date, to reconfirm our booking & table area. The male staff member confirmed and also told us he’d add a “do not move” note to our booking.

Sunday 21st April comes and we are waiting at the front to be seated. My partner and I, (two women) + around 3 of our friends (also women) were at the front of the line and two men in business suits lined up behind us. Assuming it was the male owner, came up to the counter, looked my partner and I in the eyes and said “I’ll be with you shortly”, then proceeded to serve the two men in suits behind us.

Thankfully, the two men behind us told him we were waiting first, so he came back to us and asked for our booking name.

This was incredibly disappointing as it was very clear who he’d rather serve and have dine at his venue / who he believed he needed to “provide better service to” more. Already this left a sour taste in our mouths.

When he found our booking, he sat us down at one of the tables in the middle / almost to the front of the venue. We told him he might have it confused as we requested the back table specifically & was reassured we wouldn’t be moved. He cut my partner and I off and said that wasn’t the case and that we had to sit in the middle of the restaurant because a table of 16 had the back booked. It was very evident at that point that they took on a bigger party and prioritised them.

We told him again that we booked the back specifically and was told the table wouldn’t be moved. We also told him we booked 4-5 months in advance to which he scoffed at and acted as if that wasn’t the case. He told us that the middle table was our only option, and that the “do not move” request was for the table we were seated at. ( why would we request a table in the middle of the restaurant …)

For an evening that was meant to be really exciting and joyful, the experience we had with the owner of Ping Pong was unappreciated and unprofessional. The only thing that saved our evening was the service from our exceptional waitress (Jolie or Jolene..?) - she was nothing but kind, courteous and professional. Someone the owner should probably learn customer service from.

We weren’t overly thrilled at the thought of our $1200 bill going to the greedy & selfish owner of the business but at the end of the day, it’s lucky he’s hired a great team of chefs and wait staff that saved the experience.

Old review 2020: Ping Pong.. Have been several times now and every new thing I try is exciting and well worth it. The cocktails, while slightly pricey, are always delicious. The main meals are always very generously portioned. Presentation is never a let down here and the atmosphere is one of a kind. Definitely one of the better places gasworks has to offer and I never leave disappointed. Ping Pong is worth...

Tonight my partner & I dined at Ping Pong expecting a wonderful anniversary dinner. As we walked in, we were greeted by an older gentleman who promptly offered us still or sparkling water. After stating our preference of sparkling & sitting down, we were greeted with a 1L bottle of San Pellegrino. Having then viewed the drinks menu, it's brought to our attention that Ping Pong offer still/sparkling water from $4 per person (incredible in amongst itself) & instead, we have been served an $11 bottle without even asking or having the chance to look at the menu first.

Having decided on our menu item's for the evening, we ordered & waited. 5 minutes later this same said gentleman waddles on over, asking us in a less than enthusiastic tone if we were wanting to order any mains. Having stated we were okay with our current order, he made clear via his expression & gestures how upset he was. I have every right to order as much or as little as I like when dining out & being a Monday night, plenty of tables were free for any prospective diners who wish to sit in & enjoy.

Having had our dinner which was average at best (I highly recommend having Thai food from a traditional restaurant over Ping Pong's pretty pink lights), we headed on up to pay & leave. Unfortunately after mentioning our disappointment in our sparkling water situation to our table server (who was lovely), our new friend Mr Waddler headed our way for a lovely chat.

Explaining ourselves again, he proceeded to state that the 1L sparkling water was "what we ordered" & having the audacity to say "Yeah but it's from Italy!!" like he has personally gone to the Lombardy region of Italia & hand poured & delivered the water himself. Finally, after having a little back n forth with my partner & I, he charged us with the proper price & we went on our way.

I have eaten at many fine dining establishments over the years & have never come across either this service, the behind your back upselling or the charging of simple tap water in my life. I honestly thought I had arrived at the Brisbane Comedy Festival.

I do find it interesting that on many reviews over many years, the same criticism has been made regarding said old man & every response is along the lines of "We will note this in house & rectify the situation" yet these same reviews & responses keep appearing. I'm assuming he is either the owner of the establishment or he is apart of the "Boys Club" running the joint, as no serious workplace in 2024 would employ such a rude, egotistical old man with his holier than thou attitude who treats you according to your total expenditure & his perception of your wealth status.

If you are after a Karen's Diner experience but feel like ordering item's that are 50% smaller than any other respectable restaurant would be serving, Ping Pong Newstead is the...