Ping’s — Restaurant in New York

When I walk through the streets of Chinatown in Lower Manhattan, I actually feel like I’m in a foreign country. I mean I guess it makes sense, but it just trips me out how it’s a whole different world from the streets a few blocks North. Signage all in Mandarin, all Chinese vendors and people roaming the streets, the New York skyscrapers out of sight and out of mind. I feel completely out of my comfort zone, but I’m finding that’s my happy place these days. That’s where the growth comes.

Anyways, my big bro is from Taiwan and stays putting me on the best spots in Chinatown. He recommended we hit Ping’s, which is known for Hong Kong style Seafood and Dim Sum. I walked in past live fish, eels, and crabs in a tank in the window and couldn’t shake the feeling that we had just entered a Chinese restaurant in Rush Hour II. I mean that in a compliment of the highest regard. Rush Hour II is on my Mount Rushmore.

We sat down at a rectangular table and took in our surroundings. The interior felt like it was straight out of 2001. It gave the feeling that they were just focused on making banging food, as opposed to worrying if everything looks pretty and upscale. As I scanned the interior, the vast majority of patrons were Chinese which just made me more excited.

As we were looking at the huge menu and deliberating what to order, a Chinese man came up in a full Prada sweatsuit and began speaking broken English. It turned out to be Chef Ping himself. You guys wanna talk about aura? Chef Ping had the JUICE. His aura was a legit gravitational pull…

Him and my big bro went back and forth speaking a blend of Mandarin and Cantonese for about 4 minutes, while me and the other homie just sat there intently listening like we could understand a word. After Chef Ping left, big bro said “He’s gonna just send a bunch of stuff out, but I made sure we got the whole duck.” This is my preferred way to order food. Sometimes you gotta just let go and let God.

The feast consisted of snails, Taishan style beef, Shrimp dim sum, pork jowl, a whole duck, sirloin steak, and Nancy’s fried rice.

My adrenaline started PUMPING when they brought out the whole duck to the table, as I had never really seen a whole cooked duck. Turns out it was just for show, as they go in the back and cut it up before they serve it to you.

Everything was sensational and there were no misses in here. Although, I must mention how the snails were hard to deshell but I have to chalk that up to a cultural difference.

My favorite dish actually turned out to be Nancy’s fried rice. They have two eggs topped over the rice and pork, and push the runny yolk over the rice right in front of you. Top 3 most visually appealing egg experiences for me.

The dish is named after his wife, and he would only make it specifically for her. She pressed him to put it on the menu, and Chef Ping obliged. We know who really runs the show around here.

We were so full after this beautiful meal that we couldn’t even move, but I find this is often the reward for hardwork of starving myself all day so I don’t get fat from doing these food reviews. THANK YOU CHEF PING, KEEP DOING YOU I’M INSPIRED!

IG...

I am totally give this restaurant a five-star rating. Having eaten here really made my fiancée and I feel like a true New York Chinese restaurant. We started our dinner here first with a Wonton soup like I love doing nearly every other Chinese restaurant I go out to eat. It was a great soup. But just what I expected of a wonton soup at a typical Chinese restaurant.

We then moved on to the Steamed Crab and Seafood Dim Sum. I could have eaten those forever. But we had to move on to a real dish to share with each other. I was leaning for a Seafood fried rice dish, like I usually do when I go to a Chinese restaurant anywhere I go. What made us change our mind was seeing our neighbors of the next table eating a Crab-based specialty dish which after we asked our server it’s name, she told us it was not on the menu because it was a special of the house.

Since our server’s English proficiency was limited, our neighbors who suggested us ordering the same dish they were sharing communicated her our gastronomical desires. So she and the other server brought us two options of crabs for them to order the kitchen cooking then. We chose the big over the smaller one. Because my fiancée and I were going to share it anyway. We thanked our neighbors for their assistance and waited patiently for our dish to come to us.

What a surprise it was, let me tell you all. I believe the crab was baked but what was under it made us feel like wanting more of it. Under the big crab there was a cape of garlic butter yellow rice mixed with veggies which I would say, it was to die for. There were also other veggies on the side of our big plate accompanying the big crab. These were delicious as well. That day my fiancé was not in the mood of drinking any alcoholic beverages, so she drank the free house hot green tea. Instead, I indulged in their delicious Tsingtao Chinese beer. I must have drank about five of them. We did not eat any dessert in this restaurant because we wanted to try the Chinese Ice Cream Factory located a few blocks away. I absolutely recommend this magnificent restaurant to all lovers of Chinese cuisine who want to go to...

Loved it! It was my first visit, and I heard a lot of raving good things about it that I had to come see for myself. I walked in with a high expectation, and I didn't leave with disappointment (so I guess that says something). I had a party of 4, and we were delighted to have our food ordered as soon as we were seated and had a chance to look at the menu. We ordered pork intestine soup (I know it doesn't sound gratifying but it is), beef brisket, barbecued pork, "crystal" chicken, and pea sprout with broth. The pork intestine soup is difficult to make as is, and I would say that it is very flavorful. The same goes for the beef brisket but I would say that the beef brisket interested me more than the intestine soup did. I would definitely say that the barbecued pork is a MUST try- it was AMAZING. That being said, the same also applies for the pea sprout. The broth is well done, and the sprout is not difficult to chew. The chicken for me was a little hard, but it could be because I chose a piece close to its neck area (which is difficult to chew on on its own). I would say overall that this place, for a first-timer, was not disappointing but rather surprising. It brought me lots of surprises, and the service was definitely on point. I also overheard the boss telling the employees to allocate larger parties to more spacious areas, and to turn down the AC to lower discomfort in temperature. It was a very caring move, and I think that is a lack of in the city. I'll definitely be back for some more food...