PING ME MAYBE - Review - Ping's Cafe Orient

PING'S CAFE ORIENT, LODHI COLONY

Authentic Asian food in New Delhi has been ruined by what locals call Indian-Chinese food. Ramen, Dimsums and Wonton Rolls have been replaced by Chowmein, Momos and Spring Rolls. This debate about what is better: Authentic or Adapted, will carry on for ages. But to fight for the Authentic Agents, we have the lightheavyweight champion from Lodhi Colony, Ping's Cafe Orient.

THE AMBIENCE

Ping's is a beautiful cafe-esque Asian restaurant in the very geometrically sound Lodhi Colony. Ping's prides itself on healthy Asian cuisine and it looks the part too. With shades of red and yellow to take you to some little diner in the orient. There are neon signs on the walls with Ping Puns like "Ping Me Maybe" and more. The decor makes the place look even more authentic.

There is also an upstairs seating area where people can have a smoke. The upstairs area is well lit and is beautiful too. A very fresh aura to the terrace seating with plants and creepers all along the walls.

THE FOOD

My, oh my is Asian cuisine versatile! It spreads across all flavour profiles and tingles all palates of the world. We started off with things that were familiar to us. The Baby Chilli Potatoes were small little potatoes, cooked whole in a sweet and spicy sauce with sauteed vegetables. Dry chicken with pepper was exactly what the name suggested, a dry dish with fried chicken. The chicken was succulent and juicy. And finally, for the starters, we rolled the dice with Dynamite Shrimp. We were a little skeptical about shellfish as I don't like prawns. I hate them. But when the bowl was presented before me, I was a little taken aback by how pretty it looked. Lightly battered shrimp, coated with sauce and served on a bed of wonton wraps. The shrimp was the lightest dish I have ever had. It was so fresh and light, Neutrogena wants to sign it.

I also tried the Phildelphia Cream Cheese Dimsums with Truffle Oil. These were the softest, lightest and most flavoursome dimsums ever! As soon as you bite into those pucks of steamed flour, it melts in your mouth. The cheese oozes into your mouth and hot damn is it good.

Now, we were really knocked up by the food, hence we settled for just 2 items for the mains. A chicken Ramen and some Teriyki chicken. The ramen was heavenly! The warm broth it was in, the vegetables stewed along with the noodles and the ramen itself. HEAVEN. Teriyaki Chicken was a little too spiced for my liking. But in all, the mains were filling and the portions were brilliant.

 

THE VERDICT

The food is good enough to get people once but the flavours are what makes them stay! Ping's capures the authentic aura of an Oriental Eatery. The sights, sounds and the feel of the place is amazing. The location makes it good for a date as well.