I managed to choose the two dishes you highlighted at the end (quail egg skewers and pet pha lo) on my only visit to Ping so far, and was relatively impressed. But I think you're right on with the Pok Pok factor. I just ate at Pok Pok tonight and it really does make going to Ping seem kinda silly. Thanks for being frank. I appreciate it.

I too dined at Ping and was somewhat disappointed. The weakness of the menu at Ping is not from any one particular dish rather a combination of systemic violations of fundamental principals of Asian cuisine such as the skewers not being grilled over charcoal. The greatness of Pok Pok is the embodiment of Thai street food. A menu which is at least 1/3 grilled items must have a real grill. A second example is that SE Asian food is best served with abundant condiments, sauces, and fresh greens. Both times our party (two different occasions) requested additional greens, our waiter gave us confused looks indicating that they have limited knowledge of the food they are serving which is definitely not the case at Pok Pok. Next, many of the dishes are unbalanced in their flavors. A core principle of Asian cuisine is to integrate contrasting texture, flavor, and color in each dish so that they form a complete meal. The menu at Pok Pok is the perfect example of this principle where nearly every dish is hot, sour, salty, sweet, and occasionally bitter.

Other issues include:

Some of the dishes are downright foul. Tiny fish... really? My cats loved it. The wait staff either thinks it's funny when people eat them or have never tried them. They are meant as a condiment but you really don't need 5000 of them, three would suffice, and they should be free. Better yet, only use them as an ingredient and never bring them to the table. They are really gross on their own.

The spicy mama ramen soup and the ramen salad were both poorly executed.

Ping has an over reliance on pre-packaged food. The steamed buns I can accept given that the dough is really fresh (made at the Chinese bakery across the street) and tasty (the dough tastes like all of the other hum bough in Portland...really good but is it really worth an extra $3? I don't think the fried shallots and cilantro are worth the extra money, especially when the buns aren't quite as lovely as those at House of Louis) but I won't repeatedly spend $8 on a poorly doctored soup (maybe $4 if I was really drunk).

Finally, the drinks at Pok Pok are kick you in your face killer but those at Ping haven't been refined. All of the other critiques aside, when you open a restaurant which only serves drinking food that is sub-par compared to Pok Pok then the drinks have to be really really good, otherwise why would you go there to drink?

All that aside, I can't wait to go back because the style of food is comforting and tasty, even when the execution isn't bang on.

Also the pork chop roll was confusing and the pork chop was over done...

And there really wasn't enough sea-food on the menu (the fish balls were good but not excellent)...

One more thing, for an izakaya-style eatery it is puzzling that the menu isn't Japanese? You may as well call it a tapas menu or small plate menu or bar food. It doesn't feel Japanese. The menu at Ping is confusing while Pok Pok's is so crystal clear my mouth is watering thinking about how good it is.

At least they are inventive and I am sure they will improve :)

Pok Pok is amazing though has little in common with Ping. Sure Andy Ricker is the brainchild behind both. Sure, both serve Asian food. However, Pok Pok serves Thai food, Ping serves authentic SE Asian dishes. Pok Pok is a neighborhood restaurant located. The very urban Ping is situated nearly in the heart of downtown. These are completely different experiences. Portland is a town that seems to have just discovered good food, where overnight everyone has become a "foodie" (a term that fyi died years ago in the rest of the world thanks god) and developed the most refined of pallates. My several experiences have been amazing at Ping, the food is delicious and the atmoshphere terrific and unlike anything I've seen. Based on the ad nauseum blogs and the above review, this town has a loooong way to go when it comes to understanding and appreciating good food.

Really, where do you get that. Eating at several run of the mill restaurants in Portland (Pho Green Papaya, Pho Hung, and just about any hum bao restaurant in the vicinity of Ping) Ping just looks mediocre. No one is saying that Ping should be an imitation of Pok Pok but rather that Pok Pok is good and Ping is not as good as Pok Pok. Although the menu at Ping is something I regularly serve at home, the execution doesn't stand up to many other restaurants around town, although maybe you, Joycejay, haven't eaten at enough of these great eateries to know this :)