AFTER EATING several dishes in the airy Tokyo Rose chic of
Ping, Andy Ricker’s new downtown izakaya-style eatery, I wasn’t
expecting to have a transcendent experience. But then it happened: a
lost memory emerged from my plate.
As I tucked into a dessert of pandanus ice cream, rice, chocolate
sauce, and peanuts, I was confronted with the recollection of a
favorite childhood rice pudding. Ice cream melted into the rice,
providing creamy texture. Peanuts and chocolate combined to create rich
nutty tones. It was an adult version of the lunchtime treat I craved as
a kid.
Restaurants do not operate in a vacuum. They must endure the
remembrance of meals past. A dish can either best our memories or fail
in comparison. This may be a problem for Ping, especially when it’s
compared to the aggressive menu and demanding flavors of Ricker’s other
restaurant, Pok Pok.
I was hoping Ping would offer Pok Pok-like boldness in its
offerings. Instead, it’s downright tame. Ricker has described the menu
at Ping as “Asian drinking food.” The focus is on small plates
(skewers, buns, noodles) paired with sake and creative, powerful
cocktails (shochu and sweet drinking vinegar, or a leveling
Singapore sling).
Dining at Ping, I found nothing particularly bad—the eatery
would be fine for a frivolous evening with friends in downtown
Portland—but knowing what Ricker is capable of, I wanted so much
more. Inflated expectations going unfulfilled? Who would imagine?
The ju pa bao ($7), essentially a pork fat-fried pork chop
placed on a soft roll, surprised me with blandness at first—more
a product of the roll than the pork. As the roll began soaking up the
chop juices, however, the dish became savory and tender.
The pork bun was better ($4). The doughy steamed bun revealed a
sweet-and-salty pocket of tender shredded pork that paired well with
accompaniments of wispy fresh cilantro and crunchy fried onions. Still,
there was nothing in the flavor to really set it apart from pork buns
found in a multitude of Portland Asian markets and Vietnamese
bakeries.
A plate of pork collar with a spicy dipping sauce ($7) had a flavor
familiar to hundreds of Chinese take-out meals. Well executed, but not
crave worthy.
Of the skewers, chicken hearts ($2.50) were adequate—tender
with slight mineral notes—but nothing I’d seek out.
A spicy mama ramen ($8) offered thin broth with excellent chili heat
and lovely flavor from tamarind and fish sauce, but the noodles (not
house made) were essentially blank. The prawns were small and far too
chewy, and the strange gray “bouncy pork,” didn’t add much.
If I sound a bit apologetic, it’s because I am. If I’d never eaten
at Pok Pok, I’d probably be quite happy with Ping. In fact, there were
several fantastic dishes that only deepened my disappointment, mostly
due to the fact that I wanted the entire menu to be as good. The
aforementioned pandanus dessert ($7) is just one example.
One should also consider the quail egg skewer ($3.50)—like
magnum pearls lined on a bamboo stick and wrapped with bacon. This
is drinking food. Topped with a tangy mayonnaise sauce, these
little morsels were an enigma. How could so much flavor and texture
emerge from such a small package? Each tiny egg was so rich I had to
rest between each one, savoring and marveling.
Another great dish was pet pha lo ($11), a duck leg stewed in
a rich aromatic broth with egg, mustard greens, and shiitake mushrooms.
The duck meat came off the bone easily and yielded tenderly to the
teeth with that bottomless meaty flavor found in well-prepared fowl.
When dipped in a vinegary yellow chili dip, the flavors became
expansive. Everything was represented: A tangy sour burst against a
light cinnamon sweetness, paired with a savory shiitake-tinged broth,
and just a hint of heat. Absolutely outstanding. So why wasn’t
everything else?
I fully expect Ping to do just fine as it is. The place is
admittedly gorgeous with its contrast of distressed antiquity and slick
bamboo style. The ceilings are lofty. The wall of antique radios adds a
bit of whimsy, and the whole vibe is upbeat and clubby. There are
enough people downtown that will thrive on the buzz and novelty of this
pretty restaurant. But for the committed gastronomes that have marked
Pok Pok as one of Portland’s high temples of Asian cuisine, the food at
Ping may leave them shrugging indifferently. Until Ricker’s menu is
injected with a bit more bravado, the transcendent moments will remain
elusive.
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 🙂