Rakshay Dhariwal clearly likes creating outlets with definite personalities. After Vasant Vihar’s speakeasy PCO and private club À Ta Maison in Sundar Nagar comes Ping’s Café Orient in Lodhi Colony. Dhariwal’s new restaurant sets out to create the mood of a South-east Asian street market, with naked bulbs hanging from overhead wires and exposed pipes criss-crossing the ceiling. Not everything is for show. The brass taps on the walls turn out to be hooks for diners to hang their bags on, while the bulb dangling overhead comes alight when you flick the black switch next to your table. Turns out that’s Ping’s way of helping you grab your waiter’s attention. (There goes another aviation monopoly.)
The waiters explain that the menu is still a work in progress, but it’s quite elaborate for that. Given that PCO is a sister company, cocktails are very much a part of the Ping experience (Rs 300-Rs 1,300), many of them with an Oriental twist. I started my evening with a Miso Mary (Rs 300), the cafe’s version of a Bloody Mary, a little warily but it turned out all right. The miso flavour is subtle and, happily, the cocktail is not as filling as Bloody Marys tend to be.
For starters, our neighbours were having what I found out was a Quinoa Salad with mango, chilli and soya (Rs 245), and seemed rather pleased with it going by the sounds emanating from the table. We ordered Myeongdong Market’s Spicy Fried Calamari (Rs 345), which my companion liked a lot but I thought was just average. (Maybe I’m getting too old for deep fries.) Carried away by the street air ambience, cemented by the neon ‘Love you long time’ sign on a wall, we also ordered Tom Yum Peanuts (Rs 95) as nibbles, but I will probably give it a skip the next time.
It’s with its mains that Ping really scores. The Kowloon-inspired XO prawns (Rs 445), cooked just right and coated in the peppery sauce with a light touch, went into our stomachs faster than a sprinter going downhill. The Hainanese Chicken (Rs 445), preparation of sticky rice and boiled chicken, came next. Our young waiter encouraged us to have it with the sambol sauce (that arrives at the table accompanied by a delicious black bean jam and crackers as soon as you sit down), but the rice, delicately flavoured with soy sauce, turned out to be so yummy that we wolfed it down unaccompanied. The star of the evening, however, was the charcoal-roasted pork (Rs 245). The best I’ve had in a standalone restaurant in Delhi, the skewers kept me eating long after the place in my stomach had run out.
Stuffed as we were, neither of us wanted dessert. But our sweet waiter (pun unintended) begged us to try the sticky banana pudding with coconut and jaggery ice-cream (Rs 245). My friend agreed to try the pudding; I the ice-cream; intrigued by the use of jaggery. The pudding turned out to be a dense dud, but my ice-cream was a scoop of deliciousness.
Given its fun, relaxed vibe and sensible pricing, Ping promises to become a popular hangout for young things. That’s good really, because the lights, while far from dim, are not conducive to easy perusing of the menu by the middle-aged.
Plus, the toilets are accessible only by stairs. There is a really cute barber counter up there, though. Perfect for a selfie, to be loaded onto Instagram asap.
Coordinates
Address: 13, Lodhi Colony Market
Meal for two: Around Rs 3,000 plus taxes (including a cocktail each)