Ping’s Cantonese Cuisine

Ping’s was in the vanguard of a movement that saw chefs owning their own restaurants; in fact, it might be argued Ping Hui was one of the first Chinese celebrity chefs in the United States. He previously also owned two other self-named restaurants, both now closed. There’s no better place in Manhattan for traditional Cantonese seafood.

Cantonese with its milder flavors got lost in the shuffle, and many upscale restaurants simply disappeared. But one that has persisted is Ping Seafood Restaurant. Its chef, Chuen Ping Hui, began his career here, after emigrating from Hong Kong, at Triple Eight Palace, a massive restaurant and shopping complex under the Manhattan Bridge. After eight years there, he founded his own restaurant in the mid-’90s, eventually moving to the current location at 22 Mott, just south of Pell, in 2000.

Ping himself is still hard at work in the kitchen, the waiter assured me, and there’s no better dinner in town than a plate of freshly prepared seafood in the Cantonese style taken with a glass of French or California wine. Except it was lunch, and we found it a tad strange to sip wine in environments above 90 decibels.

We had the very simple yet elegant soy sauce steamed sea bass, fukien fried rice and roast chicken.

The few platters of dim sum stalwarts like siew mai, har gao all came out fine. The steamed pork ribs in black bean sauce was above average, reminiscent of London’s Chinatown back in the swinging 90s. In fact the flavours of Ping today brought me back 3-4 decades to London, England. The Bayswater lobster noodles was the pinnacle of Cantonese fare back then.

When you enter Ping’s, the sights, scents of Hong Kong hits out at you. Pictures of famous Hong Kong move stars adorn Ping’s wall, always with the owner (a famous chef back in the 80s) in tow. If you pay cash, you get a 10% discount. That’s a lot. Bring cash. .

The steamed sea bass was just a tad overdone but the fragrance of the HK soy sauce more than made up for it - still a strong 7/10

The fukien fried rice was a 7/10 - I prefer a ‘wetter’ version, something like a ‘mun fan’ that Brickfields used to be famous for. Still a 7/10 - Ping’ version is done using a claypot.

Total damage USD227 for 4 pax. Pings is a very solid 7/10 over the years - and just like Royal China in Bayswater, and Joy King Lau in Leicester Square 3 decades ago, an icon.