Pingpong Diplomacy: An Unconventional Take on Chinese Cuisine

Pingpong Diplomacy's paddle-covered blue wall
becomes a focal point for customers at
 the quirky American-Chinese restaurant

Pingpong Diplomacy, a new American-Chinese restaurant that opened recently at SM Aura mall in BGC, is from the same group that owns Digital Walker.

The restaurant's name was inspired by the 1970s exchange of table tennis players between the U.S. and China. The interiors of modern restaurant is quite quirky and unique. One will surely notice the paddle covered blue wall in the restaurant. It kind of brings back memories of Forrest Gump and his love for playing table tennis.

The photo wall at Pingpong Diplomacy

 The bar near the entrance for customers who prefer
to casually dine and drink with friends

The dining area at Pingpong Diplomacy

The restaurant's menu is quite interesting as most dishes are unique or fusion type dishes. The waiter brought me a menu and a separate reference that contains the photos of the dishes. Honestly, I prefer menus with visual pegs especially for menus that are quite unfamiliar.

My American friend and I wanted to try different dishes and a dessert. We also wanted to pair our food with some hot tea but  we found it a bit strange that they did not have some hot tea available that time. 

Below are some of the dishes that we tried.

Truffled Mushroom Edamame Shumai

Crispy eggplant

Noodles with chicken

Fortune balls which includes taro, ginger and black
sesame mochi with a sesame crumble and pistachio cream

From the four dishes we ordered, we liked the Truffled Mushroom Edamame Shumai and the Crispy Eggpant. We both found the noodles to be a healthier version of the traditional Chinese style noodles since it was not as oily as the usual noodle dishes that other restaurants offer. The Fortune Balls dessert, which was created by Chef Miko Aspiras, was quite light and had just the right sweetness since we both preferred desserts that are not too sweet. 

Pingpong Diplomacy is a nice place to visit with a group of friends or with family since the interiors are quite interesting and Instagrammable. Plus, they offer a fusion of flavours and unique dishes that are worth trying. Cheers!