Ping Pong Diplomacy at SM Aura

We headed to SM Aura last month to dine at Ping Pong Diplomacy at my friend's request. She said it was new and wanted to try it out. Hubby and I haven't heard about this place yet and when she said it was Chinese food, I immediately thought about yang chow fried rice and sweet and sour pork dishes. Boy was I wrong... in a good way!

The place was on soft opening when we visited last February. We were there on a weekday for late lunch so we practically had the whole place to ourselves.

The first thing that caught my attention was this accent wall filled with, what else, ping pong paddles! And I love the contrast of the red with the dark blue walls.

open kitchen

Basically, their whole concept is East meets West, with food that brings Chinese and American flavors together.

Here's what we ordered:

For starters, I'm not such a huge fan of eggplant, but I was blown away by how good this was! I loved the crunchiness and I was hooked on the first bite. It didn't even taste like eggplant lol ;p This was probably my favorite out of everything we ate.

Crunchy Eggplant P140
Battered Eggplant, Fragrant sauce, Prickly Ash

Anything with truffle oil is a winner in my book!

Truffled Mushroom Edemame Dumplings P160
Edemame, 3 Kinds Mushroom, Truffle Oil

Not such a fan of century egg, but my friends told me to have a little bit of everything in one bite for the full experience. It was ok, but really not just my type hehe.

Cranberries and Tofu P245
Century egg, Sun Dried Cranberries, Plum Powder

This was another favorite of ours. You wrap the wonton in the lettuce then add the caramelized onions and sauce. Definitely a different take on the cheeseburger. So good!

Wonton Cheeseburger P290
Crisp Wonton, Wagyu Beef, Sharp Cheddar

Their wings was really tasty. We even ended up ordering rice coz wala lang, parang ang sarap to eat it with rice haha! ;p

Ping Pong Wings P320
12 Spice Blend, Crispy Leeks, Sweet Pickled Cucumbers

I really liked this beef rib, even though the sauce was a bit spicy for me. I loved the shallots too.

Caveman Beef Rib P535
Braised beef rib, crispy shallots, zhenjang vinaigrette

This egg dish was probably our least liked among everything we ordered. Plus, we were all so full from everything else by this time.

Prawn Scotch Egg P180
5 Minute egg, Prawn and Pork, Wasabi Mayo

Anyway, it was really a great dining experience for me. I'm usually so safe when it comes to food, so I was surprised how much I enjoyed it here. Plus, our server was also super nice in explaining everything to us. He even came over twice to warn us that the sauce for the beef rib might be too hot.

This is definitely not your usual Chinese resto and I for one, will definitely be back!

Ping Pong Diplomacy
3rd Floor, SM Aura Premier
Instagram: @ppdph