Dim Sum Question

Hello, one of our friends has his heart on trying Dim Sum when we go out in January. Me, I eat good dim sum here on a regular basis, but it is important to him, so we will likely do it.

Anyways, from my research, have it narrowed down to Ping Pang Ping (Gold Coast) or KJ Dim Sum (Rio). Does anyone know if they serve dim sum all day? I know some places around here only do it during the day, and we are going most likely for dinner.

I have also read that Ping Pang Pong has good food, but the selection is somewhat limited, so any other opinions are welcome, thanks.

 

Ping Pang Pong is excellent!

They have certain hours for dim sum. Check the Gold Coast website.

 

3P is limited to lunch hours..have not seen for KJ yet.

 

Zine at Palazzo.

http://www.palazzo.com/Las-Vegas-Restaurants/Casual-Dining/Zine-Noodles-Dim-Sum/

 

Ping Pang Pong serves dim sum daily from 10:00 am till 3:00 pm. This place becomes packed quickly, the waiting line is long, and the server's attitude can turn to rude, careless and impatient. The food is OK, though.

It's a very noisy place. The dining atmosphere is comparably poor and lacks of privacy (constantly getting disturbed by the surrounding crowd and high level of noise).

If you want a casual eating place, Ping Pang Pong is just OK. IMHO.

 

Looks very nice. Can you tell me about the dim sum you tried?

 

Very tasty and decent prices.

They also have some happy hour specials.

The happy hour appetizer sampler with Siu Mai (pork and shrimp), pot stickers, shrimp tempura and spring rolls were very good.
Spicy chili wanton are delicious if you enjoy hot/spicy foods.
Chilled spicy cucumber is good to have to cut through the
strong flavors of other dishes.
Crispy tofu is tasty too.

Soups are excellent. I don't think you'll have a bad meal here.

There's also Wazuzu at Encore. Very good dim sum there also.

 

We actually had quite an odd experience at KJ (Rio) just this last Sunday night...

We were going to Rio to see Penn and Teller and wanted to grab dinner there. The buffet was out because my wife could never eat enough to make it worthwhile cost-wise. I'd looked at the menu of the American place and was craving a steak, but the theme of our eating on this trip seemed to be "stuff we can't eat at home", so that got vetoed as well. We decided to try KJ, as neither of us had ever had dim sum as we don't have anything like that around here. It fit the theme.

So we roll in about 7 o'clock and are seated immediately. The restaurant seems relatively fancy to us. Nice table settings, the hostess helped my wife push in her chair, etc. There weren't too many other parties in the restaurant. Seemed like mostly asian groups with a few caucasian couples (the rest were across the hall in line for the boo-fay ). Immediately we had several members of the wait staff attending to us at the table. Pouring water, removing the "show" plates, etc. We get a chance to start looking at the menu, and I'm glad I was sitting down because staring back at me from the first few pages were $40, $50, $60+ menu items including abalone and geoduck. "What did we get ourselves into?", we were thinking. Finally, toward the back we found items that: A. Weren't things we've seen Mike Rowe harvesting on Dirty Jobs and B. Were priced more inline with our expectations and budget. We also found the dim sum on the back page.

The items on the menu were all title-only, no descriptions. We weren't really sure how to order or what to expect with any of the items (how they were served, etc). When the head waiter (an asian gentleman in his 50's) came to take our order he asked if we needed more time. I responded, asking for help and an explanation of the menu. He walked away. Something got lost in translation. Still floundering, feeling very awkward, I got the attention of one of the younger assistant waiters. I asked him to help us with the menu. He got about two sentences out, including something about dim sum being a breakfast food but that they "have it on the menu for...", before he ended with, "...and he can offer you more guidance", gesturing to the head waiter who had returned.

He eventually was able to explain things enough to the point where we ended up ordering two items from the dim sum menu, an order of sweet and sour pork to share and steamed white rice. After he left, we still didn't really know how everything was going to be once it hit our table, so there were several minutes of nervous anticipation before our food arrived.

First up was the Pork Sui Mai dim sum. I liked it, my wife did not. She has issues with food textures while my palate is a bit adventurous. Next up was the Chicken and Vegetable Dumpling dim sum. Also good. My wife didn't even attempt to try it. Finally the S&S Pork arrived with the rice. It was served with vegetables, all in a sauce. It was very tasty and my wife was happy to have something more... familiar. I had originally ordered two bowls of rice, but only one was served. Later, the waiter checked in on us and said to let him know if we needed more rice. I said "Yes. One more, please." but he didn't catch that, as another never came.

All in all, it was a weird experience due to both our lack of experience with the cuisine and a language barrier with the waiter. Our bill, with tip, was under $30 (no drinks, just water), which ended up being one of the cheapest meals we had on the trip. On our way out, I remembered the assistant waiter's comment about dim sum being a breakfast food and commented to my wife, "I feel like we just went to a super-fancy steakhouse and ordered oatmeal."

 

I have been to mainland China three times, Hong Kong twice and have eaten dim sum packed elbow-to-elbow with Chinese diners at lunch and dinner. Never heard the dim sum=breakfast thing. Regardless, the restaurant is in the Rio, in Las Vegas, in the US.

 

I haven't been to Ping Pang Ping, but they're considered to have the best dim sum in Las Vegas. I suggest reading this article.