Born in London's Soho in the mid-2000s, Ping Pong was the creation of restaurateur Kurt Zdesar, who set out to turn the shared ritual of dim sum into a slick, all-day dining brand. The idea drew on the old Silk Road tea houses, where travellers once paused to drink tea and share baskets of small steamed and fried snacks, updated for a modern city crowd. Backed by investment, the concept expanded rapidly, and within a few years Ping Pong had grown into one of the most recognisable dim sum names in the capital. The menu kept things approachable: stacked bamboo baskets of dumplings, buns and parcels, fragrant teas, and a cocktail list that gave the format a night-out energy. Monochrome interiors and a buzzy, informal atmosphere made each branch a natural meeting point for after-work drinks and weekend lunches alike. Two decades on, the economic pressures of the trade caught up with the group, and Ping Pong ceased trading in 2025. A Soho original that grew into a London institution, Ping Pong is remembered as the brand that took dim sum mainstream, a pioneering, founder-led concept whose bamboo baskets and cocktails defined casual Chinese dining in the city for twenty years. Its rise from a single Soho room to a city-wide name remains one of the defining stories of London's casual-dining boom.

Type: Restaurant

Address: 48 Newman Street, London, United Kingdom

Telephone: + 44 (0) 20 7291 3080

Open Days: Monday to Saturday