Ping's Garden

Revisiting a neglected friend

by Margaret LeRoux

Ping's Garden 60 Madison Street Worcester (508) 791-9577 Hours Mon.-Thurs. 11:30 a.m.-10:30 p.m. Fri.-Sat. 11:30 a.m.-midnight Sun. noon-10 p.m. Full bar Major credit cards Handicap accessible

Ping's Garden is one of those restaurants that you could easily take for granted; the kind of place where you can drop in on a Saturday night without a reservation and get a table without having to wait an hour. It hasn't always been like this. Years ago, when Ping's was the newest Chinese restaurant in Worcester, the place was a crowd magnet. Lines out the door, especially during the holidays, were the rule.

Well, the novelty has certainly worn off. In fact, it was a little depressing to see only a handful of tables occupied when I visited recently with friends. We all remembered days when the large dining room and the adjoining room were packed. Ping's décor remains unchanged, especially the bright lighting, which in an almost empty room seemed unnecessarily harsh. On the plus side, the wait staff was just as cordial and efficient as they have been on past visits. A small team sprang to action when we placed our orders and remained attentive throughout the meal.

Wondering whether the food was still as good as it had been, we paged through the extensive menu and paused at the list of exotic drinks. Should we stave off the chill of the wintery evening with a scorpion or a blue lagoon? We decided to keep our spirits up with a couple of pina coladas, a mai tai (both $4.05) and a Tsingtao beer ($2.75). Although they didn't have cute little paper umbrellas for garnish, the drinks were strong and generously sized. The pina coladas came in colorful ceramic tumblers decorated with pictures of grass-skirted surfer girls.

We took a retro approach and ordered some of our old favorites. Memories of the Sterno-heated pu-pu platter ($13.50) heaped with artery-clogging fried chicken and shrimp prompted us to downsize. This time we shared a mini pu-pu platter ($8.55), which included beef and chicken teriyaki, crab Rangoon and chicken wings. All were very tasty, though it was hard to find much crab in the crab Rangoon. I've never been able to resist Peking ravioli ($4.95), and Ping's are first rate. These plump turnovers stuffed with spicy Chinese sausage, were steamed, then browned on the outside. We gobbled up most of the order of eight. The remaining two tasted almost as good re-heated the next day.

One in our group dined from the buffet, at $8.25, one of the best bargains around. For a first course, he sampled a slice of crispy scallion pie, an egg roll, and a small bowl of hot-and-sour soup, one of the city's best versions of this standard. The buffet offers a plentiful assortment of Chinese dishes designed to appeal to mainstream, budget-conscious diners: beef and vegetables, shrimp and broccoli, fried rice, sweet-and-sour chicken. Nothing very imaginative, but it was all hot and attractively presented. We noticed the staff replenishing dishes throughout the evening, a very good sign in buffet dining.

The rest of us chose dishes we knew and liked: seafood fantasia with garlic sauce ($12.50) is a favorite of mine. From the name of the dish alone I was hooked, the first time I tried it. It has plenty of scallops and medium-size shrimp and a few pieces of crabmeat with lots of straw mushrooms, pea-pods, green peppers, and baby corn. Ever since watching Tom Hanks try to eat baby corn in the movie "Big," we have to laugh whenever we're served this particular Chinese vegetable. The sauce is spicy, though not overpowering, making for a satisfying dish.

Another in our group focused on the long list -- more than two dozen offerings -- of chicken dishes, choosing sesame Jordan chicken ($9.05). She received a large platter mounded with white-meat nuggets coated in sesame-studded batter and deep fried, topped with a peppery sauce. We all sampled and approved of this grown-up take on the popular fast food.

My fourth friend ordered Peking duck (half: $12/whole $22), to commemorate the first time he tried this dish in New York's Chinatown. I was there and remember it was quite a production, involving a showy carving of the bird by the waiter, who later wrapped crispy skin, slices of scallion, and hoi sin sauce in thin rice pancakes for us. At Ping's, it's a do-it-yourself process; the half duck was already thinly sliced, and we were supplied with a stack of rice pancakes and slivered green onions.

Our little group of diners was sated and satisfied; we didn't even get to the vegetarian selections on this visit, but they are plentiful. In the past, we've enjoyed dishes such as spicy eggplant in garlic sauce and string beans, Szechuan style (both $5.25), and Shanghai noodles with mixed vegetables ($5.95).

If you're watching calories, Ping's offers dieter's special dinners: chicken and/or shrimp with an assortment of vegetables, all priced at $9.55. You'll either be amused or put off by the menu note: "These low calorie dinners . . . are less tasteful. If you want the dishes more tasteful, please tell your server to do so."

We may take issue with their grammar, but found no quarrel with food at Ping's. We thought our selections were very tasteful. Our bill totaled $71.40 before tip.

Margaret LeRoux can be reached at feedmefeedback@hotmail.com.