Ping

Is it me or do all restaurants these days get an award for anything!?

Ping was named "Rising Star of 2009" in The Oregonian's Diner Guide. So Michael took me there for date night last night. oOohhh, aren't we adventurous ?! <--- like our blog title?! LOL Date night on a Wednesday! Date night is usually on a Friday, but with this steady stream of (now involuntary) time off, it seems as though we can afford some spontaneous shifts in our schedule :)

I'm too lazy to write a full on review about this place, but I did like it. Cool spot in a shoddy (but up and coming) area, Old Town / Chinatown. For those of you who don't know, Portland's Chinatown is about two blocks long and two blocks wide (barely) and Chinese people don't actually live here, nor are there that many Chinese restaurants here... maybe because it's (again) two blocks long and two blocks wide. I like the Japanese take on (is it) Chinese, Vietnamese, Thai street food (????) Personally, the decor made me miss and wish it was one of those pure play ramen restaurants you'd be lucky to run into on the streets of New York :: sigh ::

Baby Octopus Skewer - marinated in lime, chilies, garlic, fish sauce and cilantro

Red Potato Skewer - salt roasted and grilled, served with spicy mayo sauce

Wild-caught Gulf Prawn Skewer - served with Vietnamese sea-salt , black pepper and lime

Spicy Mama Ramen - instant Thai ramen noodles in house-made pork bone broth (tamarind, fish sauce and chilies) with pork balls, prawns, yu choy and poached egg