P*ong - Review - Revisited

Intro
p*ong - Recommended
150 W 10th St, New York 10014
At Waverly Pl
Phone: 212-929-0898

After the sub par meal at Chow Bar, we wanted some desserts that would turn our frowns upside down - oh ya I pulled that out. Luckily for us, p*ong is right around the corner from Chow Bar so we decided to go based on our previous visit there - which was really the opening night of the place. They made huge improvements over our first trip. Overall, I give the restaurant an 80/100.

My Menu
OK - so the menu here looks like it changes a lot. Totally different from what we had the first time and I can't find the menu we had online. The p*ong (as well as menupages and nymag) website have things that aren't there now. So, I'll try to best describe them below since I didn't grab any pictures of the menu.

1) Chocolate Truffle (shaped like a bar)– Highly Recommended
2) Chocolate Financier with Ovaltine Ice Cream – Recommended
3) Foie Gras with Chocolate, Red Pepper Jam, and Persimmons - Highly Recommended
4) Chocolate Martini - Recommended

Dish Comments
1) This dessert represents what to expect at p*ong - complex flavor for dessert that really pops in the mouth. Basically a super dense chocolate bar that was very thick and kicked up with some spicy chilles. Sublime dessert.
2) Another classic p*ong type dessert showcasing Asian ingredients - here the Ovaltine Ice Cream. Great warm chocolate cake and the Ovaltine Ice Cream is an interesting touch - not very sweet, but it tastes 100% like Ovaltine.
3) Great combination of flavors here. The Foie Gras is decent but the combination is great. The red pepper jam tastes exactly like red peppers, but it's sweet and slightly spicy. Combine the chocolate and persimmons and the FG really sings.
4) Bartender recommended this Chocolate Martini since it went well with the FG - man he was definitely right. A little strong for a girly drink, but the "chocolate clouds" were awesome. Basically, cream that looks like marshmallows and tastes great in the drink.

Overall Restaurant Experience (80/100)

• Food 8.5/10 – Desserts are so complex and flavorful. Everything was beautifully plated - wanted to take pictures but my camera does not work well with low lights. Don't like rocking the flash at restaurants since they usually look terrible and plus I don't like blinding my fellow eaters.
  
• Service 7.0/10 – The bartender was not super friendly, but the food came out fast - so can't complain. All the servers look like they all had attitudes - much different from the first time.
• Atmosphere 8/10 – Same comments as last time. This time we got there around 9:30pm on a Saturday and it took about 20 minutes to get seated. It was very busy that day and a lot of people were waiting.
• Price 7.0/10 – Pretty pricey stuff here. Paying fancy meal prices for desserts without the fancy meal. The total bill was around $80 which is pretty pricey for desserts. However, I was still happy at the end.

Closing Comments
Great desserts here and much better than the first time around. However, I would say I would probably go to Chikalicious (203 E 10th St) before p*ong for the price. For the same price at Chika, you get an amuse bouche, dessert, and petit fours - great variety. p*ong however is definitely a go-to place for complex desserts.