The restaurant critic weighs the noodle portions at Mister Ping

Again I found on VsemEda a place that never enters the field of view of the channels and the sites. I hear of it for the first time: "Mister Ping at 41 Staro-Petergofsky Prospekt is a noodle house serving Asian soups and hand-made noodles. A place for those who love pan-Asian food. Atmosphere. Inside: brown sofas and chairs, blue curtains, grey tables, and paintings of noodles on the walls. The interior is simple but cosy. There is seating both on the sofas and on the chairs. A small space with sofas and noodle paintings — suitable for a quick bite or a quiet lunch." No, I shan't drive out for a quiet lunch. There are set lunches in the daytime here, and the discount is smaller than in the evening, when they evidently need to draw people in with 30% at weekends. All the more so as the trick is an interesting menu, since I did drive out to Narvskaya, where I eat no more than once every five years. Check it. Sign here.

The chaikhana with its dastarkhan behind the curtain is still there, and whatever could be re-cut has been re-cut into a more fashionable pan-Asian format: half of it, by the kitchen and the display, is sofas only; the other half is classic dining seating, and not stinted. Something was clearly repaired, and some… well-lived-in, to put it gently, elements have survived from the previous concept. But atmospheric, one has to admit, without gloss. And you believe in the cook straight away! And the fact that on three visits out of three within a week a single person was working, with or without a helper — that's stability. You order at the counter, but everything is brought to your table. Tidy, clean, pleasant in conversation.

Why there are set lunches (399 ₽) on weekdays is clear. Why a noodle house needs fashionable signature cocktails at 300 ₽ I don't know. I drank cranberry mors and an excellent kompot at 50 ₽ for 300 ml (not a typo) — but the fact that tea (50 ₽) comes only in a cup is bad: for a chaikhana, for a Chinese noodle house, for Chinese and eastern culture alike. With ramen, tom yum, pho bo, malatang, qing tang and mogu tang (I don't know a soup like that at all, nor ganban), a programme for three visits formed itself, for educational purposes! But I ordered only after consulting the seller-cook. Because…

Even without the evening 30% the prices are excellent for huge portions: only a few dishes are 450 g, most are 600–750! They tried to talk me out of a second round with the lagman, but I took a couple of salads: fuzhu (120 ₽) and wood-ear (120 ₽). Six out of five, and the fuzhu is my ideal outright — the best-dressed tofu skin I've seen in several years. With the most precise texture and a concentration of oils.

Smashed cucumbers (190 ₽) came out simpler. As though they started making them right before service: they hadn't taken the marinade yet, and echoes of raw cucumber arrive first. The wood-ear mushrooms added to them, on the contrary, are beautifully vivid.

Funchoza salad (320 ₽): simple, clear, easy. Dressed, if you toss it, though I added the second sauce from the table: noodles and vegetables as a pair love a salty sauce.

Lagman (610 ₽ / 650 ml). As I understand it, they meant to compose the Uyghur version. Let's say rather: an original one. Half-Asian. A basin one and a half to two ordinary sizes, and I couldn't surrender! I finished it. Gorgeous noodles — and they can't be otherwise when they're pulled behind glass; an expensive set of vegetables and sticks of meat, as though kissed by Maillard; a thick, dense gravy, goodness knows how long it was reduced; and all that seriousness diluted by unexpected fresh sprouts. On spices it is rather a very well seasoned home-style roast made by the lady of the house. Not boring, but of the lagman spice notes, and of the heat, there is only part of what's needed. There is a super-peppery paste in oil on the table, and that's what helped: another spoonful, another spoonful — and I wept, from the eyes and from the nose. Not quite lazijan, of course, but a temper was born, oh yes. Tasty. And in its natural form the dish could even be given to children.

Ramen with beef (650 ₽ / 700 ml). Excellent noodles, plenty of meat, a strong broth — but you couldn't call it expressive. Ordinary. It asks for salt, for spices. I added the hot pepper paste; it became oily and hot, but no depth was gained. I devoured the lot; half the broth I did not devour. Boring. At that portion size the question of interest becomes important. For now it's "home-style ramen".

The best dish for restaurant harmony — wok with beef (610 ₽), and with the discount around four hundred. 550 grams, genuinely two large, the largest restaurant portions, and I ate it without stopping, along with the noodle salad described above. A sweetish umami base, a tenacious sauce that clings to everything. You couldn't call the wok rich: the meat is in small pieces — but it climbs into almost every chopstick-load! Superb, an exact hit into the very culture of the wok! If you take one dish on a first visit, this is probably it. Then, in second place…

Crisp aubergines with rice (420 ₽ / 450 g). It turned out there is meat in there too, not declared on the menu: goodness, everything the way we like it. Not some mince, but small pieces, tartare-sized, appetisingly seasoned, with beautiful sticks of the vegetable. The sauce seems modest, but its strength is enough for the rice as well. Very tasty.

A neighbourhood format; you have to understand the location — simple, entirely without glamour. And at the same time very honest, with the discount and without: at the full 900 ₽ and at the slightly more than 600 ₽ I actually paid (that was the largest of the three bills, and drinks fall under the pleasant percentage too), even I was bursting after one and a half dishes. Which, honestly, equals five modern courses of the kind I see every day. Not everything is as adventurous as I like, but I understand: guests have their own threshold for spice and seasoning.