PHLReview
photo credit: Rachel Lerro
Bing Bing Dim Sum
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People love Bing Bing. They go crazy for it. If you know someone who lives in East Passyunk, they probably eat here three times a week, and, while that can’t be great health-wise, they keep coming back. And we totally get where the hype comes from - Bing Bing has a solid menu and a space that’s fun whether you’re alone or with a big group - but it just doesn’t quite measure up to its siblings.
Bing Bing is from the same people behind the two Cheu spots and Nunu, and it’s a perfectly good place for a weeknight dinner. They serve the same trademark Chinese and Jewish deli fusion, and all of it is good, but it’s just not quite as good as Cheu. It’s located in a weird, triangle-shaped building in East Passyunk where it was in the first wave of “cool” places to pop up in the area, and it’s generally one of the more crowded spots on a stretch that’s now full of bars and restaurants.
photo credit: Rachel Lerro
They serve dim sum, but not the kind of dim sum you’re probably used to. Yes, they have the classics, like pork soup dumplings and a roast pork bao, but they also serve some familiar favorites that have been twisted a bit, like smoked whitefish on everything bing bread and turnip cakes made with matzo. And you also won’t see any of those plastic dim sum carts. Instead, you’ll get a menu and order your food from a server who will probably tell you that three orders of dumplings for one person is just too many.
Even though Bing Bing is small, it’s still somewhere we’d come for a group dinner. The space is covered in funky wall murals featuring cartoon dumplings, and there are colored string lights hanging from the ceiling. They also have cocktail pitchers that are decidedly better than the ones you usually get at your favorite divey margarita bar. If you’re not trying to split a gallon of Mai Tais, though, you can just as easily come here for a casual weeknight dinner instead.
Between its convenient location and ’90s soundtrack, Bing Bing is somewhere you’ll want to hang out. And even if it doesn’t quite measure up to either of the Cheus, it’s still a great spot to eat a bowl of noodles and discuss how much it sucks to be a middle child.