Lolita Wolf's Predictions & Predilections

Shortly before my sixteenth birthday, my father announced that we would go out to dinner to celebrate the occasion and he said that I could choose the restaurant. I decided that we should go to Chinatown in Manhattan. In those days I was spending most Sundays skating at Wollman Rink in Central Park and then heading down to Chinatown for food. We usually ate at a basement restaurant on Mott Street called Hop Ying, which was very cheap. However, for my birthday I planned on going to Temple Garden which was nearby and much fancier. It was street level and with tableclothes.

My parents had never eaten Chinese food before and my father balked at the idea of going Chinese. I dug my heels in, “It’s my birthday and this is what I want us to do. If we don’t, then let’s not go out at all.” My father and I were both very stubborn, but over the years we did develop a respect for each other and we almost always could negotiate something. He did some research in the New York Magazine (this was before the Zagat Guide and NY Mag had a very extensive restaurant guide) and suggested King Yum in Flushing. I agreed to the compromise.

King Yum was very different from the Chinatown restaurants. It was almost a Disneyfied version of a Chinese restaurant. But my parents were surprised that they enjoyed the food and were impressed at my ability to eat with chopsticks. And I partook in my first Pu-Pu Platter. The outing was a success and the restaurant was added to the family rotation.

Later on, I did get them to go to Temple Garden in Chinatown. When they visited me in college (Syracuse University), we would go to Soo-Lin, a Chinese restaurant similar to King Yum which was owned by a Jewish guy who had two daughters, Susan and Linda – hence the name).

I remember this now, because I just stumbled onto a couple of reviews of King Yum. It’s still there.