A Minor Regicide

Neon Memes • This past weekend, a double portion of curiosity sent me to the South Side's still-controversial commercial development, Loughborough Commons, for dinner: (1) according to a menu qua solicitation mailed to my bungalow last week, a new Chinese eatery recently opened there, and (2) the menu in question listed lobster fried rice, which I'd never before sampled. Based on my visit, sad to say, I can't recommend China King (1042 E. Loughborough Avenue, 314.457.8800). A small, busy place at the development's north end, it comprises just over half a dozen four-tops (their sturdy, comfortable maple chairs mismatched with birch tabletops). On the night I dined there, the white and red pinpoints of auto lights comfortingly cruised past from left to right down the inky street, toward I-55, and KEZK was going to fuzz on the P.A.―more noise than signal. The fried rice? Eh. Though I was scarcely expecting Maine lobster―riiight, flown daily from Rockland to Carondelet!―the seafood tasted subpar, and the peas and diced carrots bordered on the sort used in three-for-a-dollar frozen potpies. Even at a relatively inexpensive $6.95 plus tax, in short, the dish left me disinclined to revisit the restaurant. Caveat cenator. ―Bryan A. Hollerbach, Managing Editor