New Ho King

The restaurant has been open since 1976, and has long been a "favourite late-night Chinatown dinner spot" among Toronto residents.{{cite news |last=Chow |first=Jason |date=2008-02-02 |title=The Dawdling Dragon |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/national-post/149245183/ |newspaper=National Post |via=Newspapers.com |accessdate=2024-06-13 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20240613091742/https://www.newspapers.com/article/national-post/149245183/ |archivedate=2024-06-13 }} Its current owner, Johnny Lu, has worked at New Ho King since he was 14 years old, and bought the restaurant in 2019. {{Cite web |last=Blasi |first=Weston |date=2024-05-11 |title=The real winner of the Drake-Kendrick Lamar feud is Chinese restaurant New Ho King |url=https://www.morningstar.com/news/marketwatch/20240511283/the-real-winner-of-the-drake-kendrick-lamar-feud-is-chinese-restaurant-new-ho-king |access-date=2024-05-25 |website=Morningstar, Inc. |language=en}}

In January 2016, a shooting occurred outside the restaurant, which left two dead and four injured.{{Cite web |date=February 21, 2017 |title=Man believed to be leader of Heart of a King gang charged in Chinatown double murder |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/heart-of-a-king-gang-murder-1.3993270 |access-date=May 24, 2024 |website=CBC News}}{{Cite web |last=Skinner |first=Justin |date=2016-02-02 |title=Toronto police looking for shooter in murder of David Eminess and Quinn Taylor in front of New Ho King restaurant on Spadina Avenue |url=https://www.toronto.com/news/toronto-police-looking-for-shooter-in-murder-of-david-eminess-and-quinn-taylor-in-front/article_632d707f-8413-5c18-9892-f88a1a5c4e2e.html? |access-date=2024-09-29 |website=Toronto.com |language=en}}

On April 30, 2024, Lamar released "Euphoria", a diss track aimed towards Drake. New Ho King was briefly name-dropped, with "I be at New Ho King eatin' fried rice with a dip sauce and a blammy, crodie." There are theories to Lamar's motives. Complex speculated it relates to when Drake was robbed at gunpoint in May 2009 in a Toronto restaurant.{{Cite web |last=Cowen |first=Trace William |title=Does Kendrick Lamar's "Euphoria" Diss Include a Sly Nod to Drake's 2009 Robbery? |url=https://www.complex.com/music/a/tracewilliamcowen/kendrick-lamar-euphoria-drake-2009-robbery |access-date=2024-05-25 |website=Complex |language=en-us}} A few days later, on May 3, Drake released "Family Matters", which featured the restaurant in the music video, wherein Drake is seen with an array of dishes.{{Cite news |last=Clark |first=Meredith |date=2024-05-12 |title=Chinese restaurant names dish for Kendrick Lamar after mention in Drake diss track |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/kendrick-lamar-drake-new-ho-king-b2543813.html |access-date=2024-05-25 |work=The Independent |language=en}} In an interview, New Ho King's owner said that business had gone up 300% as a result of the mention. In honour of Lamar, the restaurant began offering the 'Kendrick Lamar special', a series of dishes featuring fried rice, deep fried shrimp with chili and crispy garlic, spicy fried chicken wings, and beef and broccoli.

The Toronto Star food critic Gerry Shikatani praised the restaurant in a 1999 review, writing, "It is quite simple, not high-end dramatic. But servings are large, and few Cantonese kitchens are cooking with such accomplishment and light touch, while leaving an equally light trace on the wallet."{{cite news |last=Shikatani |first=Gerry |date=1999-12-18 |title=Cuisine's familiar as an old friend |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-toronto-star/149245161/ |newspaper=Toronto Star |via=Newspapers.com |accessdate=2024-06-13 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20240613091510/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-toronto-star/149245161/ |archivedate=2024-06-13 }} Steven Davey of Now in 2011 found the food to be "a little bit too salty and verging on over-cooked" but said that was not a significant concern at 3:00am.{{cite news |last=Davey |first=Steven |date=2011-06-20 |title=New New Ho King |url=https://nowtoronto.com/food-and-drink/new-new-ho-king/ |newspaper=Now |accessdate=2024-06-13 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20240613092542/https://nowtoronto.com/food-and-drink/new-new-ho-king/ |archivedate=2024-06-13 }}

The reviewer Alexandra Clark in 2003 praised the restaurant's hot and sour soup, General Tso's chicken, and the garlic sauce flavoured eggplant and shrimp.{{cite book |last=Quadri |first=Sarah |editor-last=Clark |editor-first=Alexandra |date=2003 |chapter=New Ho King |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780973120110/page/83/ |title=Cheapeats Toronto: Toronto's Guide to Good Inexpensive Restaurants |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780973120110/ |location=Plethora Press |publisher=Toronto |via=Internet Archive |page=83 |isbn=0-9731201-1-8 |accessdate=2024-06-13 }} In a 2008 review, Ben Kaplan of the National Post found the restaurant to be a "Cantonese greasy spoon ... as good as we've tasted any hour of the day". He praised the crispness of the pork chow mein but criticized the General Tso's chicken, writing, "a harder fried outer coating might have provided a sharper contrast with the white chicken meat".Kaplan, Ben (2008-01-12). "New Ho King Restaurant" (pages [https://web.archive.org/web/20240613092140/https://www.newspapers.com/article/national-post/149245221/ 1] and [https://web.archive.org/web/20240613092355/https://www.newspapers.com/article/national-post/149245240/ 2]). National Post. Archived from the original (pages [https://www.newspapers.com/article/national-post/149245221/ 1] and [https://www.newspapers.com/article/national-post/149245240/ 2]) on 2024-06-13. Retrieved 2024-06-13 – via Newspapers.com.

The name of the queer Asian collective New Ho Queen was inspired by the restaurant.{{Cite web |date=2024-02-20 |title=Queer Asian Collective New Ho Queen Keeps the Party Going |url=https://www.wmagazine.com/culture/new-ho-queen-toronto-queer-asian-collective-party-events-interview |access-date=2024-09-29 |website=W Magazine |language=en}}

{{reflist}}

{{Restaurants in Greater Toronto}}

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Category:Asian restaurants in Toronto

Category:Cantonese restaurants

Category:Kensington Market

Category:Chinese restaurants in Canada

Category:Drake–Kendrick Lamar feud

Category:Restaurants established in 1976

Category:1976 establishments in Ontario