Lan Ting Chop Suey House: master of Chinese cuisine. . . .

Item Details

Honolulu, Waikiki, T.H.:, Lan Ting, 2057 Kalakaua Ave.,, [ca. 1942]., Softcover.

First Edition., VG-

8vo. 5.75 x 8.75 in. [4 pp (unpaginated)]. Self-printed tan paper softcovers, w/ Chinese scene on rear cover explaining the name of the restaurant as “Orchid Paviliion” based on the 4th Century literary club of the celebrated calligrapher Wang Hsi Chih (minor rubbing, old glue offsetting on back cover), still a VG- copy.

First edition of this uncommon original World War II-era menu for the Chinese-American restaurant Lan Ting first established in the 1930’s in Waikiki by George Inn, and later sold after the beginning of the War to Lee Wong Chong who radically changed the menu, and Inn went onto run his nearby gift shop with his wife, Jennie Wong. During the War, the menu was forced to drastically reduce a lot of the former specialized Chinese specialties such as deep fried olive nuts, and frogs, and there is discreet stamp on first leaf that “All prices listed hereon are at or below our OPA ceiling Price” which  were prices established after 1941 by the Office of Price Administration freezing most consumer prices at 1942 levels, and continued until 1946. This menu features such favorites as the long cooking Water Cress Soup with Pork, Chicken Soup a la Mandirin, Roast Duck Chinese Style, Lan Ting Special Fried Rice, and many more. No copies in Worldcat.