Golden City Restaurant Menu

Golden City Restaurant, Edmonton - [1960s]

Many Chinese immigrants came to Canada to work on the railway, but after these jobs ended, they were prohibited from entering or training for many professions. Many turned to restaurants to make a living. The earliest Chinese restaurant menus consisted almost entirely of Western food, but gradually the ratios reversed, and by mid-century many restaurants focused primarily on Chinese dishes. Still, they usually appealed to Western tastes. The Golden City Restaurant, located in the heart of old Chinatown in Edmonton, is one example. Dating from perhaps the 1960s, the menu is structured to appeal to Western ideas of Chinese (in this case, Cantonese) food. Varieties of “Chop Suey” and “Chow Mein” are near the beginning of the menu, followed closely by “Egg Fuyung” and “Wuntun.” The latter is described using the Western point of reference—“Ravioli in Chinese Style.” “Gravy,” similarly, probably refers to a cornstarch mixture used to hold flavours together. Following the Western custom, soup is at the beginning of the menu, and the many tomato dishes, extremely unusual in Cantonese cooking, also tempt Western palates. Seafood, relatively unpopular on the Prairies, is left to the end of the menu. The section includes an abalone dish (a delicacy in Chinese cooking), as well as “Steamed Live Deep Sea Crab,” a dish most likely to be ordered by Chinese diners.