Not surprisingly then, many of Oahu's local Chinese restaurants will usher in the Year of the Rooster (this Tuesday and Wednesday) with special banquet menus that will include some or all of these good luck dishes.

Translating to "House of Abundance," Lau Yee Chai (2250 Kalakaua Ave., Waikiki Shopping Plaza, 923-1112) will feature a $280 banquet menu for 10 in honor of the new year.

The menu will include jai or "Monk's food," as well as a choice of either peach-colored "longevity" sao bao (red-bean-filled manapua) or the "lisee" (the traditional lucky money red envelopes presented on special occasions) soup, which is believed to bring 100 years of prosperity, according to general manager Sammy Li.

At Seafood Village (2424 Kalakaua Ave., Hyatt Regency Waikiki Resort & Spa, 971-1818), chefs will feature special lunch and dinner banquet menus for the occasion.

Lunch is priced at $9.95 per person, with a minimum of 10 people. Dinner will be priced at $29.95 per person, and will include a good-luck dessert of mochi dumplings steeped in a sweet soup.

This Wednesday, Golden Dragon (2005 Kalia Rd., Hilton Hawaiian Village Beach Resort & Spa, 949-4321 ext.42 ) will welcome 2005 Narcissus Queen Darah Annette Kwai Dung and her court.

A lion dance will be featured at 6 p.m. Golden Dragon's chef Steve Chiang will prepare a set menu dinner for a minimum of two at $68 per person.

The meal will feature such dishes as stir-fried lobster and and scallops, roast duck fried rice, sizzling pepper beef tenderloin and Chang's signature taro basket.

Eastern Garden (98-150 Kaonohi St., Westridge Shopping Center, 486-8882) owners Linda and Larry Chan will offer the traditional gau ($10 for a large and $6 for a small) and jai ($8.95).

They'll also feature a Year of the Rooster menu for 10. For $198, the menu will include chicken salad, Imperial scallop soup, steamed whole fresh catch of the day, abalone with black mushrooms, jai, chef's special crispy chicken, rice and almond tofu.

Hee Hing's (449 Kapahulu Ave., 735-5544) Chinese New Year's Eve and Day festivities will include a lion dance performance on both nights, starting at 6:30 p.m.

The restaurant will also present a New Year's banquet menu for 10 for $239, as well as a buffet this Wednesday from 5 to 9 p.m. Cost is $23.95 for adults, $22.95 for diners 65 years and older, and $12.95 for keiki five to 12 years.

Highlights include roast suckling pig. roast pork tofu and Szechuan black-pepper beef.

Parc Cafe (2233 Helumoa Rd., Waikiki Parc Hotel, 931-6643) will roll out a special Chinese New Year buffet this Tuesday through Thursday.

Cost is $24.95 for adults and $1 per each year of age for kids five to 12 years old.

Little Village Noodle House (1113 Smith St., 545-3008) will celebrate the Year of the Rooster with fiery Northern Chinese-style dishes, such as hot-and-spicy garlic shrimp, smoked game hen and stir-fried lamb with leeks and chili.

Hong Kong Harbour View's (Second floor, Aloha Tower Marketplace, 566-9989) Chinese New Year gourmet banquet menu for 10 will be priced at $289. For smaller groups of four to six people, a special New Year's banquet menu will be available for $158, which will end on a sweet note with mochi cake.

"It represents good luck," said owner Li May Tang. "Anything round and sweet is always a good way to start the new year."