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The Last Supper
The Last Supper
In the evening, we went to the Taj Mahal Club – an Indian curry restaurant on the third floor of Chungking Mansions. This meal really spiced up our journey - we ventured into the seedy stairway and come face-to-face with the ethnic minorities, so as to reach the restaurant on the third floor. Yet, the payoffs of our little exploration were the exotic food and particular charms of a culturally hybridized restaurant.
About languages...
Apparently, the name ‘Taj Machal Club’ is a semiotic use of the Taj Mahal mausoleum – one of the eight wonders of the world, and the iconic label of Indian culture. At the entrance there were several clippings of travel logs in Chinese, English, Japanese and even Korean. According to Backhaus (2006), the use of foreign language on non-official signs is mainly ‘motivated by a desire to create an overseas atmosphere’. Such presentation establishes a great deal of credibility by hailing Taj Machal Club as a world-known dining spot.
Travel blogs in Korean texts (top left), Chinese texts (top right),
and Janpanese texts (bottom) Albeit the restaurant’s Indian cachet, the menu was written in Chinese and English only, Both languages had a mutual relationship, and 'constituted mutual translations of each other' (Backhaus, 2006). The Taj Mahal Club's menu was a sharp contrast with old-day Chinese menus, which were famous for its ridiculous translation. For example, the ‘boil son rice’.
We chatted with the staff when we placed our orders. Similar to the touts at Chungking Mansioins’ entrance, they spoke to us in fluent Chinese. Most staff claimed that they have been to Hong Kong for a few years. The Chungking Mansions sure are a labyrinth of cultures!
About the design...
The restaurant adopted a humble interior design. There weren't any stereotype wooden statues; yet the long chair covers and moody lighting conveys an exotic, soothing atmosphere (finally, to break away from those unnerving promotions at the group floor!).
A huge picture of the Taj Machal mausoleum was used as a decorative wall piece, while the others were decorated with Indian hand-drawn pictures. An interesting architectural element was the alcohol display behind the cashier. Functionally speaking, such alcohol display no longer retained its cocktail bar purpose; it was merely a symbol of ‘North American luxury’ (Han, 2003, P.21). This western element gave the Taj Machal Club a modern context, which is rather appealing to Hongkongers.
The Taj Machal Club was a ‘traditional ethnic restaurant’. Its visual presentation was based on a 'geographic ethnic culture' with clear-cut ‘ethnic leanings’, that is, the cultural symbols are more explicit, and each symbolic or architectural element represents one – and only one – ethnic culture (Han, 2003, P.18).
About people...
Although this is an Indian restaurant, we didn't see any Indian customers on that night. The place seemed to be a hot spot for locals; young, white-collar Hongkongers, and local Caucasians with their friends-from-homeland came here to spend their evening.
The sound of Taj Machal Club was composed by Chinese-and-English babbling, with Indian pop in the background. Similar to the menu, Hindi was not particularly dominant, regardless of its cultural interior design.
Exotic restaurants often adjust their menu items and furnishing so as to ‘minimize alienating the local populace’ (Han, 2003). Taj Machal Club did a good job in such adjustments, with its modern, homely designs and exotic food. The supper was an exquisite closing for our fieldtrip. We realised that Flâneurie-work was not all about strolling after all – you couldn't possibly be a passionate observer without good food!
References
Backhaus, P. (2006). Multilingualism in Tokyo: A Look into the Linguistic Landscape. Durk, Gorter (Ed.), Linguistic Language: A New Approach to Multilingualism (pp.59-64). Toronto: Multilingual Matters LTD.
Han, Jen-Hui. (2003, August). HYBRID CULTURE SPACE: A study of hybrid culture and its practical application in the design of an Eastern-Western hybrid restaurant. Retrieved October 17, 2008, from
http://pqdd.sinica.edu.tw/twdaoeng/servlet/advanced?query=MQ89496
In the evening, we went to the Taj Mahal Club – an Indian curry restaurant on the third floor of Chungking Mansions. This meal really spiced up our journey - we ventured into the seedy stairway and come face-to-face with the ethnic minorities, so as to reach the restaurant on the third floor. Yet, the payoffs of our little exploration were the exotic food and particular charms of a culturally hybridized restaurant. About languages...
Apparently, the name ‘Taj Machal Club’ is a semiotic use of the Taj Mahal mausoleum – one of the eight wonders of the world, and the iconic label of Indian culture. At the entrance there were several clippings of travel logs in Chinese, English, Japanese and even Korean. According to Backhaus (2006), the use of foreign language on non-official signs is mainly ‘motivated by a desire to create an overseas atmosphere’. Such presentation establishes a great deal of credibility by hailing Taj Machal Club as a world-known dining spot.
Travel blogs in Korean texts (top left), Chinese texts (top right),
and Janpanese texts (bottom)
We chatted with the staff when we placed our orders. Similar to the touts at Chungking Mansioins’ entrance, they spoke to us in fluent Chinese. Most staff claimed that they have been to Hong Kong for a few years. The Chungking Mansions sure are a labyrinth of cultures!
About the design...
The restaurant adopted a humble interior design. There weren't any stereotype wooden statues; yet the long chair covers and moody lighting conveys an exotic, soothing atmosphere (finally, to break away from those unnerving promotions at the group floor!).
A huge picture of the Taj Machal mausoleum was used as a decorative wall piece, while the others were decorated with Indian hand-drawn pictures. An interesting architectural element was the alcohol display behind the cashier. Functionally speaking, such alcohol display no longer retained its cocktail bar purpose; it was merely a symbol of ‘North American luxury’ (Han, 2003, P.21). This western element gave the Taj Machal Club a modern context, which is rather appealing to Hongkongers.
The Taj Machal mausoleum wall piece (top left),
a Indian hand-drawn picture (top right),
and the alcohol display (bottom)
a Indian hand-drawn picture (top right),
and the alcohol display (bottom)
About people...
Although this is an Indian restaurant, we didn't see any Indian customers on that night. The place seemed to be a hot spot for locals; young, white-collar Hongkongers, and local Caucasians with their friends-from-homeland came here to spend their evening.
Exotic restaurants often adjust their menu items and furnishing so as to ‘minimize alienating the local populace’ (Han, 2003). Taj Machal Club did a good job in such adjustments, with its modern, homely designs and exotic food. The supper was an exquisite closing for our fieldtrip. We realised that Flâneurie-work was not all about strolling after all – you couldn't possibly be a passionate observer without good food!
Backhaus, P. (2006). Multilingualism in Tokyo: A Look into the Linguistic Landscape. Durk, Gorter (Ed.), Linguistic Language: A New Approach to Multilingualism (pp.59-64). Toronto: Multilingual Matters LTD.
Han, Jen-Hui. (2003, August). HYBRID CULTURE SPACE: A study of hybrid culture and its practical application in the design of an Eastern-Western hybrid restaurant. Retrieved October 17, 2008, from
http://pqdd.sinica.edu.tw/twdaoeng/servlet/advanced?query=MQ89496
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