Thursday 7 April 2011

Lucky cats and paper money

SÔNG QUÊ CAFÉ

134 Kingsland Road

Stir fried tofu with lemon grass and chilli, steamed rice and homemade
soya bean drink


We were planning to go to Quê Viêt as it had been listed by the Observer as one of the 50 trendiest places to go in the world! However, on arriving it was devoid of customers. The Sông Quê, however, is busy. We go in and ask to sit near the window. Too hot, we are told, and are given a table in the centre. With near floor to ceiling windows on both sides of the room the corner café is very light. The tables in the centre are in a long row, and we are sitting next to a group of young girls who are eating lunch and chatting in a language I cannot understand, presumably Cantonese or Vietnamese. The tables are covered with white paper cloths, that can be changed quickly after being splattered with soup stains. I notice that in the chiller cabinet are green vases, each with a pink rose, presumably the table decorations for this evening. The chairs are bright red and contrast with the pale green walls and the brighter green bar, which seems to have two large lobsters decorating the top fascia. On the bar itself sits a big, gold lucky cat* with its right paw raised in a salute.



I see a tray of white drinks being delivered to a table of young men. I ask the waiter what it is. Soya bean drink, is the reply. I order one to go with my lunch. It tastes kind of savoury and beany, but milky and sweet at the same time. I think it is probably quite good at counteracting the heat of the red chillies in my tofu. As we eat, the restaurant gets busier still, many customers are ordering large, steaming bowls of phô, which seem to come out of the kitchen almost as soon as the order has been placed. Our bill comes and with it are some little sweets—ginger and coconut candy, it says in English. To us it seems like a Werthers Original with a south east Asian flavour.

*Lucky cats and paper money
Lucky cats are traditional Asian items which represent good fortune and protection. Those who have lucky cats in their work places will have their protection as well as the wealth benefits they attract. Most of the time there are two lucky cats represented together, one with its left paw up and the other with the right one up. The lucky cat raising its left paw is the one which attracts wealth, while the one which raises the right paw is in charge of giving protection to those who keep it, as well as to the income attracted by its partner.



The lucky cat which has its left paw up is depicted smiling. The smile is meant to invite good fortune and wealth to come to him and therefore to the place where he is. On the other hand the lucky cat which raises the right paw has a warning expression. This warning is what protects your income from any evil. Small shrines containing paper money are also often found in doorways of Vietnamese restaurants. This represents a temple of ancestor worship in which paper money is burnt as an offering to the dead.

No comments: