Kuala Lumpur

DavidFL

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COLISEUM HOTEL - CAFE
The grand old dame of KL
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A historical icon in KL / Malaysia.
Opened in 1921 & still going strong.
Classic service & menu

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I used to hang out here in my backpacking days 34 years ago.
Not much has changed!

The bar is still exactly the same
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Cartoons by Lat framed on the wall
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The award from the Malaysian Book of Records for the longest running Colonial Themed Restaurant in Malaysia.
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Some info & history on the Coliseum

From the daily Telegraph

The sun may have set on the British Empire, but in the teeming back streets of Malaysia's capital, the humble English jelly is making its last gastronomic stand.

Jelly and custard may have been muscled aside by sorbet and creme brulee in Britain, but in downtown Kuala Lumpur (on the edge of Little India - nearest station, Bandraya) the old boarding school pud still reigns supreme.

Step through the swinging doors of the much-loved Coliseum Café and Hotel, and you'll rediscover not only the sights and smells of a colonial Malaya, but a menu that anywhere else would merit a preservation order.
Jelly is just one of 400 items listed. Other staples include jam omelettes, sardines on toast, poached eggs on toast, ham and eggs, oxtail soup, fish fingers and chips, peaches and cream and bacon sandwiches - all served on stained tablecloths, with plates of bread and butter, and bottles of Worcestershire sauce.

First-time visitors are easily distracted by the sheer theatricality of the place. Apart from the bar room regulars and its tribe of genteel waiters, the Coliseum sports a wonderful collection of old newspaper cuttings - "When Your Servant Has Malaria" reads one - and pen sketches by Lat, Malaysia's most famous cartoonist.

While expats luxuriate in the hotel's down-at-heel atmosphere (and burgundy lounge chairs), locals flock to the cafe to enjoy the Coliseum's signature dish of sizzling steak, which fills the restaurant with a plume of wood smoke.

For just over a fiver the diner is treated to a slab of New Zealand fillet cooked on an open brazier next to his or her table by an ancient Chinese waiter. The meal is served with a selection of "potatoes, tomato, Brussels sprouts and mixed salad". You can round it all off with jelly pudding for the equivalent of 50p, or splash out on a serving of peaches and cream for £1.10.
Other house specialities include baked crab and freshly made Hainanese bread. A small army of chefs in white vests take great pride in using natural ingredients. Canned food is avoided at all costs. Indeed, the cafe still makes its own breadcrumbs, mayonnaise and chilli sauce.

Like the decor, the cooking methods (especially the use of charcoal and firewood stoves) have changed little since the Coliseum first opened in 1921. "We are still here because of what we have been known for all these years - good food," says Richard Ko, the cafe's assistant manager. "Somehow the steak tastes different when it is cooked over a firewood stove."

Indeed, the Coliseum is the last of those colonial institutions that offered succour to "up-country" rubber planters in need of clean sheets, cold beer and nursery food.

During the Emergency (1948-1953), the "old Coli" became a place of refuge where white planters drowned their sorrows and swapped "terrorist" stories. The regular Wednesday tea dances were suspended.

Later, the Coliseum opened its doors to Malays, Chinese, Indians and Eurasians. An early patron was Malaysia's first prime minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman.

Before independence in 1957 such hotels - small, family-run and offering European cuisine - were commonplace throughout the old Straits settlements. Today, only the Coliseum survives; two others, the Majestic and Le Coq d'Or, recently closed.

Architecturally, the art deco building (with curious Oriental touches) could best be described as being in a state of graceful decline. Its stucco is badly weathered, the floor gritty underfoot and the furniture chipped and worn. Upstairs, the 10 guest bedrooms have changed little since Somerset Maugham unpacked his portmanteau here. With yellowing walls, dark lacquered wardrobes and iron bedsteads, the Coliseum offers none of the niceties of a modern hotel. Guests share communal bathrooms - and greasy odours wafting up from the kitchen.

Despite its appearance of neglect, the hotel is probably more popular now than at any time in its history (turnover last year was more than £600,000).

"The Coliseum is a Kuala Lumpur institution," says Charlie, one of the regulars at the bar. "I don't need to travel to other parts of the world - the world comes to me here."

For male patrons such as Charlie, a Eurasian, and his drinking pal Bedi, a Sikh, the Coliseum offers a neutral meeting place where ethnic rivalries are safely jettisoned. In a country where business and politics dominate conversation, the old guard at the Coliseum devotes itself to the study of the female form - or at least stories of past encounters.

"In Malay we call it cuci mata or 'cleansing your eyes'," explains Bedi. "We come here to forget our worries and watch the world go by. I've been coming here for 23 years. There's nothing like it in KL."

Over the years both men have enjoyed mammoth drinking sessions as well as conversations with backpackers, writers - even the occasional university professor. "There was an Englishman, a distinguished chap, staying here a couple of years ago," recalls Bedi. "When he came down to the bar he found a group of us celebrating some fellow's birthday. He tried to buy a drink, but we refused, saying he must drink with us, so he did. Such things are not uncommon here. He stayed for a couple of months. An educated man, you know."

Given Malaysia's obsession with modernity, success and the overt display of wealth, the Coliseum is a delightful and delicious anachronism. Long may it sizzle.
Coliseum Café and Hotel, 98-100 Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (0060 3 2692 6270); from £10 a night for a double (all rooms have air-conditioning but none is en suite). The kitchen is open 8am-10pm.
From the Coliseum Website
Kuala Lumpur, June 26, 2013 – The Coliseum Café Kuala Lumpur has clinched the Malaysia Book of Records award for the ‘Longest Operating Western Colonial-Themed Restaurant’, having been in business since 1921.

Coliseum Café has been operating in the same premises at 98-100, Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman for the past 92 years. During the British Colonial rule of then Malaya, the restaurant and its 10-room hotel were popular amongst the British Government servants, army personnel, tin-miners, planters and their families, besides travellers passing through Kuala Lumpur.

Post-Malaya era and in today’s 21st century setting, the restaurant continues to be a popular destination amongst locals and travellers. Nothing much has changed within its old-fashion, colonial setting; tables are set with side plates, napkins and cutlery on white tablecloths with attentive waiters on standby, ready to serve diners various mouth-watering signature dishes representative of its Western Colonial Hainanese Cuisine

Assistant Manager Chris Wang Meng Yang, who has been with the Coliseum for some 38 years, informed “the ambiance of both the restaurant and bar has hardly changed although improvements have been carried out in the kitchen and backroom areas so as to continue to deliver guests’ dining comfort and satisfaction.

“People enjoy the unique dishes, particularly the sizzling steaks and the chicken chops, concocted by the old Hainanese chefs who learnt the traditional English dishes from the Colonial masters and ‘memsahibs’.

“Over the years, the chefs added their personal touches, herbs and spices. Today, the menu has a good selection of 90 different food choices which is synonymous of our 1 Malaysia heritage,” added Mr Wang.

Datuk Danny Ooi, the founder & Managing Director of the Malaysia Book of Records presented the certificate to the staff at the restaurant at a simple ceremony, recently. Datuk Ooi congratulated the staff at Coliseum Café for this new award, which certifies the restaurant as a national record holder.

“We would like to welcome Coliseum Café to our ‘MBR family’. Being the Longest Operating Western Colonial-Themed Restaurant with a track record of over nine decades in the food and beverage industry, this recognition on your achievement deserves to be feted amongst the “Best of the Nation”.

“We hope Coliseum Cafe will continue its excellent service and will become one of the heritage restaurants in the country so as to attract more tourists due to its unique concept,” added Datuk Danny.

Sometime last year, the Malaysia Book of Records recognised Captain Ho Seng Fong, formerly a captain with the restaurant, as being the longest serving employee in Malaysia. Captain Ho had worked some 50 years with the historic icon before retiring at the age of 91-years-old due to age and health reasons.

“The Coliseum brand is destined to grow beyond this humble restaurant and all of us are most excited with all these recent improvements and opportunities. Soon to open would be the Petaling Jaya restaurant located at Plaza@Jaya 33, early next month.

“We look forward to great times ahead and for sure, this historic icon can withstand the competition of various international brands and some local ones too, and possibly become a strong Malaysian brand in international circles,” concluded Mr Wang.



The Coliseum theatre is next door,


Some info from Wikiepedia

The Coliseum Theatre is a movie theater in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. One of the oldest movie theaters in the country, it was built in 1920 by the Chua family led by Chua Cheng Bok. The Art Deco-style building is capable of seating 900 people and also features a balcony. The famed Coliseum Café and Hotel - a favourite haunt of William Somerset Maugham during his stay in British Malaya - are located behind the theatre, just down the road. The oldest and continuously running cinema hall in the country (save for a break during the Japanese occupation during World War II), most of the movies premiering in the building are Indian movies. After Chua Cheng Bok's demise in 1940, his estate continued to administer the Coliseum until its acquisition in 1973 by a company owned by his nephew Dr Chua Boon Teck and his wife Mdm Khor Joo Saik.

In 2006, the Malaysian government proposed to close the theater and turn it into a cultural heritage center, but relented when there was a public outcry to the scheme. The government later decided not to close the cinema. Instead, they planned to build a car park nearby.[1]

In that year, Dr Chua Seong Siew, eldest son of the late owners Dr Chua Boon Teck and Mdm Khor Joo Saik, successfully appealed for the cinema theater to remain open, and so it continues to operate to this day.

Enjoy & check the place out if you're ever in KL.
 
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DavidFL

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The Bukit Bintang pub strip

First stop was Temptations











An el cheapo hotel in the centre of the strip probably worth giving a go









We - Joko & I - ended up settling on Never Mine for our nightly rendezvous



Good friendly Filipino - English speaking - staff





Live Band





All good fun & only a couple of hrs away on the plane with Air Asia from Chiang Mai....worth investigating for a change of pace guys.

Want to know a bit more

Jalan Tong Shin in Bukit Bintang was the focal point of the Malaysia's deadly May 13 race riots. Back in the late 1980s, corporate magnate Tan Sri Yeoh Tiong Lay proposed a rejuvenated retail cluster in Kuala Lumpur. He started retail developments in this area through a conglomerate YTL Corporation and branded the area as Bintang Walk. The district has since undergone a transformation to become one of the hippest destinations in the city, though the decentralisation of malls in Kuala Lumpur of late has seen more sophisticated malls sprouting around the fringes of the city proper at an unprecedented rate.

Source: Wikipedia.
http://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Kuala_Lumpur/Golden_Triangle

http://content.time.com/time/travel/cityguide/article/0,31489,1994946_1994941_1994886,00.html

http://www.bukitbintang.com/v4/

http://www.kuala-lumpur.ws/klareas/bukitbintang_nightlife.htm

http://www.kl-hotels.com/hotels/bukit-bintang.htm