Coliseum Cafe

Last Saturday week (18 Aug 2007), I went with my son to lunch at the Coliseum Cafe & Hotel in Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman, Kuala Lumpur. It had been exactly 33 years and 14 days since I last stepped foot into the Coliseum Cafe. Actually, this would only be my second time; the first and last time that I had been inside this very old - in fact, you can call it historical - building was on 4 Aug 1974.

Want to know how I could remember this date? Click here.



Anyway, time seemed to have slowed down once you are through the doors. Not stopped but slowed down ... considerably. Little had noticeably changed if my memory served me right. The old tables were there, the old but clean starchy table cloths covering the tables, the old ceiling fans turning lazily, the old air-conditioners humming away, the old coat hangers adorning the walls, the old gents and ladies' cloakrooms with their swing doors, the sturdy old staircase, the old bar that's still the centre of attraction (other than the food), the old sofa sets...

Everything from that old, wistful period still seemed to be around except perhaps the old staff. Surely, the staff I saw in the cafe couldn't have lasted the last 30 years or so...or could they?? If these were newer staff, they still looked old enough and they were in the same, old starchy white uniforms. And the menu. Well, I'm sure that it was not as old as the staff. It actually looked relatively new.





When we stepped in the cafe, I expected that maybe the service had changed and we would be shown to an empty table. But no, we were simply asked to just go sit down anywhere. Ahh...perhaps we were unfamiliar faces. I let that pass. I was determined to enjoy myself and relive the past. So I chose to sit strategically at the back so I could watch people going by.

I did enjoy myself watching the food being served and the types of people that came into the cafe. The food we ordered was also interesting. I had some fish and prawns with some cheesy mashed potatoes and drowned in some non-descript sauce while my son had a 4-in-1 comprising chicken, ham and what-not rolled tight and deep fried. Okay-lah was all he would comment about his choice of food.


I had an opportunity to speak briefly with the lady proprietress before I left the cafe and she told me that the hotel now catered mainly to backpackers. During the colonial and pre-independent days, prominent guests such as the Tunku used to room here but that's completely from another era. Even as we talked, one came in and climbed the stairs. I wanted to go up too to see how the place looked like but was distracted by something else. Maybe I should have. I really wouldn't know when I'll be able to revisit the Coliseum Cafe again...