Visitors to Kuala Lumpur will invariably come across one of the Old China Group of heritage restaurants that started in the old quarter of Malacca some 30 years ago. Today, the group runs three popular café-restaurants all located within the Chinatown enclave in KL.
Old China Café operates from a shophouse at Jalan Panggong that dates from the 1920s, while Precious Old China Restaurant & Bar is located in Central Market KL (established in 1888 and rebuilt in 1937) and Warong Old China is sited in its own 100-year-old building at Jalan Tun H.S. Lee.
All three restaurants are distinct in décor but they all share the same design DNA and menu concept utilising antiques, art and Southeast Asian heritage food centred on Peranakan cuisine.
According to company director K.V. Wong, who previously worked in the media industry for over 30 years, it was his love for Chinese furniture, art, ceramics and pre-war architecture that inspired him to start the first Old China Café in Melaka in 1995. He had acquired a shophouse that dates from the 1700s back then and decided to operate an antique shop.
Nyonya Cook
Says Wong: “But knowing that people don’t buy antiques every day, I decided to open an antique shop with a restaurant. And I was lucky to have hired a Nyonya cook who was in her 60s.
“So, she asked me, ‘What do we sell?’ and I said all my favourite dishes which included Lemak Nenas Prawn (pineapple and prawn curry), Pong Teh (a stew of meat and potato cooked with fermented soybean) and Buah Keluak (meat cooked in tamarind gravy flavoured with Indonesian jungle nut), Asam Fish (with tamarind gravy) and of course, Nyonya Laksa. But one thing that I must have with my meals, was soup like Itik Tim (duck and salted vegetable) and in particular, ginseng soup. Ginseng was to nourish me on my weekly drive from KL to Malacca and back. At that time, restaurants that specialise in Straits Chinese or Peranakan food do not sell ginseng soup.
“Then in September 1997, the haze hit Malaysia and the Melaka tourism industry was badly affected. And about the same time, I was offered another Chinese shophouse to rent in the heart of Chinatown in KL.”
Wong jumped at the chance because he was born in KL and grew up visiting all the popular restaurants like Yook Woo Hing and Kum Lun Tai in Chinatown. And even watched movies at the Rex Cinema and even Madras Theatre as a child. They are all gone now.
The second Old China Café was set up in 1997 in KL and it was an immediate and enduring success till today. The original outlet in Melaka was subsequently closed and the property sold. The furniture and fittings were transferred to the KL outlet.
Despite the limited space that can only accommodate some 60 people maximum, Old China Café KL staged live performances of Chinese golden oldies featuring singers like Yudi and even the distinguished Dama Chinese Orchestra. These shows had tremendous support from the Chinese community especially the media.
Central Market
Some years later, Wong and his business partner Leonard Tee were offered 230sq m of space at Central Market KL. And around 2004, they opened Precious Old China Restaurant & Bar to cater to the growing demands from travel and tour agencies. And by the mid-2000s, many media companies like TV stations, newspapers and travel publications increasingly featured the two restaurants.
At Precious Old China, which can accommodate some 100 diners, the décor features larger antique furniture including two matching sets of Melakan altar tables and a 3.6-metre long hardwood bar counter plus Peking glass panels that once graced an ancestral home. There are many Chinese antiques here, including signboards as well as wooden carvings of celestial figures, embroidery, pewter objects and lattice panels.
Due to the heritage appeal of the venue and convenient parking space at Central Market especially at night, customers frequently book the restaurant for fun corporate dinners and even wedding or birthday parties.
But like all businesses, the two restaurants had gone through many challenges to keep operating. And the Covid-19 pandemic nearly ended the business. But the respective landlords offered a helping hand to overcome the three lockdowns.
Says Wong: “Precious Old China almost went under. But our landlord encouraged us and offered timely assistance to keep us going. And touch wood, we persevered.”
Transformation
Central Market KL itself is currently undergoing transformation to re-energise the whole market place with substantial changes. The management company will soon relaunch and rebrand Central Market with their new Pasar Besar concept with more F&B and shopping options. And Wong couldn’t be happier. “The impending synergy will be tremendous,” he adds.
And speaking of transformation, the Old China restaurant group opened its third and latest outlet – Warong Old China – about 100 metres away from Central Market, at Jalan Tun H.S. Lee. The street is one of the oldest in KL and was formerly known as High Street during the British Colonial era then redesignated as Jalan Bandar and finally renamed after Colonel Tun Sir Henry Lee Hau Sik (1900-1988) who was a prominent Chinese businessman and distinguished politician in Malaysia.
This outlet is the most ambitious to date. Spanning 400 square metres over two floors, the property is yet another early 20th century shophouse. The vision of the restaurant directors is to ensure the continuous growth of the company despite ever rising rental rates.
Explains Wong: “We were in talks with investors to acquire this shophouse in 2019 and concluded the deal at the end of 2019 despite the growing signs of a weakening economy around the world. But we were already too far into the deal to pull back. Gritting out teeth we took over the building in January 2019 and by March 18, the 1st Movement Control Order was declared. It was a sinking feeling but we consoled ourselves that everyone else were also affected.
“We went ahead with our plans. We had already acquired most of our antique furniture and fittings especially, the huge and intricate room divider that came from Penang. We renovated in between the breaks of the MCOs. And we even got our City Hall licence to operate before MCO3 was finally lifted.
“Thankfully, by October 2021, Warong Old China was opened. This time, the menu concept was more Southeast Asian with delicacies from Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam with an Old China twist. But always anchored with our most popular items . And because we opened in the aftermath of the global pandemic and there were hardly any tourists, we priced our food that the average Malaysian wage-earner can afford. Our set lunch meals only cost RM16.90 and comes with a drink. And we also offer food from the Colonial period that kids can eat.”
Warong Old China has also attracted art buffs as Wong was formerly the general manager of an art gallery and auction house operated by a media group. In the multi-purpose lounge upstairs, major works by leading Malaysian artists like Jalaini Abu Hassan, Ahmad Zakii Anwar, Chong Siew Ying, Anum, Umibaizurah and Marvin Chan as well as Indonesian artists adorn the place. It has become a gathering place for collectors and artists.
Think City
Lately, Warong Old China was selected as one of the dozen-odd recipients of a grant awarded by Think City under their Creative KL Grants Programme aimed at revitalising the historical city centre within downtown KL. The restaurant will soon undergo further restoration to enhance specific heritage elements.
“Kuala Lumpur has one of the most appealing and accessible Chinatowns in the world. And with the completion of the nearby Merdeka 118 tower – second tallest skyscraper in the world at 679 metres after Burf Khalifa at 828 metres – the sky is the limit for business opportunities.”
Wong still have lots of ideas to expand the business but finding the right venture partner is crucial to make it work. “Over the years, we have been approached by various parties to open here and there but experience has taught us to be mindful of the pitfalls,” points out Wong, who once had a joint-ventured restaurant in Penang operated by partners, which failed.
“There are many businesses that use Chinese or Asian decorative elements in their projects but for us, it is our way of life. As collectors we tend to use authentic antiques in our F&B outlets which don’t really make business sense given the cost of such items. But they lend each restaurant a unique ambience. And the joke was that if the venture fails, we can always sell them and get back our money.
“And our menu represents our favourite food, be it Chinese, Malay, Thai, Peranakan or Padang. Our restaurant projects are a tribute to all those community leaders who came before us and who established Chinatowns and contributed to nation-building with commerce and services in harmony with other races.”
- The Old China restaurant group can be contacted at warongoldchina@gmail.com or visit their website at www.oldchina.com.my
