Precious Old China

Precious Old China restaurant & bar offers a quaint dining experience amidst Malaysian antiques and vintage Colonial furniture.

Sited on Central Market’s mezzanine level, Precious restaurant spans 232sq m (2,500sq ft) and can seat up to 100 diners.

Stepping through the 2.6m (8½ ft) high Art Deco chengal hardwood doors, one is drawn to the 4.9m (16ft) long and 107cm (42inch) high chengal bar counter. This counter is matched with three teak cabinets that spans a total of 4.9m in length and rises 2.6m high.

There are three sections for dining. The first section is opposite the bar counter where old marble-top tables and bentwood chairs beckon. The second dining area is arranged with teakwood, high-back seats of the 1950s that resemble private dining booths.

In the third section, which is the main dining hall of 1,000sq ft, you have to step through a portal of decorative panels inlaid with stained-glass. These Malaccan panels feature auspicious Chinese motifs.

Other decorative features include the folding glass-panels of a private dining room that resemble a jewel box. Sourced from Guangzhou, the panels were salvaged from a grand house built in the 1930s. Inside, the dining room wall is lined with 19th Century Chinese lattice panels painted with more auspicious motifs.

Over here, the 4.2m (14ft) long chengal dining table comes from Penang. Hung above a corner of the room, is a 1925 portrait painting of Dr. Sun Yat Sen, Father of Modern China.

It is apparent that “Precious” refers to the cultural heritage of the Chinese community and a way of life that is slowly but surely – disappearing.