Kuala Lumpur’s 1928 Central Market is currently undergoing a major revamp at the estimated cost of nearly US$10mil.

The latest F&B outlet to have just opened (Feb 8) at the cultural bazaar is the Precious Old China restaurant & bar. It is a grander version of the quaint Old China Café (11 Jalan Balai Polis, 50000 KL) which is in the heart of Chinatown. The owners are the same people.

“Precious” is located on the mezzanine floor of Central Market. With a seating capacity of 100 diners, the 232sq m (2,500sq ft) premises is also an antique & art gallery guarded by two century-old stone lions from southern China. Hence, everything inside the exotic premises – including furniture and fittings – are either vintage or an antique.

However, the paintings on display are a curious mix of modern art – mainly works of Malaysian & China artists – and old paintings from the Southeast Asian region.

As one steps through the 2.6m (8 ½ ft) high Art Deco chengal (Malaysian hardwood) doors, one is immediately drawn to the equally massive chengal bar counter which spans 4.9m (16ft) long and is 107cm (42inch) high. The bar counter which was sourced from a Colonial-era club, is matched with three equally huge teak bar cabinets that stretch 4.9m long altogether and 2.6m high.

Facing the bar counter are three Chinese blackwood round-tables with matching chairs and stools meant for intimate dining for couples or the lone traveller to write his post-cards. For weary shoppers, there are also 1940s colonial teak chairs for lounging or to have a quiet drink while waiting for a dinner table to be available.

The bar area is only the first of three sections of the restaurant.

A pair of 1800s Shanxi medicine cabinets decorated with 19th Century blue & white porcelain separate the bar from the second dining area. This space resembles the private dining booths of the 1950s as high-back, teakwood seats from Ipoh – a tin-mining centre of Malaysia – offer a fun place to have your meals. Hanging on the main wall are expressionist paintings of Chinese opera figures which lend a more contemporary ambience with its strong colours. Flanking the kitchen door, is a pair of antique Dutch mirrors decorated with a long-forgotten emblem sourced from a mansion in Malacca.

The best is to come, as the visitor steps through a set of eight decorative panels inlaid with stained-glass. The Malaccan panels feature a host of auspicious motifs and symbols including bats and Meiping vases that denote luck and good wishes.

The main dining hall spans 1,000sq ft. There are many interesting as well as funtional features such as the folding glass-panels from Guangzhou. The panels screen off the private dining room, reminiscent of the grand restaurants of China in the pre-1930s. Inside, the room is decorated with 19th Century door panels that once adorned wealthy homes in China. The panels are painted with auspicious motifs of Fo dogs and baskets of flowers as well as scholarly objects. The 4.2m (14ft) long chengal dining table comes from Penang. Matched with elaborately carved blackwood chairs, the room looks even more regal with a vintage oil painting of Dr. Sun Yat Sen hanging above the host’s seat.

The rest of the dining hall is chock full of precious objects including a pair of 7ft long namwood altar tables with matching Eight-Immortal offering tables. Sitting on top the altars are a pair of Manju-Puyin deities from Vietnam. One figure is depicted riding an elephant and another on a tiger. These figures are similar to another pair displayed at the Asian Civilisations Museum at Empress Place in Singapore.

Of particular note is the collection of Victorian-style chairs which were formerly props used the movie Anna & The King. After filming, the props laid forgotten in a warehouse in Malacca until they were re-surrected as quaint dining chairs here.

Also salvaged are a motley collection of old Chinese signboards. One board with flaking gold-leaf characters reads “Guanyin Tang” which means Guanyin Temple.

Another display cabinet features over-sized antique pewterware including incense burners, candlestands and tea caddies – reminding visitors that Kuala Lumpur owes its existence and prosperity to tin.

There are many more objects here which were once used with reverance by the Chinese communities in various countries but they are no longer held with such esteem as lifestyle changes. Thus, “Precious” refers to and reminds visitors the precious heritage that are slowly but surely – disappearing.