Coliseum Cafe

Hasn't changed one single bit

The Coliseum Cafe & Hotel in Kuala Lumpur is a legend. W.Somerset Maugham stayed there, it featured in Anthony Burgess' The Malayan Trilogy... and it hasn't changed one single bit since then, and that includes the staff. The windows are stained with years of grease from the wood-chip cooked steaks that sizzle as they are carried about by the geriatric waiters causing coughing fits from everyone as they scurry past. The leather chairs in the bar are battered and old... and there's a newspaper clipping on the wall that must have been there since the bartender was a lad, 'What to do if your servant gets malaria'. Nowhere else like it, and when I am in Kuala Lumpur, there's nowhere I'd rather be than in the bar at the venerable Coliseum Cafe holding court with my friends while supping an ice cold Tiger Beer.

Paul, Indonesia - 08 December 2004