Baba Nyona cuisine at the Precious Old China Cafe in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Located in the Central Market in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Precious Old China cafe serves Baba-Nyonya cuisine in a gorgeous location decorated with taste in the style of 1920s Malaysia with colonial and Asian antiques and furnishings. With its old photographs, retro clocks, calligraphy paintings, and cemented floors and visible pipes, the cafe is a blast from the past, as it seeks to honour Malaysian culinary and cultural wealth. It should be noted that Baba Nyonya, also known as Nyonya, emerged when Chinese settlers emigrating to Malaysia in the 15th and 17th centuries wed Malay women in the Straits Settlements, and combined their Chinese cuisines and savoir-faire with Malay spices and tradition. It's absolutely fabulous.

Sadly, only a handful of restaurants in Singapore and Malaysia serve Nyonya cuisine, and the Precious Old China Cafe is the best in KL, with its sister branch in Chinatown, owned by the same proprietor. It has very much become since its opening a well respected and firmly established institution in KL, recommended by most guides, yet it continues to offer delicious dishes and desserts.

I first went to the Precious Old China Cafe with my family on my 14th birthday, back in 2007, and it has stayed with me ever since. I remember in particular having a blue coloured coconut infused rice, which had been, as the waiter carefully explained, soaked in a water infused with the dyes of a blue flower called the butterfly pea flower, and cooked in coconut milk to give it its special fragrance. I remember having a fantastic lemongrass chicken and a delicious desert called Bubur Cha-Cha, which combines coconut milk with sweet potato and black eyed peas and sweetened, served in a bowl with a Chinese soup spoon.

Many times, I have asked my Malaysian friends if the Old China Precious is still up and running, and many times they have assured me that it remains as delicious as ever; I hope to go back one day!