For nostalgic food in a nostalgic setting, it can be hard to beat Colbar. The old school restaurant is serves up Hainanese-Western style dishes and ice cold beers that attract a loyal clientele that keeps coming back over and over again.
As you approach Colbar, the charm of the restaurant is immediately obvious. It is like a place that has been locked in time, a time capsule in the midst of the modern buildings of Mediaopolis around it.
The Charm of Colbar
There are few places where you can still find authentic wooden buildings that have survived through the decades to the present day.
The Colbar building is one survivor.
Originally, it was a the canteen that opened by a Mr Lim in 1953 for the army base that once existed from Alexandra Road to Clementi Road. It was also the unofficial mess for the old British Army barracks. Its original location was at Jalan Hang Jebat.
Colbar is short for “colonial bar”.
In 2003, it existence was threatened by the construction of a semi-expressway to connect Queensway and the Ayer Rajah Expressway. Colbar had to make way for this infrastructure project.
Thankfully, JTC, the master developer of one-north started an effort together with LTA, SLA and URA to preserve Colbar and the wooden building was relocated to its current location and preserved.
Step inside Colbar and you will still find precious memories in the form of old pictures hanging on the wall. It is an authentic form of old school charm that you just can’t replicate.
While there is an indoor seating area, most people will congregate at the outdoor shelter area with the view of the greenery.
We made our way over to the counter inside, where a sign board of Jalan Hang Jebat still hangs, to place our order. Rather impressively, orders are still written down by hand and the amounts tallied up mentally before being relayed to the kitchen.
Here is an important point to note: payment is by CASH only.
Colbar Menu
The Colbar menu features old school western style items.
There are entrees like T-Bone Steak Chips & Peas, Lamb Chops Chips & Peas, sandwiches, and the obligatory fish and chips. It also doesn’t get much of English than having a Beans on Toast as part of the menu.
Other menu items at Colbar include local fare like Beef Ho Fun, Fried Rice and Chicken Curry Rice. You can also get Hainanese Pork Chop too.
We don’t think that the prices are cheap. Prices for local dishes start from $7.50 for Fried Rice. Sausage Eggs & Chips will cost you $16 and the steaks start from $28. However, we can understand why the prices are priced this way, given that it is not in an especially high traffic location.
Colbar Food
One of the harder-to-find menu items at Colbar is Chicken Merry Land ($18), a dish that we are more used to referring as Chicken Maryland. You can hardly find this item anywhere anymore. The other place that comes to mind that serves it is The Ship at Shaw House.
Of course we had to order the Chicken Merry Land and the plate comes filled with the chicken cutlet along with battered banana fritter, chips and topped off with a fried sunny side up egg.
The chips at Colbar are one of our favourite reasons of eating there. Instead of processed fries that come out of bag, the Colbar chips look hand cut and made out of real potato.
We also ordered the Sausages Eggs & Chips ($16). This plate came with a pair of sausages, a pair of sunny side up eggs and side of chips. It is presented in a very straightforward manner.
Another dish that we ordered was the Hainanese Pork Chop. This featured nicely crumbed pork slices in a rich tomato sauce with pea, cuts of tomato and the chunky chips.
The fish and chips comes with two pieces of fish, which is on the lean side but nicely battered.
Beers & Ciders
Another thing that Colbar is known for is its selection of beers. There are less commonly found beers and ciders available inside the beer refrigerator.
On this occasion that we visited, we opted for a refreshing cider to go along with the food instead.
With the open air setting and surrounding rustic greenery, it is no surprise that many will pick up a beer (or two) and simply shoot the breeze.
Overall Thoughts about Colbar
Colbar is an anomaly and we are glad that it continues to exist at its quiet corner of Portsdown Road.
If you are visiting Colbar, don’t expect the food to match with the latest contemporary restaurant. It unashamedly does the food its own way, which is probably the way that it has been doing so for decades and decades.
The service at Colbar is honest and friendly, and there is almost a kampung spirit in the atmosphere.
Colbar has a charm that will take you back in time and we hope that it never changes.
Just one final reminder if you are planning a visit, it is cash only at Colbar; be sure to bring along sufficient cash to make payment!
Where: 9A Whitchurch Rd, Singapore 138839
While you are at Colbar, you can also take a walk around the Wessex Estate. What may be surprising to some people is that the Wessex Estate is also not too far from the Rail Corridor and the Commonwealth Estate.
