EVEN as restaurants here open and close with clockwork regularity when trends and tastes change, some eateries stick around for decades.

A few - we counted about four - have even been around for close to a century. But some, like Zam Zam (established in 1908) in North Bridge Road and Spring Court (1929) in Upper Cross Street, have become so modernised that they have lost much of their old flavour.

Still, there are some stalwarts which are supported by loyal generations of diners. These old-time restaurants survive the competition from newer, hipper places by offering a combination of good old-fashioned food and nostalgic charm.

FAMOUS ISLAMIC RESTAURANT
795/796 North Bridge Road, Tel: 6298-7563
Open: 10am to 10pm, closed between 1 and 2pm on Fridays; open for Chinese New Year
Rating: ***

Food: Opened in 1921, Famous Islamic was indeed very famous for its nasi beryani well into the 1980s, even though it no longer captures much attention these days.

In fact, it credits itself for introducing the Turkish-Indian dish to Singapore. Founder M. Abdul Rahiman had worked as the cook to a wealthy Arab family here before setting up the eatery. The place is now run by his grandchildren.

The nasi beryani ($4.80) is still pretty good. Both the meat (I tried both chicken and mutton) and the rice are moist and soft. The spices are just enough to flavour the dish without being overpowering.

You can also order cooked dishes that are laid out behind a weathered glass counter. The choice is not very large, but the Mysore chicken ($6) and prawn sambal ($3) I tried are good.

Ambience: The place looks like it has not been renovated for decades, and the dismal light from antique wall lamps makes it look even gloomier.

A few antique typewriters in a dark corner add to the melancholy, as do old sarong wall hangings that have half fallen off.

When I was there, the air-conditioning was not on. When I asked for it to be switched on (we were the only customers there), the waiter pointed me to a table under a wall fan instead. But even with the windows open, it was still really stuffy.

Service: Ordering is easy enough. You go to the counter and point out the dishes you want. Then, you just have to decide what beryani rice you want: chicken, mutton, fish or plain. - WAY

BENG THIN HOON KEE
05-02 OCBC Centre, Chulia Street, Tel: 6533-2818

Open: 11.30am to 3pm, 6 to 10pm
Rating: *** 1/2

Food: With Hokkien restaurants so rare in Singapore, and none of them as old as Beng Thin Hoon Kee, you find dishes here that you don't see on menus elsewhere.

For example, it offers an interesting oyster with meat soup ($12). This looks like an oyster omelette drowned in hot broth and has a fulsome and homely taste. The "omelette" pieces are actually pork covered in fried batter.

Other dishes are more common, such as the Fujian-style prawn balls or ngoh hiang ($12) and fried Hokkien noodles ($7). The noodles are just so-so but the ngoh hiang is nice and crunchy, with big pieces of cut-up prawns and water chestnut wrapped in a crispy beancurd skin.

The restaurant was opened by Mr Lim Yew Hoon, who is in his 80s, in 1949 in Hokkien Street. It moved to its current premises in OCBC Centre in 1979, taking over another eatery which had closed down. It is now run by Mr Lim's children.

Ambience: The odd thing about this restaurant is that after you get out of the lift on the fifth floor, you have to walk through an open-air carpark to get to it.

Despite having occupied the premises for 28 years, the place doesn't look its age because it is given regular touch-ups. So although the last major renovation was 10 years ago, it doesn't look too run-down.

The look, however, remains simple and old-fashioned, with the dining room kept spare and stark with white fluorescent lighting.

Service: The elderly waitress who took my order seemed to have difficulty reading what I pointed to in the menu, and didn't catch the English names of some dishes either. I resorted to describing them instead. But once she understood me, her face lit up and she muttered something in Hokkien, which I don't speak. But what mattered was that she got every order right. - WAY

SHASHLIK RESTAURANT
545 Orchard Road, 06-19 Far East Shopping Centre, Tel: 6732-6401
Open: Noon to 2.15pm (last order), 6.30 to 9.15pm
Rating: ****
Food:The menu at this Hainanese-owned Russian restaurant never changes. This might not make sense to a modern restaurateur but it may well be the reason Shashlik continues to pack them in after more than 20 years.

After all, its fans would be most upset if they do not find their favourite borshch soup ($7) and beef shashlik ($24) there.

As for me, I simply must have the cherry jubilee ($8) for dessert whenever I eat there.

You may be able to find better beef or borshch elsewhere, but where else can you get cherries cooked so deliciously in butter and sugar, and accompanied by such a luscious dollop of vanilla ice cream?

Come to think of it, where else can you find the dessert these days?

Ambience: With the dark interior, the heavy wooden furniture and the old-fashioned bar counter, you feel like you've gone back 20 years the moment you step through the wooden door.

In a way, you have. The restaurant hasn't changed very much since it was opened in 1986 by nine former employees of Troika restaurant at DBS Building in Shenton Way, which closed down the year before.

Even though renovations are carried out once in a while, they are always so subtle that you may not even notice the changes. For example, you may not be able to tell that a new carpet was laid just last week.

Service: Despite the elderly staff - the oldest co-owner, Woon Tai Heng, 77, still prepares the desserts served tableside - service is efficient and no-nonsense.

Perhaps because of their advanced age, the staff roll out the dishes on trolleys, and empty plates are returned to the kitchen the same way. The same trolleys come in very handy for desserts that are prepared at the table. - WAY

GUAN HIN RESTAURANT
Block 34 Whampoa West 01-01, Tel: 6298-3179
Open: 11.30am to 3pm, 6 to 10pm
Rating: ****
Food: This Teochew restaurant was opened more than 60 years by the late father of current owner Koh Hoon Liang, 50. The old restaurant was in Wayang Street, which doesn't exist anymore but was near Merchant Road. Guan Hin moved to its current premises in 1972.

The menu has not changed much since, says Mr Koh, who started working at the restaurant when he was 11. Specialities such as braised goose, suckling pig, steamed pomfret and yam paste remain the highlights here.

The cooking is kept consistent with the two main chefs, who are in their 50s and 60s, having worked there for more than 30 and 40 years respectively.

What I like are the light flavours. The steamed pomfret ($26 for a fish big enough for two people), for example, comes in a small pool of clear soup with tomatoes, Chinese mushroom, spring onion and sour plum. There are no strips of fatty pork which many other Teochew eateries use, making this a healthier option.

I like the fried horfun ($8), too, though that is more of a Cantonese dish. The rice noodles are very smooth and the gravy is delicious.

And for dessert, you can't go wrong with the yam paste, which is not too sweet.

Ambience: The look is typical of an old-fashioned HDB restaurant, with a glass front and the walls covered with Chinese paintings. Two square pillars in the middle of the dining room are covered in mirrors.

Next to the doors is the cashier, which is manned by Mr Koh's wife, Nancy.

She says the restaurant has undergone a number of changes through the decades. For one, it has gone from no air-conditioning in the 1970s to its current cool comfort. The last major renovation, however, was in 1990 but some touch-ups will be done after the Chinese New Year, she promises.

But it cannot look too trendy; that will frighten away its regular customers who are mainly old-timers and their families, adds Mr Koh.

Service: It's warm, neighbourly service from the team of waitresses, led by an elderly auntie who is the friendliest of them all. There is a sense of camaraderie among them that must have come from years of working together. - WAY

THE SHIP
No. 15 Tanjong Katong Road, Tel: 6744-8111
Open: 7am to 11pm
Rating: ***

Food: More than 40 years after it opened, this Hainanese steakhouse still offers one of the most extensive Western menus in town.

The menu is divided into sections for starters, seafood, US beef steaks, New Zealand beef steaks, side orders and dessert.

The garlic bread is done the old-fashioned Hainanese way - using square sliced bread - while the soft rolls are baked in dainty muffin cups.

Its signature dish, chicken a la ship ($14.90), is perfectly executed - with amazingly tender chicken blanketed under a creamy, cheesy sauce.

But the US ribeye steak ($36.90), while cooked to an impeccable medium-well, is too salty.

Ambience: As its name suggests, the restaurant is decked out like the interior of a ship.

It was opened by three seamen who wanted to encapsulate their nautical experience in a Western eatery. So there is a cobblestone floor, wood-panelled walls, life buoys on the walls and fishing nets overhead.

It is now run by Mr Michael Wang, 55, the son of one of the three men. The look may be a little tacky by today's standards. But if you want to experience a whiff of the past, this place is it.

Service: The service is quick, polite and you get none of the pretension that you sometimes find in modern Western restaurants. One waitress even spoke Hokkien to the customers at the next table. - TPL

LION CITY COFFEEHOUSE
Shaw Centre 04-34/36, Tel: 6235-2235
Open: 11am to 10pm daily.
Rating: ** 1/2

Food: When I was there for lunch last Sunday, the dining room was laid out for a weekend Nonya buffet ($13.30 per person). But having heard about the cafe's claypot rice, I decided to give the buffet a miss - tempting though some of the dishes, like mee siam, chap chye and popiah, looked.

Buffet or a la carte, the waitress asked. When I said the latter, she pointed me to a smaller adjoining cafe.

There are eight types of claypot rice (starting from $8.50), with the rest of the menu made up of local dishes such as chicken rice and laksa and Western coffee house fare like onion soup.

I tried the super mixed claypot rice ($10.50), which comes with the works. That means everything that you can find in the other versions: chicken, Chinese sausage, mushroom, roast pork, pork rib, mui chye (a preserved vegetable).

It was tasty enough, albeit a little salty. The rice comes with a sauce on the side, but add that only if you like your food really salty.

My biggest grouse, however, is that the rice was not cooked in the claypot. Instead, ready-cooked rice was put into the pot with the toppings (also pre-cooked) and heated just before serving. Although the hotel's general manager explained that it was a different style of cooking, I must say I prefer the traditional way, which gives the rice a nice fragrance.

Ambience: The cafe is an intimate place with a mix of dining tables and chairs, and coffee tables with sofas. It looks more like a bar that has been converted into a semi-cafe.

There is an attempt at a rustic feel with faux windows lining one of the walls.

But if you are there on a weekday, you'll be seated in the coffee house itself, which is bigger and has big picture windows for people-watching. It opened in 1981 but both the coffee house and the cafe have more of a 1970s feel.

Service: There was only one waitress serving three tables during my lunch, which was okay. But it meant that when she stepped out of the room or was busy with another table, you couldn't get any service. But when I did get her attention, she was efficient enough. - WAY

LAI WAH RESTAURANT
Block 44 Bendemeer Road 01-1436, Tel: 6294-9922
Open: 11am to 2.30pm, 6 to 10pm daily.
Rating: ****

Food: Opened in 1963, this excellent little eatery was co-owned by one of the four 'Heavenly Kings' in the Singapore food scene in the 1970s, the late Tham Yu Kai.

Today, it is managed by Mr Wong Kah Onn, 64, the son of another partner.

Its signature dishes are steamed chicken with kailan and ham ($26) and Mandarin stew chicken ($17). But even its ordinary dishes are done perfectly.

The honey pork ribs ($10) are fried to a wonderful crispiness and drenched in an addictive sauce. Its homemade beancurd with crabmeat sauce ($8) tastes delicately smooth.

Because they take elaborate preparation time, the steamed chicken and homemade beancurd dishes will be available only after Chinese New Year, from March 5.

Ambience: Step through the doors and you can almost hear Teresa Teng singing in your head.

The floor is mosaic-tiled and the chairs look like they have not been changed for decades. The Chinese character for double happiness is pasted on one wall, and other walls boast photos of the eatery's signature dishes.

Service: Friendly and efficient. The head waitress was quick to recommend dishes, while the cheery waiter from China even dropped by to make small talk. - TPL

BERKELY RESTAURANT
Sloane Court Hotel, 17 Balmoral Road, Tel: 6235-3311
Open: 7am to 10pm, closed on Mondays.
Rating: ***

Food: Opened in 1960, it is one of the oldest Hainanese-run Western steakhouses, and it still serves favourites like oxtail soup, chicken a la king and fish and chips.

There are nice touches that remind you of the pride that goes into the food. These include the warm rolls served inside bamboo baskets, and the wonderfully crisp iceberg lettuce lining the prawn cocktail ($7).

A starter of asparagus soup ($4) was light and creamy, and the sizzling pepper tenderloin ($22.50) main course was tender, with a thick, robust sauce.

One gripe, though, about the pork cutlet ($13.80). While it was generously portioned, with two big slabs of pork and loads of potato wedges, the batter coating came off too easily.

Ambience: In keeping with the hotel's Tudor-style English cottage theme, the restaurant has old muskets, crossbows and swords hanging on the walls.

The founder, Mr Chiam Heng Luan, now in his 90s, had collected them on his travels to Britain, Australia and Spain as a seaman in the 1950s.

A few of his 10 children are now running the place, and they have kept it as it has always been ' a little slice of England in sunny Singapore.

Service: Caring and professional. There were non-stop refills of water and the waiter asked how my meal was. Most modish restaurants these days don't bother to do so. - TPL

COLBAR
9A Whitchurch Road, Wessex Estate, Tel: 6779-4859
Open: 11am to 10pm, closed on Mondays.
Rating: ** 1/2

Food: This famous ramshackle hut serves all the Hainanese favourites - from Chinese stir-fries to Western steaks and sausage-and-egg breakfasts.

Founded in 1953 by the Lim family, it was first located off Portsdown Road and served mainly British military officers who lived in the area. But over the decades, it has become popular with locals and expatriates alike.

The food has remained the same all these years. The pork chop with chips and mushrooms ($9) is tender, with a lovely pepper sauce. The chips are thick, chunky and definitely hand-cut.

The sweet and sour pork ($11) could have been crispier, but the sauce is done just right. The egg foo yong ($8), though, is excellent - thick, moist and hearty with lots of prawn, ham and vegetable bits thrown into the omelette.

Even the Marmite sandwich ($2.50), which is nothing more than two slices of bread with Marmite spread and butter, tastes great.

Ambience: It is perhaps the only restaurant in Singapore that looks exactly the same even though it moved to a new location.

Customers were so fond of the eatery's tatty charms that a protest erupted in 2003 when the authorities announced plans to demolish it to make way for a new road. There was even an online petition that garnered 88 signatures.

The authorities relented somewhat. The hut was transplanted, wooden plank by wooden plank, to a spot just five minutes' walk away, in Whitchurch Road.

Now, customers can continue to dine in this nostalgic cafe, with its iron-mesh windows, weathered half-length cotton curtains and wooden panels for walls.

They eat off wobbly mahjong tables while peering at old photographs framed on the walls.

Colbar stands for 'colonial bar'. And, indeed, it is the kind of place that would bring a tear to the eyes of your grandparents. Service: No-fuss but friendly and efficient enough. Order over the counter and they'll send the dishes to your table. - TPL

RED STAR RESTAURANT
Block 54 Chin Swee Road 07-23, Tel: 6532-5266
Open: 7am to 3pm, 6 to 10.30pm daily.
Rating: **

Food: Opened in 1974 by the four "Heavenly Kings" of Singapore's restaurant scene, it is famous for dimsum, available every day from 7am to 3pm.

The two surviving masterchefs, Hooi Kok Wai, 68, and Sin Leong, 80, still go to the restaurant to supervise the menu and operations.

As in the old days, the dimsum is wheeled around on trolleys, but the quality is less appealing.

Perhaps due to the huge size of the restaurant, some items are cold by the time they are wheeled to my table.

The food can be more refined. The chee cheong fun, or steamed rice roll, is too mushy, and the egg tart pastry too dry. But that dimsum favourite, char siew pau, or steamed barbecued pork bun, is good, with loads of filling.

Ambience: This cavernous space is still stuck firmly in the 1970s. Its ceiling is lined with the Taiwan-made carved tiles it had on opening day. It has scalloped curtains and even 3-D dragons popping out from the walls.

One gets the feeling that it's the ambience, more than the food, that's drawing its pack of faithful regulars.

Service: It's like home. You get served by an auntie - with a beehive hairdo and gigantic 1970s glasses - who reminds you of your Mum. But don't expect to get chilli oil even if you ask for it. They won't serve it unless you're ordering roast meats. You just have to stick with the bottled chilli sauce on the table. - TPL