First posted Instagram 5 February 2020

This hasn’t changed appearance since the 70s, back then it was just ‘chinese food’, and now it gets 5 stars. A Victorian shop with an open verandah above like that is pretty rare, only one on a corner I can think of; though it’s possible the 50s/60s shopfront replaced a ground level verandah (nope just looked at the 1900 MMBW map, no ground level verandah, so perhaps always a shop). Very restrained for 1882 except the cute corner pediment on the verandah. And for some reason the balustrade has been replaced with a modern aluminium one. Update : been run by Alan and Carol Han since 2000, starting as a coffee and cake retirement business, but demand for Singaporean dishes has kept them going for 20 years.

Corner of Wellington and #JohnstonStreetCollingwood; maybe this was a pub, maybe just always shops (though pretty narrow), maybe early, definitely lost some #parapet decoration, but they kept the elaborate British #coatofarms on the corner, so patriotic. Just looked at 1900 MMBW map, looks like just shops. And not on 1858 map so after that.

• victorian