Restaurant Sela

Celebrated papa’s birthday last month with a yummy meal at Restaurant Sela. I love how birthdays are such a great reason for celebration! :) And what’s a better way than to bond over some good food and wine ^^ Restaurant Sela impressed right from the beginning when I called to make a reservation, and continued to do so throughout our experience there.

I didn’t manage to get a photograph of the ciabatta ($3) that we started with, but they were the loveliest little pillows of bread ever! Perhaps I should just mention a tiny quibble we had, which was the amount of time the food took to prepare, which they only informed us only when we were ordering our food. But thankfully the bread helped to quell my growling tummy. It was so fluffy and warm, we couldn’t get enough of it!

There was a good variety of options on the menu. I was the only one who opted for a seafood dish because all the meats were snapped up in an instant. The Baked Miso Chilean Seabass ($28) was one of the best fish I’ve eaten! It tasted way more luxurious than it seemed, with a texture and flavour of codfish. The skin of the fish was lightly charred to perfection, and seemed to have a touch of caramelised balsamic to it (though it could well have been the miso that I tasted). It was bathed in a sake broth and was complemented with a generous serving of clams.

Sam ordered the Beef Tenderloin ($42) and I’m so glad that I’ve taught him to share ;) It was soooo good. Cooked to medium doneness, the interior was a beautiful pink that looked absolutely inviting. It was tender, and packed a punch with its delicious flavour.

Mummy had the Slow Braised Pork Belly ($28) that was almost melt-in-your mouth and achieved the delicate balance between fat and meat. We loved the fragrance of the apple risotto, which had a lightness that is almost non-existent in typical risottos. The Granny Smith chips on the side were an interesting touch, though I was a tad let down that it wasn’t crispy.

Zhen ordered the monster Australian T-Bone Steak ($58) which was a whopping 400gms, excluding the bone, I believe! It was a massive portion. And despite the fact that it was all sliced up (perfect for the lazy ones), the meat retained its juiciness. The caramelized onions that came with it were simply addictive and possibly stole the limelight from the meat! Just kidding. But they were really good.

Finally, papa had the Herb Crusted Lamb Rack ($32). This took a long, long time to arrive at our table. The rest of us were nearly done with our mains when it finally arrived! And the rest of our dishes had already taken a good 20-30min, so you can imagine how long this took. But it was well worth the wait. Though I’m not a fan of lamb, I could tell that this was a dish that was executed with flair. According to papa, it was incredibly tender, and the flavours were amazing.

As we were celebrating a birthday, the restaurant not only helped us to serve the cake, but also presented papa with a dessert, with compliments from them! They made a point to ask for his name when I made the reservation and wished him ‘happy birthday’ personally. Plus they gave us a couple of concessions, which we really appreciated :) Little touches of good service this does go a long way!

This new restaurant has potential, and despite it being a mere half year old, it has garnered spectacular reviews since its opening. Time to place this on your radar as the newest hotspot to check out next.

Restaurant Sela

32 Seah Street

Tel.: +65 6337 6358

Mon-sat Lunch 11.30am-2.30pm

6.30pm-11pm