Selera Restaurant @ 15 Mackenzie Road

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When I was a child, one of my aunt owned a coffee shop at Blk 8 Selegie Road. It was like a headquarters of sorts where Mum and all her other sisters would gather. All of them, Mum included, would bring their brood as well.

While the adults catches up on life, the children would hang out to play at the alley behind the coffee shop.

I love those visits then because that meant having free-flow of soft drinks from the dispenser (that was our children's version of beer tap) and dropping by The Bookworm Club office a few doors down.

It has been more than thirty years since my aunt has relocated her business elsewhere but I could never forget this part of my childhood.

Recently, I dropped by Selegie for a revisit. The coffee shop and The Bookworm Club are of course long gone by now.

I took the opportunity to explore the rest of the neighborhood that I have never been to and my feet brought me to Selera Restaurant not far from where aunt's coffee shop used to be.

Despite its name, Selera Restaurant is not a restaurant per se but a coffee shop serving halal Chinese food. They were, in particular, famous for their curry puffs and other assortment of deep fried fritters.

According to Google search, Selera is the earliest competitor of OCK. Incidentally, both are located just across the road from one another near the old Rex cinema.

It is said that back in the days, Selera is the one with the longer queue and the more popular among the two however, due to better marketing (and a change of management), OCK has gone on to become the listed company we know today with outlets all over Singapore and overseas.

Both shops still sit on their old premise today.

Selera had just opened for the day when I arrived therefore options in the food display cabinet were limited. Since they are still in the midst of frying the fritters, I took the time to study the menu.

From there, I discovered that they had something quite unusual - lamb curry puff! I checked with the staff if it was available and luckily for me, there were three sitting in the tray waiting to be sold.

I ordered one to try and at that precise moment, a couple of spring rolls caught my attention. I could not resist and ordered one too.

Then, I spotted the goreng pisangs (fried banana fritter) and I had to have one as well.

I believe all fritters are deep fried in small quantities for freshness.

Their curry puff do bear some resemblance to OCK's in terms of shape and the folding of the sides though Selera's does not come with the signature 'thumb' found in OCK's.

To be honest, my favorite kind of curry puff pastry is the makcik type that come with a lot of blisters. I find Selera and OCK's pastry more on the doughy side although the former's skin is the thinner of the two.

Taste wise, there is a heavy buttery presence in the pastry (OCK as well) which is a little off-putting for me but that is just a personal issue.

Years back, I was having overseas training with the armed forces in Australia and you know how scary the temperature can soar during the day.

We had already moved out for exercise outfield from base camp but I had clean forgotten about having one of those single serving butter pack from our last breakfast at the cook house in my pocket.

Obviously, the butter melted and somehow, there was a tear in the foil and my trousers absorbed all that melted butter.

The thing is, I did not know about it and still wondering why is there a putrid smell following me wherever I go? I even wore that trousers for the next several days before I realized it!

Can you imagine how I, and the people I am working with, had to put up with the mysterious smell not knowing where it came from?

Due to this incident, I am rather adverse to the strong smell of butter. I can still eat butter but strong-smelling ones would make me retch.

Now, back to this lamb curry puff. I personally liked the curried potato cubes and chunky lamb meat that are generously stuffed within the pastry. It is almost like dry rendang.

But best of all, it is affordably priced at just $1.30 which is the same as their chicken curry puff and sardine curry puff. It would have easily sold for at least $1.50 across the road!

As for the spring roll, there is really nothing to complain about. The skin is crispy, the size is huge and it is filled with piping hot mang guang (shredded jicama) that is deliciously sweet. Oh, I love it!

The goreng pisang is another winner here. Biting past the crunchy batter, the banana encased within is soft and creamy - almost molten-like as its sweetness spreads in my mouth cavity. If I could describe it crudely, I would say it is like having an orgasm in my mouth!

For $1.40, I am getting the whole ripened banana and not the usual halved slices where it is sold at $2 for 6 pieces elsewhere (those are usually unripe with a tart flavor).

Trust me, one Selera's goreng pisang will never be enough. Do yourself a favor and get a few more to indulge in.

What impressed me is that not only are the fritters served fresh off the wok, they are not too oily yet the quality far exceeds the price I am paying for.

Chicken rice and duck rice are served in the morning which I heard is rather good. Tze char menu is also available from lunch onwards.

Selera Restaurant is halal certified.