Selera Cuppage

So I've heard about the legendary Selera Curry Puffs which used to be sold around Rex Cinema back in the old days. We're talking about a curry puff that could go up against (Old) Chang Kee apparently!
Well, unfortunately I never got the chance to try those curry puffs and I thought I would never get the chance.

Pak Busu Zul & Abang Razali

Apparently I was wrong! Thanks to Pak Busu Zul and Abang Razali, just found out recently that Selera has survived and is currently located at Cuppage!(Heard they also have a restaurant along Mackenzie Road?)
That's right. That includes the famous curry puffs as well!

But when we visited this time, it was quite late and the curry puffs were already sold out so we decided to have a proper meals instead.

Sliced Fish Soup Noodles ($5.00)

My darling wife was feeling a little under the weather so she decided to have something soupy.
And when it comes to 'something soupy' and 'under the weather', you can bet on some fish soup right?

When the dish arrived, the smell was actually kind of a put-off.
The fish had that hamching smell that is so fishy that it puts most people off eating completely.
Fortunately in this case, it was only the smell that was fishy. The fish itself didn't taste fishy and was quite fresh so I'm not quite sure how come the smell ended up being like that.

You have a choice of noodles and my darling wife chose her favourite Bee Hoon.
The soup itself was actually quite bland. I guess overall, you'll probably end up trying to justify the rather high price of $5.00 for this bowl of fish soup.

Fried Hokkien Mee with Prawn and Sotong ($5.50)

Pak Busu decided to have the Fried Hokkien Mee aka Rochor Mee.
The best Hokkien Mee we've had outside of home was the Fried Hokkien Mee found at the now-closed Mr Teh Tarik at Changi Village. So it was going to be interesting to see how this matched up.

I guess it definitely looked the part but Pak Busu says it was nothing spectacular.
The one thing I can definitely spot that was out of the ordinary was the sambal on the side.
How can you have Hokkien Mee without Sambal Belacan??

Bee Hoon Hong Kong ($5.00)

Here's something that Razali says he has pretty much every time he goes there.
Simple and satisfying with noodles, some greens and seafood (like fishcake, prawns and squid).
And it's quite a generous serving too.

But something that I actually didn't really appreciate was that they just poured the gravy and everything else over the noodles. That means when you dig into the noodles, the middle of it is still dry and you have to mix up the gravy first. Maybe it's just me being fussy but I feel that they should mix the whole lot up while cooking.

Wanton Noodles (Dry) ($6.00)

And last but not least of the mains, I had the Wanton Noodles (Dry).
Seems like everyone had noodles eh.

I've had Wanton Noodles at many many makan places (including the now-closed Tong Seng) and hold this dish in quite high regard. It's quite a simple dish and I guess it's quite widely available but everyone has that one stall that they will always go back to for their favourite Wanton Noodles.

Well, for me, after eating at Selera I can safely say -- I have yet to find my favourite Wanton Noodles.
Because this was definitely not it.

You get quite a generous serving of noodles and some greens and shreds of Char Siew Chicken. The Wanton (in case you can't seem them) are the boiled type but they don't come in any soup. This made them rather dry. And they weren't exactly the tastiest dumplings around.

Oh well. Better luck next time I guess.
And speaking of dumplings.

Fried Wantons ($8.00)

As usual, gotta have some of the fried version right?
But this is also where we got the most debate. After all, everyone has their fave wanton like I said.

Abang really liked the Fried Wantons here because they were crispy and even went as far as to say that he found them better than the ones found at Puncak (Far East). My darling wife on the other hand, says that the skin was too thick and the filling was too dry. Puncak's Fried Wantons was still tops in her books.

For me, I felt that the thicker Wanton skin they used here definitely gave more crunch when you chomped down but I think I too prefer the thinner-skinned (and maybe even smaller) Wantons.
And was the filling really too dry?

You be the judge

Fried Baby Squid ($14.00)

I really love Fried Baby Squid. And so does my Brother.
Never had to pay $14.00 for it before though! Bloody expensive!

The baby squids here were actually smaller than where you might get at other makan places (maybe they used Foetus Squids). The tentacle parts were really crispy but the bodies were kinda tough and chewy (which I actually don't really mind).

One thing I did like was that the sauce has a very lime-y tangy twist to it which was very appetizing.
Unfortunately there was very little sauce so it ended up being a bit dry.

Adam's Verdict:
Wanton Noodles (Dry) 2/5 -- Fried Wantons 2.5/5 -- Fried Baby Squid 3/5

Maryah's Verdict:
Sliced Fish Soup Noodles 2/5 -- Fried Wantons 2/5 -- Fried Baby Squid 2/5

Pak Busu's Verdict:
Fried Hokkien Mee with Prawn and Sotong 3/5 -- Fried Wantons 3/5 -- Fried Baby Squid 3/5

Abang's Verdict:
Bee Hoon Hong Kong 3/5 -- Fried Wantons 4.5/5 -- Fried Baby Squid 3/5

Overall I felt that our meal was really pricey and not really up to standards.
I'm not sure how it was in the past at the original location but I'm guessing perhaps times have changed.

Guess I'll go back to try their famous Curry Puffs someday.

Selera Cuppage

Cuppage Plaza, 5 Koek Road
#01-11

Tel: 62350520

Operating Hours:
12.00pm til 11.00pm Daily
(Closed on CNY)