Selah - a relaxed modern Australian restaurant situated in Circular Quay area was where our crew of four decided to dine.
Dim-litted, warm and cozy, we quickly settled quickly into slightly hard wooden chairs and ordered our share of entrees and mains.
My two friends decided to share a pear and goats curd salad ($18). This was plated as layered filo wafers, sliced pears, dalops of goats curd, candied walnut and cress with lemon thyme and and aged balsamic dressing. My friends thoroughly enjoyed this dish. It was fresh and had an interesting varietied texture. Apparently the candied walnuts were slightly too much on the sweet side. However, it seemed to balance out the possible bitterness of some other ingredients in the pile. Nonetheless, my partner seemed to think pinenuts would be a better option here (but less novel I guess).
pear & goats curd salad - $18
My partner decided to share an entree of cured atlantic salmon ($19). This came topped with a heap of avocado, drops of yellow miso and wasabi dressing on the side, and topped with baby herbs and roasted nori. The cured atlantic salmon was refreshing and subtly salted and olive oily and the miso wasabi bought about a nice hit of flavour reminiscent of a mild mustard. The avocado, a natural companion to this fish, was nothing less of being awesomely complementary.
cured atlantic salmon - $19
Now onto the mains. My friend's rolled pork loin with prosciutto ($32) was labels as good but slightly bland and uninteresting. Topped with a super crunchy slab of crackling and lying atop a bed of caramelised apples, and a celery and fennel salad, caramelised apple, celery and fennel, my friend said that the pork was not untender but it was nothing more than just a slab of pork.
pork loin - $32
Two lots of marinated lamb back strap ($33) was ordered. Asthetically arranged with sliced fillets of lamb cooked medium rare and topped with a goats cheese stuffed pepper and drizzled with harissa mayo, my partner and friend seems to enjoy this dish much. Apparantely much more 'exciting' than the pork. Much more texture and more flavoursome. The quinoa was mildly curry/spicy-ish with the texture of couscous. Mmm... interesting.
lamb back strap - $33
Last but not least was my seared atlantic salmon ($32). The salmon was cooked okay-ish well. Not overcooked and not undercooked. However, the salmon skin was not crispy (which is a bit of a shame). A variety of asian mushrooms (including oyster and enoki mushrooms) were mixed with crab meat and shallots, and rolled inside a thin omelette. The salmon was sitting on top of a bed of chinese veges which were soaking in a soy and ginger dressing. Overall, this dish was appetising but not too wow~ The asian mushroom omelette got a little boring at the end, but I as I liked mushrooms, I persevered until it was all devoured.
seared atlantic salmon - $32
To round off all our mains, we got a bowl of hand cut chips with aioli ($8). Thick cut and soft and lightly dusted with salt, the only downfall was the crunchlessness (which personally, I didn't mind). The aioli was nice too - but not as awesome herbed mayo from Grill'd burgers LOL.
hand cut chips with aioli - $8
All up, Selah provided a chillaxy dining environment with good food and decent service. Their portions weren't huge and their dessert menu was not enticing enough for us to stay - but the mains and entrees were fitting to our appetites.
Ratings:
Food - 8/10
Service - 8/10
Ambiance - 8/10
Value for money - 7/10
Overall - 31/40
Selah
12 Loftus Street
Circular Quay
Sydney 2000
tel: (02) 9247 0097
Dim-litted, warm and cozy, we quickly settled quickly into slightly hard wooden chairs and ordered our share of entrees and mains.
My two friends decided to share a pear and goats curd salad ($18). This was plated as layered filo wafers, sliced pears, dalops of goats curd, candied walnut and cress with lemon thyme and and aged balsamic dressing. My friends thoroughly enjoyed this dish. It was fresh and had an interesting varietied texture. Apparently the candied walnuts were slightly too much on the sweet side. However, it seemed to balance out the possible bitterness of some other ingredients in the pile. Nonetheless, my partner seemed to think pinenuts would be a better option here (but less novel I guess).
pear & goats curd salad - $18My partner decided to share an entree of cured atlantic salmon ($19). This came topped with a heap of avocado, drops of yellow miso and wasabi dressing on the side, and topped with baby herbs and roasted nori. The cured atlantic salmon was refreshing and subtly salted and olive oily and the miso wasabi bought about a nice hit of flavour reminiscent of a mild mustard. The avocado, a natural companion to this fish, was nothing less of being awesomely complementary.
cured atlantic salmon - $19Now onto the mains. My friend's rolled pork loin with prosciutto ($32) was labels as good but slightly bland and uninteresting. Topped with a super crunchy slab of crackling and lying atop a bed of caramelised apples, and a celery and fennel salad, caramelised apple, celery and fennel, my friend said that the pork was not untender but it was nothing more than just a slab of pork.
pork loin - $32Two lots of marinated lamb back strap ($33) was ordered. Asthetically arranged with sliced fillets of lamb cooked medium rare and topped with a goats cheese stuffed pepper and drizzled with harissa mayo, my partner and friend seems to enjoy this dish much. Apparantely much more 'exciting' than the pork. Much more texture and more flavoursome. The quinoa was mildly curry/spicy-ish with the texture of couscous. Mmm... interesting.
lamb back strap - $33Last but not least was my seared atlantic salmon ($32). The salmon was cooked okay-ish well. Not overcooked and not undercooked. However, the salmon skin was not crispy (which is a bit of a shame). A variety of asian mushrooms (including oyster and enoki mushrooms) were mixed with crab meat and shallots, and rolled inside a thin omelette. The salmon was sitting on top of a bed of chinese veges which were soaking in a soy and ginger dressing. Overall, this dish was appetising but not too wow~ The asian mushroom omelette got a little boring at the end, but I as I liked mushrooms, I persevered until it was all devoured.
seared atlantic salmon - $32To round off all our mains, we got a bowl of hand cut chips with aioli ($8). Thick cut and soft and lightly dusted with salt, the only downfall was the crunchlessness (which personally, I didn't mind). The aioli was nice too - but not as awesome herbed mayo from Grill'd burgers LOL.
hand cut chips with aioli - $8All up, Selah provided a chillaxy dining environment with good food and decent service. Their portions weren't huge and their dessert menu was not enticing enough for us to stay - but the mains and entrees were fitting to our appetites.
Ratings:
Food - 8/10
Service - 8/10
Ambiance - 8/10
Value for money - 7/10
Overall - 31/40
Selah
12 Loftus Street
Circular Quay
Sydney 2000
tel: (02) 9247 0097
1 comment:
i tried this place and got a lunch deal for half price for being a blogger. the restaurateur was irritatingly friendly and kept coming over to check that everything was okay and even gave us a free dessert. not impressed though. as you said: bland. flavours unbalanced, asian fusion translates to mediterranean/pan-asian CONfusion. honestly would not recommend this restaurant to anyone.
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