Selera (New Market, Auckland, New Zealand)

Want an affordable and cheerful place for lunch in New Market then Selera is your place. It’s a really nice Malaysian restaurant, lots of options, large portions and the service is quite fast, its actually like being in Malaysia and I can attest to that since I lived there for around three years, just the aroma at this place brings me back lots of memories.

If you are in Westfield Newmarket then this place is just a few blocks away, probably just 5 minutes’ walk from the mall just in Khyber Pass where other restaurants are. Located in the corner of Osborne Street you can easily see this place specially during summer where a lot of diners opt in for an alfresco affair. It was mid-winter when we visited this place so it was really cold, so no open air for us, seating inside is not that many but there were free tables when we came here.

Dining in here is a typical Malaysian no frills experience, it was a simple wait for your seat to be prepared and while that’s happening you can order in the counter, pay, go back to your prepared table, then wait for it to arrive. As mentioned, serving sizes are huge but the tables are quite small so it can be challenging when everyone orders a laksa and some side dishes.

Just look at our table for three and the space is already limited.

So, what we grabbed are obviously all in that table, lets itemise them from the largest one, the Chicken Curry Laksa Noodle Soup (NZ$22.90), prepared with egg noodles, half boiled egg, tofu and bean sprouts. It was huge as you can see and filled with a lot of goodness, one of the best laksa you can ever get in Auckland, mildly spicy and super rich broth.

Then we had the Kon Low Mee with Beef Brisket (NZ$22.90) another deceptively small looking meal but trust me it was large, beneath that beef and veggies are even more beef and veggies plus tons of noodles. Basically, this is a Hong Kong style egg noodle with Beef Brisket and bok choy served with wonton soup.

This was my favourite, I have been looking for this type of noodle here in New Zealand but never found it until now, beef was so tender, it cooked in a slightly sweet and savoury sauce that coats all of those wonderful noodles beneath. All of that richness is complemented by a light yet umami filled wonton soup.

Off course a visit to a Malaysian restaurant won’t be complete without a roti hence we ordered one, the Curry with Roti (NZ$22.00), it was served with two pcs roti canai with Beef rendang. Another great dish, the roti was perfect, flaky, oily, stretchy and chewy. The beef rendang was so soft and not dry at all, it was a good match with the roti.

Finally for our side dish we grabbed some Two pcs Lobak Roll (NZ$12.00), a deep-fried five-spice meat rolls consisting of pork, prawns, water chestnuts and carrots. Basically it’s like the Filipino real Kikiam, where ingredients are wrapped in beancurd sheets then deep fried till crunchy, it was good.

I guess you know the verdict by now, this is a good place, that simple. Good food, authentic taste, great atmosphere and great service (yes, we can verify this since we spilled a good amount of water in our table and someone just scrambled out the kitchen to clean it up quickly with a smile). So basically, all of the elements you need when dining in a restaurant.

Selera Cafe Limited
Address: 487 Khyber Pass Road, Newmarket, Auckland 1023, New Zealand
Phone: +649 520 7977