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Seah Street Deli at Raffles Hotel – New York, New York

Rating:

By Veron Ang

Start spreading the news, I’m leaving today
I want to be a part of it — New York, New York
These vagabond shoes, are longing to stray
Right through the very heart of it — New York, New York

5th Avenue, Mulberry Street, Broadway. These are a few of the famous streets in New York. But when you dine at Raffles Hotel’s Seah Street Deli, they take on a whole new meaning altogether.

Seah Street Deli at Raffles Hotel, Singapore

At this delicatessen, 5th Avenue, Mulberry Street and Broadway refer to salad, mushroom spaghetti and pork ribs respectively. Isn’t that fun? Other than the food, the restaurant décor, and even the staff take on a distinctly American theme. Where else would you find waiters dressed like baseball players?

Jukebox

What catches my eye (and ear) most is the large retro jukebox. The coin-operated machine makes an interesting centrepiece; we hardly get to see it these days! One downside is that diners sitting near it may find the blaring music a tad loud.

Seah Street Deli at Raffles Hotel, Singapore

As we settle down, the waitress hands us each a thin newspaper with the same brightly-coloured jukebox proudly featured on its cover. This “newspaper” opens up to a menu. Pretty neat huh? It’s one design trend that other restaurants have adopted for their newsletter, too.

Spicy buffalo wings

Radio City
S$14.50++
Rating:

Ready to start on our all-American meal, we go for the buffalo wings. The waitress obligingly offers to bring us chilli sauce or ketchup with a smile, a nice reminder of the fact that we’re dining at a posh hotel.

The food is actually rather ordinary. A half dozen fried wings served with sour cream and coleslaw. The wings are more like winglets, with a touch of spice in the marinating. Certainly nothing like Jerry’s huge fiery monsters that fill your stomach and help you work out a sweat at the same time.

Fish & chips

Fish & chips
S$19.80++
Rating:

The fish and chips, thankfully, comprises a much more ample cheese crusted john dory fillet and French fries. The rich and creamy tartar sauce comes in what appears to be a muffin cup! Cute :)

Served piping hot and fresh with a nice taste, the fish manages to impress us. It may not necessarily be the best, but it is certainly one of the better ones we’ve had.

Roasted chicken and baby pork ribs

Broadway
S$22.55++
Rating:

While the fish is good, what I’m really craving for is more chicken after those tiny buffalo wings. So when I spot a set named “Broadway” that promises roasted chicken and baby pork ribs, I jump at it immediately.

For a quarter chicken, you sure get a lot of meat! I find myself enjoying the ribs in the magnificent barbecue sauce, too. How I wish there is more of it to go around!

Accompanying the meats are a pile of potato wedges and vegetables. This is a very satisfying and complete platter that can last two meals.

Seah Street Deli at Raffles Hotel, Singapore

Is it just me or does the furniture remind you of a Singapore coffee shop in the 60s? There are those nostalgic marble-top tables and wooden chairs. Hehe :)

Click to enlarge: Menu page 1 | Menu page 2

Amongst the various restaurants at Raffles Hotel, Seah Street Deli is probably the most affordable one, relatively speaking. If you’re considering heading there, you may refer to the menu above for the pricing.

Seah Street Deli
Raffles Hotel
1 Beach Road
Singapore 189673
Tel: +65 6412 1816 | Website
Service:

Bus services: 7, 32, 51, 61, 63, 80, 145, 175, 197, 851
Nearest MRT: City Hall

Opening hours:
11am – 10pm (Sun – Thur)
11am – 11pm (Fri, Sat, Eve of PH)

Tags: American, Beach Road, Bras Basah, dinner, lunch, Raffles Hotel, restaurant, ribs, steaks & grill, western

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About the Editor

Veron Ang is the Founder and Chief Editor of Sparklette, a Singapore restaurants guide, lifestyle and travel blog. She graduated with a bachelor's degree in computer science from the National University of Singapore and runs a web design firm at Sparklette Studio. To get in touch, head on over to the contact page or follow @Sparklette and @VeronSG on Twitter.

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Responses Leave a comment

Edmund Ng
72 comments

I love the fries with the melted cheese! Not sure if they still serve it there.
Surprised they let you take a pic of the menu. Most restaurants are very narchy about it since they dont want their prices exposed to the whole world.
Reply
Posted October 5, 2009 at 3:04 pm
- Veron
  3438 comments
  
  That’s true. I have also encountered more than my fair share of people that won’t let me take pictures of the restaurant itself. In this case the waitstaff were all lingering around the counter and kitchen so I guess no one saw/cared :)
  Reply
  Posted October 5, 2009 at 4:56 pm
ter
6 comments

SSD is one of my fav. dining place. A great place for good and affordable food, and away from the crowd, with excellent service. I still remember on my first visit, the server actually asked me what type of music i want to listen and he actually chance the music playing from the jukebox! Probably I was lukcy then as I was one of the few customers at that time!
and love ur pictures man… they do great justice to this place! :)
Reply
Posted October 5, 2009 at 8:57 pm
- Veron
  3438 comments
  
  The place doesn’t exactly get crowded even on weekends. Maybe it’s something to do with the fact that it’s part of Raffles Hotel? I think it’s really nice of the waiter to cater to your favourite music. He really went the extra mile! I don’t know of any restaurant who would bother to do that.
  One place that comes close is Pret a Manger. A friend and I were having their sandwiches, and they obligingly played our Kenny G CD that we happened to have with us! A pity they have moved out of Singapore.
  Thanks for sharing your experience! :) I dig good service perhaps even more than I dig good food. Will keep going back to SSD :)
  Reply
  Posted October 5, 2009 at 9:53 pm
Melissa
133 comments

The food looks average for a 5-star hotel, and at the same time you’re still paying premium prices. I don’t know, but I don’t think I would go there. Good service or not, I want to know my money goes towards the quality of the food.
Reply
Posted October 7, 2009 at 7:17 pm
- Veron
  3438 comments
  
  I guess you are right about the premium prices. We can find similar food elsewhere at lower prices, for example the buffalo wings at Jerry’s and the fish and chips from Fish & Co.
  When people dine at a 5-star hotel, I think the mental preparation of paying higher prices is already there. Relatively speaking though, Seah Street Deli is still one of the most affordable restaurants at Raffles Hotel.
  Reply
  Posted October 7, 2009 at 7:39 pm
Jevon Louis
7 comments

Hi Veron, been a while since I last commented on your blog. I was at seah street deli recently and they have fantastic milkshakes! Thick creamy…sinful, the way it should be. The chocolate lava cake was outstanding too. It oozed out so nicely and went great with the creamy vanilla ice-cream.
Reply
Posted October 21, 2009 at 10:23 am