Matteo R.
Yelp
Wow! What a fantastic surprise! After spending a few hours in Astoria Park and the pool, we were starving and picked Selo for a late lunch totally by chance. We didn't know what to expect, and we were totally blown away by this place.
I've had food from Eastern Europe before, and I've been to a few of the former Yugoslavia countries, but I don't think I've ever had Serbian food specifically. What I can say is that the food at Selo is incredibly flavorful, rich, and really really good.
Our meal started with savory ustipci, which are fried dough balls served with cured beef, Serbian bacon and kajmak[1].
That was followed with the best grilled octopus I've had in a very long time: tender and wonderfully charred on the outside, perfectly cooked, and super-flavorful.
We then had the homemade Istrian gnocchi with shrimp[2]. I was a bit skeptical at first of having shrimp in a creamy sauce, but this dish was fantastic.
Just like fantastic was the karadjorjeva: A rolled and fried pork schnitzel stuffed with kajmak and served with baked potato and tartar sauce. When this dish arrived on the table we bursted laughing because of the sheer size of this thing[3]. The dish was no joke, though, packing some real flavor.
We ended our meal with the "zito torta", which is an old fashioned Serbian cake made with walnuts and served with vanilla cream. After such a rich meal desert could -and perhaps should- have been avoided, but I'm glad we got the zito torta, as this cake was delicious and wonderfully airy.
Service was impeccable and the servers were friendly.
Finally, Selo is beautiful inside and manages to look classy and feel welcoming at the same time. I would definitely love to come here for dinner.
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[1] Kajmak is a creamy dairy food similar to clotted cream.
[2] If you get this dish, let it cool on the table for a good 10 minutes because it is scorchingly hot.
[3] This is definitely good enough for 2 people.