Singapore’s Seletar Aerospace Park (SAP) is being redeveloped from being an airbase supporting business aviation to a foodie enclave.
Just completed is the first phase of The Oval @ SAP, covering 11ha, which features four F&B tenants within walking distance of one another.
Opening first was Youngs Bar & Restaurant, serving modern European cuisine, followed by its sister outlet Di Wei Teo Chew Restaurant then two multi-concept spaces, Wheeler’s Estate, by the Ong brothers who run Wheeler’s Yard in Balestier, along with The Summerhouse by lifestyle group 1-Group.
Part of the 320ha aerospace park surrounding Seletar Airport, The Oval is a short drive from Jalan Kayu, Sengkang and Yishun, and is being developed by government agency JTC. It comprises 32 black-and-white colonial bungalows gazetted for conservation.
Covering 4180 sqm, The Summerhouse comprises a 90-seat restaurant of the same name on its second floor, and Wildseed, a 76-seat cafe by day and bar by night. Running the kitchen is German chef Florian Ridder, previously sous chef of the Michelin-starred Alma by Juan Amador at Goodwood Park Hotel. The cuisine is “nature-inspired”, the farm-to-table concept partnering with Edible Garden City for its vegetables, along with Nomad the Gallant coffee roaster for speciality coffee.
Housed in a two-storey bungalow, the S$2.5-million (US$1.7 million) Wheeler’s Estate has various sections. The second floor features the 150-seat Verandah restaurant serving Australian cuisine, as well as a 9m-long bar for wine, whisky and cocktails. It opens early next month.
On the first floor is a cafe as well as the Grill House for charcoal-grilled steaks and burgers using jarrah, apple and lychee firewood. Diners can also grab a mat and basket from the cafe counter for snacks, sandwiches and drinks for a picnic on the lawn.
There is even a cycling group, which will organise a 33km leisure ride from Wheeler’s Yard to Wheeler’s Estate. While Wheeler’s Estate has a kitchen equipped for large-scale events, the bicycle-themed Wheeler’s Yard will remain the same.
The other two restaurants at The Oval are by F&B company Pentagon Group, each in a single-storey bungalow. The 130-seat Youngs Bar & Restaurant has introduced breakfast and high tea on weekends and public holidays. Di Wei Teo Chew Restaurant offers such dishes as cold crab, pork rib yam ring and Teochew-style shark’s fin. The kitchen is run by chef Khoo Tai Guan, who has been running the group’s first Di Wei outlet at the Singapore Botanic Gardens for two years.
Other food options in the area include the aviation-themed Wright Bros Food Court and a Western cafe-pub, Georges Hideout @ Seletar.
Photos: homeanddecor
