SUR - Nuevo Latino Kitchen Restaurant Review

SUR - Nuevo Latino Kitchen

13 North Canal Rd

Singapore 048826

+656222 2897 

Recently opened SUR - Nuevo Latino Kitchen is a family-owned Latin-American fusion restaurant in the heart of Singapore's CBD. If you're having trouble finding the place, it's right opposite the OCBC building on North Canal Road, close to the MOM.

The restaurant extends over two floors, with the ground floor having more of a bar atmosphere, whereas the upper floor looks more like a classical bodega. The menu at SUR - Nuevo Latino Kitchen is not very extensive, and I like a restaurant that focuses on a few dishes -provided that it is able to prepare these very well.

In the evenings, SUR - Nuevo Latino Kitchen has a one-for-one offer on their small, international beer selection, which we took advantage of. For our mains we ordered:

Ceviche de Camarón, which is a cold dish comprising shrimp, tomato, red onion, jalapeño pepper, passion fruit leche de tigra and mint. As you can see from the pictures, the portions at SUR - Nuevo Latino Kitchen are not exactly huge, and the Ceviche was served in a somewhat smallish bowl. Flavor-wise this dish was decent, although I would have prefer a more intense seafood flavor.

Our second main, Pabellón, or braised short rib, came accompanied by black bean tacu-tacu, and roasted sweet plantain. I must say, this short rib was cooked very well, and the beef was very, very tender. However, again I would have preferred a more intense flavor and perhaps a bit more seasoning.

Lastly, we had a dish of Chorizo Carupanero, which was (not very) spicy pork sausage, sauteed bell peppers, and fresh cheese on a bed of rice. Usually, proper chorizo has a very intense, almost sweet flavor, and if you chose the spicy variety, you do taste it. I'd be interested in knowing where the chef at SUR sources his chorizo from, as this one was a rather bland affair. Likewise, the fresh cheese and rice were rather lacking, making this dish a rather disappointing affair that now amount of seasoning with pepper and salt was able to rescue.

SUR - Nuevo Latino Kitchen is by no means a cheap eatery and for our dinner with drinks we paid ~ SGD 150. While this is standard for decent international cuisine in Singapore, I'd expect more value for my money. I have yet to find a really good Spanish/Latin-American restaurant in Singapore, so If anyone has any suggestions, please post them in the comments section.

3/5 Stars

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Restaurant Review: Ricciotti at China Square

Restaurant Review: Ricciotti at China Square

3, Pickering Street,
#01-36/37 Nankin Row,
China Square Central
Singapore 048660

+65 6438 8040

Due to on-going construction works at China Square at the time of this review, I doubt most people would stumble across Ricciotti Italian restaurant if they hadn’t heard about it beforehand. I understand there also is a second Riciotti at Clarke Quay, which might offer a better atmosphere, at least until the construction work in China Square is concluded. Even so, this place is a hidden gem.

I’ve been at Ricciotti three times in the past couple of weeks, so you already get an inclination of where this review is going. The first time, I had Hawaiian Pizza, the second time I had the Linguetti Pesto (basil pesto, sundried tomatoes and French beans) and recently we ordered Fusilli al Gorgonzola and Linguine al Granchio (crabmeat in creamy tomato sauce). 

Having lived with an Italian from Southern Italy, I have a clear concept of what pasta and pizza should taste like. Unfortunately, in many Italian/Western restaurants in Singapore one gets the distinct impression that the cook never has tasted proper Italian food, or is just incapable of replicating that taste. Luckily, Ricciotti is a laudable exception to that rule. The pasta is al dente, and the sauces are evidently home-made, with fresh, high-quality ingredients. The pizza I had was quite sizeable and again the ham and pineapple toppings were as one would desire them to be, fresh and tasty.

The staff at Ricciotti is friendly and quick, at least at the times when I dropped by, which admittedly were not peak hours. Lunch time is usually busy, but if you go in the afternoon/evening I doubt you need to make reservations, even on a weekend. The atmosphere in the restaurant is rustic, made for casual dining. The only downside to Ricciotti is that it’s not cheap, with pasta and pizza (9”/12”) ranging between S$18 and S$25. At the time of this review, Ricciotti had a dinner special going on, offering the 2^ndpasta for 50%. They also have some lunch specials and promo offers for DBS cardholders, which are decent value for your money as well.

Overall, if you value good Italian food, I would recommend Ricciotti without hesitation, unless you require a particularly fancy setting for your dinner.

4/5 Stars

Edit: Yesterday, I tried one of their lunch specials: grilled chicken breast with herbs, combined with a small salad as well as mashed potatoes and gravy on the side. Apart from the fact that the tomatoes in the salad were not ripe (ripe, flavorful tomatoes are something I have yet to taste in any restaurant in Singapore), this lunch special at S$ 12  is great value for money.

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Restaurant Review: Annalakshmi Janatha

Restaurant Review: Annalakshmi Janatha

104 Amoy St
+65 6223 0809

Annalakshmi is the culinary arts section of Temple of Fine Arts, an artistic and cultural organization dedicated to serving the society through arts, music and dance. They have three outlets for their vegetarian Indian food, and Annalakshmi Janatha is the one closest to the CBD. They serve exclusively lunch, from 11am to 3pm, Monday to Saturday. The restaurant is all staffed by volunteers and it's most remarkable feature is that you dictate the price of the food you eat. That's right, when you leave, you just walk up to the cashier and tell them how much you want to give, this money will then all go to charity.

When you walk in, someone from the friendly staff will assign you a table, then you walk up to the buffet, select a tray and serving cups and proceed to fill this tray with all the delicious food items this place has to offer. The food varies, but usually there are several vegetarian options, naan and papadum and sometimes desert. All food is prepared without onion or garlic and truly delicious; all my Indian friends agree that this is the "real thing" and as close as it gets to traditional Indian food. 

Food for just the right price (since you set it), for charity and in a nice, rustic setting....one might be tempted to look for a catch. The good news is that there is none and Annalakshmi Janatha is absolutely recommendable.

5/5 Stars

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Restaurant Review: The Green Bar

Restaurant Review: The Green Bar
9 Raffles Boulevard #01-9B
Millenia Walk, S039596
Tel.: 6336-0780
Opening hours: 11.30am - 8.30pm

Yesterday, I had lunch at The Green Bar in Millenia Walk, Suntec City. As the name indicates, this place is mostly about healthy food and salads, but on weekends they also offer all-day brunches with "less healthy food". My colleagues and I all went for the healthy salad option, with slight variations. Personally, I had a Moroccan Couscous Salad with Tandoori Chicken for SGD 12,40.

The ambience inside the restaurant is quite nice, with soft classical music and a very relaxed interior design, including a wooden tree. The staff is very friendly and helpful (it's a new place so when someone in the kitchen forgot to put cashew nuts in my salad, one of the senior staff came and took the salad back to add the nuts. I wouldn't have known there were supposed to be cashews in there in the first place, so I was pleasantly surprised by that extra bit of service that is sometimes hard to come by here in Singapore).

The Green Bar Millenia Walk Interior Design

The salad I had was served in a wooden bowl and consisted mostly of green mixed mesclun, couscous, raisins chickpeas, olives and the extra Tandoori I had added. The dressing was a very light and fresh yoghurt sauce with a lemon slice for additional freshness. The meal was just the right size and they offered all of us some toasted bread on the side to go with our salads.

Morrocan Couscous Salad

All in all, a very nice experience I would even consider for a casual early dinner. The only 2 minor points of critique I have are that the salads arrived one after the other, not all together, in a span of say 7-10 min and that they close very early (8.30pm).

4/5 Alien Stars

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