Fresh taste of Colombia at Latido
Fernando Arevalo’s third attempt at South American cooking hits the spot
NEW RESTAURANT
Latido 40 Tras Street Singapore 078979 Tel: 8961-8191 Open for lunch and dinner Tues to Sat: 12 pm to 3 pm; 6 pm to 10 pm
IF GOLDILOCKS were Colombian, she’d be perfect in a fairy tale titled Latido, a story about three restaurants by Fernando Arevalo.
Preludio, she would say, was too cold. It served black and white food, and tortured tomatoes for being too red. Bacata, the second, was too lukewarm. It would dazzle Goldie with a riot of Latin colours but it still seemed hollow at heart – like an apology to the aforementioned tomato.
Then, finally there’s Latido – which ticks off all the boxes that make it just right. And makes you wonder why Arevalo didn’t just do this right from the very start.
After giving up Preludio and Bacata’s sterile corporate surroundings in Fraser Tower, the Bogota native has found new motivation in Tras Street. The previous two restaurants may as well have never existed because Latido feels like a completely new concept – a full-fledged Colombian restaurant that’s full of life, colour and flavour.
A NEWSLETTER FOR YOU
Friday, 2 pm
Lifestyle
Our picks of the latest dining, travel and leisure options to treat yourself.
The decor is bold, warm and filled with Colombian masks that you don’t want to be trapped up close with during a blackout. The vibe is casual and natural, and the appeal comes from Arevalo not trying too hard to make a point. Instead, he just serves up a menu that’s fresh and novel but not in an alienating way.
He also prices it right, giving you the option of an a la carte menu or a tasting version comfortably priced at S$158. It’s curated mainly from the a la carte menu but as we’d stumbled in on a wine dinner evening, the price included a pairing of Chilean wines.
The free-and-easy demeanour of Latido means they’re not hung up about the whole table ordering the same tasting menu, so we can get away with individual picks as well. But for variety, the tasting portions in the tasting menu give you a better overview.
Start off with the house rye loaf (S$8 or as part of the tasting menu), a favourite from the Preludio days with its yeasty pull-apart resilience and a sticky-sweet fermented mushroom glaze.
Latido also displays some muscle memory from its fine dining past. Hence, the ubiquitous dainty snacks in the form of kueh pie tee cups filled with sawara ceviche. But here, you chomp to the jaunty beat of a Sebastian Yatra playlist as crunchy shell meets mackerel sashimi cubes lightly cured in punchy tiger’s milk with a final burst of finger lime.
There’s an unexpected detour into yakitori territory with pinchos de corazones (S$22) – skewers of chicken hearts dipped into a sweet tare with a whole egg yolk to jiggle and mix into a slinky rich blanket for the bouncy-tender offal
Corn, plantain and cassava appear as pancakes in different permutations that neither weigh you down nor bore you because they never seem repetitive. Patacon con Todo (S$22 a la carte) from the tasting menu is a mini flapjack of green plantains with crisp edges, topped with creamy stracciatella cheese and chopped tomatoes.
Arepan conejo (S$38 a la carte) makes use of rabbit, but a less cute species could easily replace the somewhat stringy braised meat atop a cassava tortilla-like wrap drizzled with gravy that has hints of bacon and a shower of parmesan on top.
While the unique texture of the wrap pulls it together, it’s the brunch-appropriate arepa de chocolo y huevo (S$22) that hits the spot. You get a pillowy sweetcorn cake folded over a fried egg with a creamy yolk and chunks of tender pork jowl. It’s like a fluffy egg sandwich topped with spicy mayonnaise that gives you a sense of weekend comfort.
Empanadas de pollo (S$22) don’t have the flaky pastry of the Latin “curry” puff that we remember, and are filled with a stodgy chicken and mashed potato mixture. A pickled onion relish is better at cutting through the heaviness than the smoked eggplant spread they come with.
Of the mains, sopa langosta (S$48) is a clear winner with fleshy, very fresh lobster chunks sitting with avocado chunks in a creamy but light potato broth with sweet smoky charred corn kernels. Again, this is a revival from Bacata, but still good.
It beats the more predictable crisp skinned cod fillet in the arroz de caldoso (S$48 a la carte) from the tasting menu, which is paired with rice and a creamy uni sauce with bits of eel. It’s well executed, but repetitive after a while.
To end off the tasting menu, there’s a safe grilled hanger steak cooked rare and still tender, topped with a tangy chimichurri relish. There’s no dessert, so you have to spring for the only option on the main menu – platanitos (S$16). It layers sweet mashed plantains aka bananas, brown sugar sponge cake and burrata ice cream. Nothing fancy, just a not-too-sweet crowd pleaser.
With its unpretentious charms, approachable pricing and genuinely interesting food, Avarelo’s hit on a winning formula by simply showcasing his heritage for what it is. It’s taken a while, but as Latido shows, the third time’s a charm.
Rating: 7
Copyright SPH Media. All rights reserved.
