New restaurant Cudo at Stanley Street brings a slice of Latin flair to Telok Ayer

Even before I made plans to visit Cudo at Stanley Street, its exterior had piqued my interest when I was en route to another restaurant along the same street. 

Against the mostly minimalist-themed shops that line the street, Cudo stood out immediately with its warm hues, vibrant furnishings, and cosy al fresco seats.

I didn’t know what cuisine it served up at that point, but all I could gather was that though the restaurant covered a relatively big space — it can house more than 70 diners altogether — it gave off a very homely and intimate vibe. 

As it turns out, that was the vibe the team behind Cudo, who also opened Siri House and Moxie, and Eleven Co’s group executive chef Steven Chou was hoping to bring forth.

Cudo’s menu is mostly inspired by chef Steven’s years growing up and cooking across New York and New Jersey, where he traded stories with his Latin American friends, tried their dishes, and ate his way around neighbourhoods with strong Latin influences. 

Serving up what he terms “modern Latin”, chef Steven, who is originally from Taiwan, says that Cudo is his “ode to the cuisine”, where he hopes to share the very dishes he sought comfort in, when he worked the kitchens in New York.

When we visited on a mid-week evening, the restaurant was already buzzing with a variety of groups of all sizes — dates, gatherings and intimate catch-ups.

One-for-one cocktails and S$10 straight drinks at Happy Hour

We eased right into the swing of things with its cocktails, which start at S$18 and go for one-for-one from 3pm to 7pm, on Mondays to Fridays.

While most restaurants and bars tend to offer a scaled-down version of its regular cocktail programme for Happy Hour, Cudo at Stanley bucks that trend, offering its entire cocktail programme (though it is just six drinks at this point), and selected wines and beers at one-for-one. 

You can even get a straightforward gin and tonic, martini, or an Aperol spritz at S$10 before 7pm. We have to say, these are definitely one of the cheapest drink prices we’ve seen, not just in the CBD, but around Singapore. 

Its Don negroni (S$22), with a full-bodied Flor De Cana rum (in place of gin), Campari, and vermouth, with a touch of vanilla, was a strong start to the evening and set the tone for the bold flavours that we’d go through. 

Trying Cudo’s menu

Cudo’s menu is purposefully designed for sharing — it offers a wide range of starters, and a small selection of proteins, pastas, accompaniments, and desserts.

If you start with drinks, the Cudo cado (S$14), a guacamole of sorts with smashed avocado, yuzu, aged Mexican Cotija cheese, and smoky chipotle is a great accompaniment. 

I especially loved the smattering of nuts and seeds within the creamy dip, adding a bit of bite and saltiness to the creamy dip. The plantain crisps were also a godsend for someone who isn’t a huge fan of corn chips (me), and with the right thickness, too. 

Another dip-like dish I thoroughly enjoyed was the warm crab queso (S$18). Here, lump crab and sakura ebi is mixed into molten scamorza cheese, with fried tortillas on the side. 

As its name suggests, it is served and best enjoyed warm. I made the mistake of spending too much time on photos and videos prior, so I got it slightly cold, but it still tasted extremely creamy and decadent. I could only imagine how indulgent it would have tasted, fresh from the kitchen. 

Dips aside, if you only have room for one starter, it must — I stress, must — be the torched Truffadito (S$24), a truffle-infused tiradito dish essentially. 

While it is a pretty penny for five slices of yellowtail (though I must admit they’re sliced very thickly), chef Steven’s clever combination of shoyu, ancho chilli, and a truffle-infused tiger’s milk was a fragrant umami bomb that had me wiping the plate clean. 

The pickled radish is there if you need it to cut through the flavours, but honestly? You don’t need it. You’ll want to taste and relish every single flavour in that starter. 

Onto its mains and pastas, we had the grilled catch as a fillet (S$32) instead of a whole (S$58), which I was more than thankful for, because the fillet itself is massive, and more than enough for two to share. 

The seabass fillet, served with a parsley lime rub, topped with a pineapple salsa, was tender and adequately moist, with a crisp finish on the skin. (We learnt from chef Steven that he ages it in the fridge for a few days to achieve both qualities). 

I only wish there was more salsa to go on the whole fillet because its tang complemented the well-marinated protein to a tee. 

But what really sealed the deal on Cudo for me, in addition to the tiradito, was the linguine con camarones (S$36), a squid ink pasta dish with grilled tiger prawns.

It comes glazed with a robust lobster bisque sauce, with ancho chilli, and chipotle oil — rich, flavourful, and slightly smoky with a mild tinge of spice. 

It’s one of those dishes I wish had more sauce so I could wipe it up with some bread. You can also request for extra prawns at S$8 each — a great menu addition, because the generously portioned pasta is definitely good to share among more diners, especially if you already ordered many sides to go with.

Of its desserts, we tried two: The coconut tres leches (S$14) and the toffee plantain (S$15). The former is a classic Latin American dessert with vanilla sponge cake soaked in three types of milk, and makes for a delicious, but an unsurprising dessert.

The latter, however, had me tussling with my dinner companion for those last few bites. Cudo’s toffee plantain is a lighter, airier version of a banana cake, made with plantains instead. It’s then finished with caramelised plantains on top and a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Banana cakes can be a divisive dessert — sometimes they’re too moist, other times the flavours can come off too strong, if you use an overly ripe banana. 

The use of plantain, however, for this cake and the topping, resulted in a dish that was still aromatic and buttery, but “not too sweet”, the golden standard in Asia when it comes to desserts. 

With such hearty, flavourful and comfort-inducing dishes, and affordably priced drinks to boot, I can easily see myself making plans to gather at Cudo with my friends, no matter the group size or occasion.

If you prefer swinging by in the day, it also has an a la carte lunch menu with a few selected starters, mains and desserts off its regular menu, or you can opt for its two-course set lunch, which comes with a choice of one starter and one main for S$28. 

Or if you’re planning a weekend brunch outing, it has a dedicated brunch menu on Saturdays from 11.30am to 3.30pm with items such as chorizo mash (S$19) and chilli scramble (S$17) — sounds like just the combination to have you go: “Muy sabroso!”, or “very delicious” in Spanish.  

This was an invited tasting.

For more ideas on what to eat, check out Morita Unigoro just down the road, or pop by Song Gye Ok, a chicken-only Korean BBQ concept just one street away!

Enjoy up to 50% off when you dine with GrabFood Dine Out.

You can also book a ride to Cudo at Stanley Street.