Latin American Plates, Cocktails, and Fun at Vasco Singapore

PUBLISHED May 18th, 2017 06:00 pm | UPDATED May 18th, 2020 04:26 pm

Vasco is one of the reasons why we enjoy going to Hong Kong Street so much; we’ve been there enough nights to know that owners Joel Fraser and Christian Hartmann (also General Manager) have achieved their goal of creating an establishment known for serious fun and delicious Latin American cocktails. Having just turned two earlier this month, the team has also made some changes to their food and drink menu recently and we just couldn’t turn down the opportunity to try their classics (again) and new nosh.

That said, I almost always start with Vasco’s signature Pisco Sour ($21); it just gets you into the mood for all things Latin American, I think. It might contain the usual pisco, lemon juice, simple syrup, and egg white, but Christian uses chuncho bitters instead of angostura for more complexity and depth in flavour. A combination of over 30 peels, herbs, roots, barks, and flowers from Peru (including Quina leaves, which are on the Peruvian flag) macerated and aged for six months in oak barrels, chuncho is also used across Latin American cooking.

If you enjoy tequila cocktails, try Tommy’s Margarita ($21). Inspired by the variation by Tommy’s Mexican Restaurant in San Francisco, this savoury, citrusy drink of blanco tequila, agave nectar, fresh lime juice, and orange bitters doesn’t need a salt rim for more flavour. One of the smoothest margaritas I’ve ever had.

As opposed to small portions available on the previous menu, Chef Jennifer Lee upsized most of the dishes to be perfect for sharing, by popular demand. First up of the night, the Ceviche de Vieira ($20). The Canadian scallop ceviche has a refreshing zing to it from the cucumber and lime juice marinade, with fresh sliced fennel for a textural contrast. A great starter to the rest of your Latin American meal. With this, we had the spicy Panama Old Fashioned ($23) made with panama rum, smoky house bitters, orange zest and the Del Monte Cartel ($20). Shaken with blanco tequila, mango, agave, black pepper, and lime, it’s a fresh and really laid back drink you could have all day.

For a hot starter, you can’t go wrong with either the Empanadas de Espinacas ($14 for four pieces, $19 for six) or the Anticuchos de Pollo ($16). The spinach and cheese empanadas (think the Latin Americna version of a curry puff) was amazing with their homemade hot sauce, which is also available for purchase. The tender chicken skewers came perfectly grilled with capsicums and a drizzle of fresh lime. The flavour, as opposed to the full-on chicken flavour from the usual skewer, is more layered with the overnight marinade of caper cream.

Another meaty dish that’s must-have is the Albondigas ($22). The plateful of spiced pork and beef topped with cotija cheese (a hard cow’s milk cheese indigenous to Mexico) and house fried nachos. The tomato chipotle sauce is definitely the highlight here; it made me wish I had more nachos to scoop up the rest of the sauce.

For the adventurous, go for the Camarones a la parilla con Vatapa ($23) if you want something a bit more substantial. This bread-thickened Brazilian shrimp stew has a pretty floral backbone of coconut, turmeric, and chili that’s balanced by prawn stock and pepper grilled prawns. Chef Jennifer finishes it off with house-cooked cassava chips for some crunch as well. Perhaps it’s the coconut and the turmeric but we find it somewhat reminiscent of laksa flavours so all you Singaporeans should take to like ducks to water!

Aptly, we finished up with the Walking Dead ($25); there’s a two-drink limit on this so you can just imagine how potent it is. Featuring a rum blend of 52 (Vasco has a solera grog system going on, which means they leave a bit of rum in the barrel and continue adding more as they go) different types, this twist on the classic zombie cocktail also features tropical elements like cinnamon, pistachio, orgeat, fresh passionfruit, pineapple juice, lime juice, as well as orange and angostura bitters, fresh lime juice. We call it the silent tiki killer because that’s exactly what it’ll do to you at the end of the night.

Vasco is located at 42 Hongkong Street, Singapore 059681, p. +65 8799 7085. Open Mon-Sat 6pm-1am. Closed Sun.

All images (unless otherwise stated) courtesy of Sylvester Fedor.