I was esctatic when I found out that the newly opened Kuvo Singapore is one of the few restaurants along Orchard Road that opens late into the wee hours. It is great news for me especially when I take late dinners. Opened for slightly more than a month, Kuvo Singapore is situated in the jaded Orchard Shopping Centre.

Located on level 2 of the Orchard Shopping Centre, I must say it’s quite an eye opener when I stepped into the Kuvo. The swanky and contemporary interior design is a stark contrast to the building’s rundown facade.  Kuvo spans across the entire level 2 and is divided into two main areas, Ambrosia and Elixirs. Ambrosia is the main dining area whereas Elixirs is the bar area.

Kuvo has an unusual menu with a vastly different range of dishes. At one point, the menu does come across as wanting to please every customer. It’s neither western, local or international.  It’s just a mix of everything popular. The menu consists of an all-day breakfast section, a western menu (with some Spanish appetisers), and a handful of local culinary delights.

Despite being a Saturday evening, my partner and I were taken back when we saw that the 88-seater restaurant has less than 10 customers.

We started our dinner with the Calamari Al Ajillo ($22), calamari sauteed in garlic and extra virgin olive oil with pork chorizo. Frankly, this Spanish appetiser is a disappointment. While the garlic gravy was very flavourful, the squid was tough and rubbery. The squid and gravy were like two different ingredients that decided to stay separate and failed to present themselves as a single dish.

The Kuvo Coffee Hot Wings ($14) didn’t impress me either. The wings are coated with a coffee flavoured sauce. Although the meat was tender, the sauce was so piercing hot that it’s difficult to enjoy the wings. Hence, if you can’t take spicy food, be prepared to settle with the accompanied crunchy baby carrot crudites and blue cheese dip.

Just when I was about to write off the appetisers, the Crisp Iberico Pork Belly ($26) blew me away.  The pork skin was super crispy and it cracked in your mouth. As for the meat, it was heavenly – soft and juicy.  For a pork lover, it was simply outrageously good.

For the main course, the King Prawn Noodle Soup ($20) is nothing short of spectacular. I could smell the intense aroma of the rich superior prawn broth. The two king prawns were huge and succulent. My partner commented that it was so good that it was comparable to the famous prawn noodles at the hawker centre along Cambridge Road.

The Free-Range Country Chicken ($28) is good too.  The oven-roasted spring chicken was very luscious and flavourful, which was a pleasant surprise, because most restaurants serve dry and tough chicken. The smooth and sweet kumara mash was a nice side to the savoury chicken.

The Nasi Goreng ($20), served with tiger prawns, chicken rendang drumstick, chicken satays and sunny side-up, was mediocre. It was the chicken rendang that stood out in this dish. Personally, it was nothing to shout about although I must say that it was way better than the hot wings and calamari.

I was at Kuvo on two separate occasions and the service was inconsistent. On the first visit, our main courses took more than 30 minutes before they arrived.  And when they did, the kitchen crew got the King Prawn Noodle Soup order wrong.  My partner wanted thick bee hoon but he was served thick yellow noodles.  And it took another 30 minutes for them to prepare it. On my second visit, the waiting time was reduced greatly.  Food was served rather promptly and I didn’t have to wait for it.

No doubt, with the impressive food quality, Kuvo will go on to win fans. However, the question is will they survive till then. With its awkward location, it will need lots of favourable word-of-mouth publicity to attract more customers.

Kuvo
321 Orchard Road
#02-01 Singapore 238866
Tel: (65) 6733 8272
Email: reservation@kuvo.com.sg