Review

Housed in a renovated corner shophouse on Sukhumvit 22 on the second and third floors, Carito’s brings a contemporary take on Latin American cuisine. Offering a relaxed dining style with open-kitchen views, enhanced by rustic design elements. Dishes draw inspiration from the Andes to the Amazon. Begin with baked crab Brazilian style, with herb cream cheese offering rich depth and a toasted coconut parmesan crumble adding sweetness. Argentinean empanadas are fried in tallow for a beefy flavour and a crispy texture. The filling comes in two options: smoked short-ribs cooked with malbec jus and topped with coppa ham, or yucca combined with fontina and braised leeks, finished with pickled chayote for contrast. Highlight is an ode to natural flavours: char-grilled, dry-aged angus flat iron, served alongside green screw chilli, which adds spiciness and complements the smokiness of the meat, and best enjoyed with rice pilaf cooked with tomato, or wrapped in soft corn tortillas. Dessert incorporates Thai elements, som saa zest with creamy avocado ice cream, macadamia brittle for crunch and lemon polenta sponge for zesty lift. Dulce de leche ice cream is punctuated by balsamic strawberry jam sandwiched between sable cookies coated in toasted coconut. Mexican-inspired cocktails, such as guava pisco sour and Oaxacan old-fashioned, are also available as mocktails. Other non-alcoholic choices include house-fermented tepache and sourdough-and-honey mead.