Esther and I almost never eat freezer meals.Those pre-packed foods may be ready-to-eat and convenient, but we've always liked cooking things from scratch. We'd boil up our own stocks, shred up chickens that we'd roast ourselves or make meatballs, so we can easily throw together a pasta or noodle meal in a jiffy.

This is also because Esther doesn't trust many of the ingredients and preservatives normally used in such products (she insists on knowing exactly what she is eating). But we do relent in some cases - one of them being the Shrimp Wontons from CP. My mom used to buy boxes of those to keep in her freezer (to ease those hunger pangs after a punishing night of mahjong). Once, Esther and I cooked up a batch and we were pleasantly amazed by the fresh plump shrimp within their wonton shells.

CP is actually a Thai brand - it's short for Charoen Pokphand, which is Thai for "Prosperity in Food" - founded in 1921 by a Thai Chinese family. So it wasn't too much of a surprise to find out that the company recently launched the shrimp wontons in tom yam soup, although this time packed as a ready-to-eat product for one (just microwave or heat up in a saucepan, and you're ready to go).

CP was kind enough to send us some to try, and also sent along samples of two other new products - the CP Chicken Green Curry with Rice, as well as the CP Spaghetti with Chicken Sauce.

Aside from the wontons, you'll actually need a microwave oven to heat up these packages. The preparation instructions on the package didn't offer an alternative option either. And since Esther and I don't own a microwave oven (surprise!), we resorted to steaming them gently over a medium flame for around 10 minutes.

Not totally convenient for a convenience food - not every household owns a microwave oven.

But once heated, plated up and garnished, they looked great.

The shrimp wontons, as usual, didn't disappoint. The shrimp were plump and juicy as ever, and the spicy yet piquant tom yam soup didn't detract the freshness of the shrimp. We'd love to have it spicier - we did throw in some sliced chillies - but then again CP probably tuned the spice levels to be acceptable to the general masses. We also added some pounded fresh lemongrass (which we had handy) as we heated up the soup, which gave the soup base even more of an authentic flavour.

The Chicken Green Curry with Rice was a nice surprise. Rice generally doesn't freeze too well - water molecules in the rice grains tend to freeze and break up the grains, so the rice can turn into a bit of a mush when reheated - but these didn't suffer too badly. The green curry was actually pretty amazing - the flavours had depth and the quality is what you'd find in any good Thai restaurant. The only downside was that we wished there was more of the green curry sauce to soak the generous amount of rice in.

The Spaghetti with Chicken Sauce - it's really a bolognaise that uses minced chicken instead of beef - was decent, but pales in comparison to the others. Maybe it's because we tend to eat a lot of pasta at home, but the taste is pretty much what you'd get from canned spaghetti (although the noodles are more al dente than what you'd find in a can).

The new offerings from CP aren't going to make us instant converts to prepackaged convenience foods, but we can see our freezer carrying those shrimp wontons. But they'd be perfect for those who don't cook at home.

These 3 freezer meals are likely to be in town any day now, so look out for them in your nearest supermarket.

- Daniel

Daniel and I hate to eat in the Orchard area. But when I'm on an all-day shopping spree, we have little choice but to either settle for mediocre chain restaurant fare, or pay a premium for decent food. So when we were invited for a tasting at Covelli, a new kid on the block, having opened only in October, we were keen to see if we could add it to our shortlist of Orchard Road dining options.

Housed in the basement of Orchard Central, Covelli's main area is casual dining, with an open kitchen concept where you can spy your food being prepared. Bright and minimalist, it seems like a great place to hang out with a bunch of girlfriends for a late afternoon coffee. A corridor away is a private dining and wine bar area, which is much darker, with luxurious seating and even 2 large HD TVs, for corporate presentations. Odd juxtaposition, both literally and conceptually, we were nonetheless more interested in the food than ambience (as expected, if you know us).

We started with a scallop and shrimp appetiser, served over a tomato tapenade and onion confit and topped with caviar. The seafood, especially the large scallop, was definitely the highlght of this dish, fresh amd succulent. While the slight tartness of the savoury tapanade complemented the seafood perfectly, the onion confit was unfortunately overpoweringly sweet, almost like a sugar-high onion jam.

I'm not much of a mushroom soup person - it always tastes far too earthy for my liking - so I'm not the best judge of Covelli's truffle oil infused version. Daniel gave it two thumbs up though, loving the chunky mushroom pieces, and was particularly impressed with its full-bodied flavour.

Braised for 24 hours, the quarantaotto beef short ribs were meltingly tender, falling apart with a slight push of the fork. An absolute delight to eat, considering how difficult it is to find beef ribs, let alone good beef ribs, this was a clear winner.

The sea bream wrapped with phyllo pastry sounded promising, especially served with butternut pumpkin, one of my favourite vegetable starches. Although beautifully presented and executed, we felt it was a little too "try-hard", combining too many elements that overshadowed what should have been the main focus: the delicate bream. A pity, coming after the simplicity of the ribs, which we enjoyed tremendously.

When it comes to pasta sauces, I typically eschew anything too rich as pasta itself is already starchy. So black truffle cheese-filled ravioli in brown butter is exactly the kind of dish I would never order. But to my (and Daniel's) surprise, I really enjoyed Covelli's ravioli, thanks to the toasted grated hazelnuts which enhanced the lovely nuttiness of the butter, and the perfectly al dente parcels.

Covelli's tiramisu is for those who love their pick-me-up with a strong alcoholic kick. Boy were those sponge fingers saturated with liqueur! The flourless chocolate cake was a decent affair, but sadly, forgettable.

Overall, all the dishes were well-executed, and at affordable prices (the priciest item we had was the beef short ribs at $34), Covelli is worth a visit. We also heard the chef is in the midst of revising part of the menu, so it'll be interesting to see what new items he has to offer.

Covelli is at 181 Orchard Road #B2-13/22, Orchard Central.

- Esther

Despite the Arabic influence in the early part of Singapore's history, Middle Eastern food hasn't quite made as big an impact as you would expect. In fact, you'd be rather hard-pressed to find decent Middle Eastern fare outside the Arab enclave in the Bugis area encompassing Haji Lane, and Bussorah, Arab, Muscat and Kandahar streets.

Now there's another option; this time in the most unlikely of places, on Singapore's resort island of Sentosa, near Resorts World Sentosa. Anar - which is Persian for "pomegranate" - is a luxurious, high-end Middle Eastern restaurant located along the waterfront of Sentosa right, next to the boardwalk as you walk in from Vivocity on the mainland. You'll easily spot the squat, rounded and non-descript building as you near the end of the boardwalk.

But the exterior of Anar belies what you'll find within. You're likely to be stunned by its beautifully exotic Arabic-influenced interior design, which somehow manages to convey both Oriental mysticism and a sense of romance at the same time.

The VIP room, right smack in the middle of the restaurant, features carved wooden almost throne-like chairs circling a round table. Being surrounded by wine bottles on one side, many of them of expensive vintages, doesn't hurt either.

As you can imagine, this place is often inhabited by ministers of state and ambassadors. Even the Sultan of Brunei has dined here.

Above the table hangs perhaps one of the most impressive chandeliers to be found in any restaurant.

Arab art is often religious in nature and tends towards repeating geometric floral designs known as the arabesque, to symbolize the transcendent and infinite nature of God. You'll find the arabesque used liberally in Anar.

It's almost like being in a holy place of worship... or the abode of an extremely wealthy Arab prince.

But on to the food. Patrons are first served up with complementary appetisers, in this case a plate of Arab-style pickles, tomato wedges and goat's cheese, along with a healthy side of sesame seed-studded Middle Eastern flatbread.

While we helped ourselves to a couple of slices of the bread, Anar's general manager Toufik El Youssef tells us that Arabs can easily finish two baskets of bread each.

To accompany the bread, we also have cold "mezze", essentially a selection of small dishes (think of Spanish tapas). The Cold Mezze Platter ($14) consists of Hommos (or hummus) Bel Kamoon and Moutabbal - both familiar dips - as well as some Warak Enab or "stuffed vine leaves".

Both the hummus and the moutabbal were excellent - you can taste the rich tahini paste used in the chikpea dip, while the smoky creaminess of the roasted eggplant in the moutabbal gave a hint of what was to come. I wasn't so entranced by the stuffed grape vine leaves - I've never been a fan of the dish ever since I tried the Greek version, and this rendition isn't likely to change my mind either.

The hot mezze soon followed. The Hot Mezze Platter ($18) will delight those who enjoy their fried foods - Sanbosek bel Jebneh, Sanbosek bel Lahmeh as well as Kebbeh.

Kebbeh is a dumpling made from wild bulgur wheat stuffed with seasoned ground meat, studded with pine nuts for added crunch and a toasted, nutty flavour. The Sanbosek bel Jabneh is essentially a fried spring roll with a cheese filling. In fact the filling is made up of four cheeses: haloumi, goat's cheese, feta cheese, and - interestingly enough - mascarpone cheese. On the other hand, the Sanbosek bel Lahmeh is a samosa that has a filling similar to the Kebbeh, but with added pomegranate juice, making the meat juicy while accenting it with a little sweet tang.

Anar's menu is extensive - the restaurant tries to cover the best fare from the Middle Eastern region, from Turkey and Iran all the way down to even Morrocco and Egypt in northern Africa. Unfortunately we won't be able to try every dish on the menu - however much I'd like to - so Toufik brought out two of their signature dishes.

But first, we were each given a plate of Persian saffron rice. As you can see from the above picture, even rice is treated with dignity: saffron scented, topped with pomegranate seeds as garnish, with a side of roasted vegetables.

The smell of the two dishes hit us even before they arrived at the tables, thanks to the charcoal braziers that they're served on. The Kebab Bakhtiyari ($45) will interest carnivores in the house - tender Kobe beef simply seasoned with salt and pepper, as well as chicken marinated in lime and saffron, grilled to perfection.

A word of caution though - you may want to eat this quickly, as the brazier will continue to cook the meat and you may end up with over-charred morsels.

But the better dish, at least in my opinion, was the Djaij Mashwi, or charcoal grilled spring chicken. The spring chicken similarly comes on a brazier and features a spring chicken that has been marinated in a garlic marinade for three days. The result is fall-off-the-bone meat with an intensely fragrant flavour that will please any garlic fan.

Even the spiced potato wedges were lovely - crispy on the outside and very moist inside. My dining companions couldn't stop picking at them.

I told Toufik Esther and I love to grill chicken at home, and he gamely shared with me some tips on making the marinade. I even asked him where Anar gets their sumac from - I've never found the spice in any specialty food stores here in Singapore, and our small little bottle that we use as a dry rub for grilling meats is fast running out. Toufik reveals that they import their supply from Dubai.

Dessert promised to be a sweet affair - Um Ali ($14) is a rich dessert that is the Arabic version of the English bread and butter pudding, except that they use sweet milk, orange blossom water and rose water to flavor the pudding. Generous amounts of raisins, sliced almonds and crushed pistachio nuts provide texture and flavour.

Although we were already filled to bursting, Toufik offered to let us try their Bastaniey Zafarani ($14), or saffron ice cream; Anar is supposedly the only place in Singapore to serve this.

The ice cream was incredibly sublime - sweet, rich and creamy. Crushed pistachios provided textural contrast.

Situated on Sentosa island, Anar isn't exactly the most convenient of places to travel to for a meal. But for such an epic meal experience fit for an Arab prince, no place is too far to travel. Isn't that right, Habibi?

You can find Anar at 26 Sentosa Gateway, #01-291.

- Daniel

However cosmopolitan Singapore palates have become, Mexican food hasn't quite taken off as much as other cuisines have - Taiwanese, Korean and even Spanish food have exploded in popularity in recent times. Perhaps that is set to change with the opening of Señor Taco's newest outlet at CHIJMES.

Every cuisine has its version of street food, and for Mexico it is the taco - a traditional dish that comprises of a wheat or corn tortilla that is folded, or rolled, around a variety of fillings. At Señor Taco's Taqueria and Cantina, this humble street offering is not merely the highlight of its menu; it is celebrated.

The outlet at CHIJMES is Señor Taco's second after its Clark Quay flagship. The modern open cantina-style is prettily done up with Mexican street art, while a huge three-by-three LCD screen blares out Spanish music videos for a contemporary feel.

Any Mexican restaurant worth its salt would feature its hot pepper sauces. At Señor Taco, you get four sauces - a mild guacamole, spicy jalapeno, smoky chipotle, and searing hot habanero. These condiments are an essential part of Mexican cuisine. I particularly loved the chipotle.

The first dish we tried was the Chicharron de Ribeye, beef cubes that have been fried almost to a crisp. Extremely well seasoned and thus flavourful, Esther couldn't stop picking at these. The mashed avocado provided a lovely, mild counterpoint in texture and taste to the beef.

The Queso Fundido is essentially a cheese dish on a hotplate with bits of chorizo. Its sticky, gooey goodness was a tad too rich to have on its own - but excellent with corn chips, spiked with heat from the sauces (I recommend habanero for its kick and tartness to balance the richness).

And here's Esther's attempt at filling a tortilla. In fact, one of the charms of Señor Taco is the fact that a group of diners can easily share a variety of food - you'll get to assemble your own tortillas with the filling that you want.

Think of it as the Mexican version of a "popiah" party, if you will.

The only things Esther missed as she was assembling her tortilla were black beans and lime-scented rice, also stalwarts in Mexican cuisine.

The beef quesadilla is essentially ground seasoned beef and cheese in a toasted tortilla. They have a chicken version as well, which I enjoyed - the seasoning on the chicken filling was piquant and fragrant - but Esther and some of our dining companions felt the chicken breast meat was too tough and dry. Esther guessed they might have marinated the chicken in lime juice, and maybe that altered the texture of the meat.

And now on to their signature, the tacos. The beef barbacoa tacos features simply shredded, "pulled" beef on a taco. This is where chef Mario Galan really shines - you can almost taste the care and skill he puts into the well seasoned, beautifully cooked meat.

A note on the beef though - Señor Taco uses Australian beef, which can taste a little gamier than some may be accustomed to. Esther and I don't have a problem with that, but chef Mario intends to switch to American beef from next month to suit more sensitive palates.

The unassuming pork carnitas tacos is perhaps the one I love best - the moist shredded pork (which Esther thought looked like canned tuna), oozes flavour with every bite, despite its somewhat unappetising colour. The sliced avocado was a nice touch, but we would have preferred mashed avocado or some hearty guacamole instead.

That would have made it perfect.

After the carnitas tacos, the Baja-style shrimp tacos paled by comparison. The seasoned batter overwhelmed the taste of the sweet shellfish, which was smallish to begin with.

Another taco dish of note is the Taco el Pastor. No church pastor was harmed in the making of this taco - it is so named as the taco of choice of shepherds! The dish is said to be inspired by the shawarma from the Middle East - Lebanon, to be exact.

Here at Señor Taco they come in chicken or pork versions, and feature an interesting spice mix. I'm not sure what spices were used, but I swear I could taste cinnamon. Chef Mario keeps his recipe close to his heart, though, and isn't telling.

By the way, the price of the tacos here fall between $10 to $16 a plate, which is pretty decent. The most expensive dish comes to $24 for the beef chicharron. This makes it a rather affordable option, especially around CHIJMES.

And with good food, there needs to be good drink. Here's Señor Taco's beer chiller, showcasing Mexico's most well-known beer Corona (it's also the world's third best-selling beer) as well as the less well-known (but better tasting, in my opinion) Negra Modelo, a dark lager.

The lime magarita was also popular at our table, and Esther proclaimed it as "strong", aka not as diluted as what you'd get at many other drinking spots around town.

But in Señor Taco, tequila takes centrestage. Here's a peek at their tequila cabinet, featuring tequilas that range from $9 to $200 (!!) a shot.

I was entranced by this beautifully crafted tequila bottle.

We had the opportunity to try two tequilas: a Reposado, or a tequila that has been aged from two months to a year, as well as an Añejo, one that had been aged one to three years in an oak barrel. The Añejo, in particular, was sublime. Despite the alcohol content, you won't normally find the "burn" associated with drinking distilled spirits and lets you taste the smoky and almost fruity quality of the agave.

These tequilas are unlike the commercial tequilas that we usually drink at nightspots. For good quality tequila, avoid drinking them with lime and salt as that masks the taste of the agave, advises chef Mario.

"People come here for the 3 Ts," says chef Mario. "Tortillas, tacos and tequila."

That pretty much somes up Señor Taco's Taqueria and Cantina.

You can find Señor Taco Taqueria and Cantina at #01-19/20 CHIJMES.

- Daniel

Ever since we moved into our own home, we have, because we can whip up a decent meal, become responsible for preparing Christmas lunch for Daniel's side of the family. So every year up to a month before the 25th, Daniel and I will rack our brains planning the perfect menu for the annual feast. Dessert is exclusively my domain, so after celebrating the past three Christmases with an Apple Crumble Pie, a Strawberry Custard Tart and a Chocolate Tart, I decided to divert from the pastry path and settled for an easy Sticky Date Pudding.

Sticky Date Pudding gets its name from the sticky, moreish bits of dates speckled throughout the cake. Traditional recipes tend to be tooth-achingly sweet, made with large quantities of brown sugar, and are topped with a rich toffee sauce, resulting in a massive sugar overload. I have a sweet tooth so I'm all for overwhelming sweetness, but since few share my tolerance for sugar, I had to tone it down for the masses. This recipe probably won't be as sticky or sweet as most, but is still packed with flavour and oh, so moist, thanks to the addition of cream to the batter.

Sticky Date Pudding (makes 10-12 puddings)

• 200g pitted dates
• 2/3 cup cream (I used a 170g can of Nestle cream - it stores well)
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1/3 cup rum
• 1 cup self-rising flour, sifted
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 egg

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 175ºC and lightly grease a 12-hole muffin tin.
2. In a small saucepan, bring the dates, cream, milk and rum to a boil. Take off the heat, and let cool. Once cool, puree the mixture in a food processor or blender.
3. Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
4. Beat in the egg.
5. Fold in the date puree, followed by the flour.
6. Spoon the mixture into the muffin tin, filling the holes 2/3 full.
7. Bake for 25-30min.

I served this with a simple custard sauce flavoured with Crema Catalan we brought back from Barcelona (fortunately it keeps quite well - our trip was almost 2 years ago!) to balance out the sweetness of the pudding. Crema Catalan is cream-based liqueur like Baileys Irish Cream, but has lovely spiced tones of cinnamon and lemon, perfect for Christmas. It isn't easily available here, but you can use rum, limoncello or a generous amount of vanilla extract instead for flavouring.

Custard Sauce

• 2/3 cup cream (once again, canned cream to the rescue)
• 2/3 cup milk
• 1/3 cup Crema Catalana
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 3 egg yolks

Directions:

1. Gently heat the cream, milk and liqueur until simmering.
2. Whisk the yolks and sugar together. Pour a small amount of the hot liquid over, making sure to whisk continuously. Don't add too much liquid at one go or you'll end up with a lumpy custard.
3. Slowly incorporate the rest of the liquid, then return to the pan.
4. Continue to whisk over heat, until the custard becomes thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.
5. Drizzle over the puddings to serve.

- Esther

One of the main highlights of our visit to the Belgian town of Bruges (Brugge) is definitely the tour of Brouwerij De Halve Maan, or "The Half Moon" brewery.

Brouwerij De Halve Maan was founded in 1856 when Henri Maes bought over the property upon which the brewery sits on. Today, the brewery is still owned by the Maes family and is the only remaining one in Bruges that is still in operation.

The brewery opened its doors to the public as a brewery museum during the 1980s, welcoming thousands of thirsty visitors - such as us - through its doors ever since. I've visited quite a number of small scale family microbreweries to large commercial ones, and I have to say that the tours here at Brouwerij De Halve Maan are one of the most organized - and worthwhile - you'll find.

It's best to visit the brewery during weekends, when they conduct tours every hour (although they do tend to separate groups by language). Our friendly lady guide, though, was quite up to the task: she smartly split our group into those speaking English, French, and even Dutch, and gamely explained exhibits in these languages. It took longer, but no one could say that they didn't understand anything during the tour.

The brewery is a museum in almost every sense. Aside from the fact that it needed more signs to explain each exhibit, you can learn everything about brewing beer, De Halve Maan's brewery and the history of beer in Belgium in a visit.

In corners of the building, you'll see sights of sacks lying around - the ones above are crystallized sugar, which is used as food for yeast, to help bump up the alcohol content in beer.

You can't miss this other main ingredient in beer - malt - either.

Or the other key ingredient, hops, which gives beer its distinctive flavour.

Here's a bottling machine, just as old as the one we saw at Cantillon brewery in Brussels.

I even spotted a Westvleteren glass goblet - Westvleteren being the holy grail of beers for many beer lovers - in a cabinet filled with similar glasses for different Belgian beers. In Belgium, it is almost mandatory to serve the right glass for the right beer.

Here's where you get great value from the 6 Euros you pay for the brewery tour - access to the rooftop of the brewery, which offers a marvellous view of the town of Bruges.

You'll catch sight of many familiar landmarks - Bruges, after all, is a rather small town. Beyond the fermentation tanks, you can spot the river boats (stuffed with tourists) cruising down the many canals that crisscross the town.

You'll also find, on the way back down from the rooftop, a statue depicting Saint Arnold of Soissons, the patron saint of Belgium's brewers and hop pickers. Saint Arnold, who founded the abbey of St. Peter in Oudenburg, was a brewer in the 11th century and he was one of those who realized that drinking beer - at that time - was actually healthier than drinking water (the boiling process during beer-making killed pathogens). Thus Arnold undoubtedly saved many lives in encouraging people to drink beer, and was later sainted by the Roman Catholic Church.

At the end of the tour, we were all brought to the large, open dining rooms, where we finally got to try the beers. You get one beer free that comes along with the tour.

One beer that we had to try was the Brugse Zot, which is the one truly brewed here. The blonde pale ale had a beautifully fruity aroma and a refreshing dryness that was perfect on the warm day we were visiting.

If you're wondering, Bruges Zot means "Bruges Fool". According to legend, the name came about when Emperor Maximilian of Austria - who ran Flanders during that time - rejected to sponsor a mental institution in the town. He reportedly then called the people of Bruges 'fools', and the name has since stuck.

Interestingly, Henri Maes of De Halve Maan accepted money from his uncle Canon to restart the brewery in 1856. At that time, Canon was head of the Mental Illness Institute - so one can say that De Halve Maan really owes its roots to 'fools'!

I bought a bottle of Brugse Zot to bring back to Singapore. I'd be a fool not to do so.

- Daniel

I've grown up in the eastern part of Singapore all my life. I was born in East Shore Hospital (now known as Parkway East), and studied at Temasek Primary School, Tanjong Katong Secondary School and Tampines Junior College during my early years. And even though I've moved a total of eight times (so far), I've always remained an Eastie.

As a secondary school student, I'd hang out at the small neighbourhood malls nearby after school hours. My schoolmates and I spent many hours in Katong Shopping Centre, Roxy Square and Katong Mall, until we were all drawn by the huge amusement centre on the fourth floor of the newer Parkway Parade when it appeared in the mid 80s. That amusement park, with all its rides and arcade machines, is long gone now.

Katong Mall was always the oddity. It never really had much character, and despite various makeovers and ownership changes, the mall would almost always be devoid of human traffic. Even in its most recent incarnation the mall was mainly filled with child enrichment schools, so all you find there are screaming kids and their attendant parents or domestic maids. The only reason worth going to Katong Mall for was anchor tenant Cold Storage, where Esther and I used to do grocery shopping.

Until now.

Katong Mall has undergone a S$60 million and one-and a-half year redevelopment under Perennial Katong Retail trust, a private trust put together for the purpose of buying over Katong Mall, and last month opened its doors to the public as 112 Katong.

Totally revamped, the glitzy new premier lifestyle mall now boasts some 120 tenants ranging from upmarket dining options to luxury boutiques. There's even a Golden Village cinema, providing a much needed option for movie patrons in the area after Republic Theatre in Marine Parade died an inglorious death in the 90s. The new cinema is Peranakan-inspired, designed to fit into Katong, a famous Peranakan enclave.

Despite its compact size 112 Katong has an excellent tenant mix, at least in my opinion. And while there are your usual chain stores - unfortunately in Singapore you can't run away from those - there are a number of independent retailers that bring variety and choice.

Thankfully, while Cold Storage is gone, its more upmarket cousin Market Place has taken its place so Esther and I still can continue to buy harder-to-find groceries there. Which makes total sense - we never understood why Cold Storage had branches in both Katong Mall and nearby Parkway Parade.

There are plenty of food options - you'll find Nando's, which sparked a chicken craze when it launched its first outlet in Singapore at Bugis Junction in mid-2010. There's also Australian chocolate-themed dessert bar Max Brenner, TGI Fridays, and even Da Paolo Gastronomia (for those who want to pretend to serve up high quality Italian food at home).

For more pedestrian food options, there's Food Republic offering an array of local and international food at more affordable prices. It's set, I believe, to rub the shine off the crazily popular and packed food court basement in Parkway Parade.

There's also an open-air water-themed playground at 112 Katong. If the water fountains at Vivocity and Bugis Junction are any indication, this will soon prove to be extremely popular with the young ones.

I'm sure these young 'uns will have wonderful memories of their time in these parts, just as I did as a schoolboy those many years ago.

You can find 112 Katong at 112, East Coast Road.

- Daniel

The next time you pass by a bar or pub and come across something that looks like a miniature Eiffel Tower model, no it's not some new installation by the French Tourist Office - it's actually a beer tower by Kronenbourg!

If you're not familiar with Kronenbourg, it was first founded in 1664 as the Hatt brewery in Strasbourg, in the Alsace region of France. The brewery in 1850 then relocated to village of Kronenbourg, for which it is now named. Kronenbourg makes both a premium lager known as Kronenbourg 1664 (no prizes for guessing where it got that name) as well as the Kronenbourg Blanc, of which I am a big fan of since trying it more than two years back.

But back to the beer tower - it's a replica of famous Parisian landmark the Eiffel Tower, and comes complete with flashing lights as well as four tap dispensers (one on each side) so you and your beer buds don't have to fight over who gets to pour and drink first.

Oh, and maybe it's just me, but doesn't the Kronenbourg logo atop the tower replica actually looks like a decapitated Hello Kitty from afar with a candle on top?

- Daniel

Having lived in Melbourne for a couple of years, Daniel is very picky about his Aussie food. Spoiled by fresh produce available down under and the simple, fuss-free techniques used to prepare it, most local places just don't make the cut for him - they're either too pretentious and "French-ify" their food, or take the fusion route (down the path of "there are some flavours that are just not meant to be together").

So when we were invited to a tasting at Bronte, a casual neighborhood bistro-style restaurant that claimed to serve up modern Australian fare, I'd admit we had some doubts. But we were somewhat reassured by the fact that Bronte is helmed by Chef Justin Wong, who's worked in some of Sydney's leading restaurants including Luke Mangan's Salt and Dietmar Sawyere's Forty One, as well as the local steakhouse The Prime Society. Oh, and Chef Justin used to be a pro-skater. Way cool.

Chef Justin hard at work in the kitchen

We wasted no time in placing our orders from the quintessentially Aussie menu, which features fresh seafood and steaks.

Salt and pepper squid

Chef Justin informed us that the salt & pepper squid had actually been taken off the menu a few months back, but returned due to numerous requests from his regulars. And now it's back on for good. Crisp with just a light breading that held four kinds of pepper (including what we thought was a hint of Szechuan pepper), the generous serving of squid pieces was substantial enough for a main course. Not too oily, and served with a delicious lime aioli, it's easy to understand why this is so popular.

Garlic Crystal Bay prawns served with rocket & char-grilled Turkish bread

Essentially a simple starter of prawns in garlic butter, this is one dish I'e seen go very wrong in many restaurants, which employ the method of soaking prawns in a saline solution to preserve a certain crunchiness. However, this process also destroys the natural sweetness of the shellfish, leaving a nice texture but little taste. Bronte, thankfully, uses fresh prawns, and the garlic butter is enhanced with white wine to yield a sauce for dipping bread into. Daniel was particularly impressed with the smokiness (which, according to Chef Justin could have come from his well-seasoned cast iron pans) that permeated the sauce and couldn't stop mopping up every last drop. Until I stopped him, that is.

Crispy skin shredded duck leg with potato gratin, orange infused carrot puree, baby spinach & prune jus

Now I love the flavour of duck, but I've never really enjoyed duck confit, which is usually greasy and doesn't take advantage of my favourite part of the duck: the skin. Bronte's take highlights the best features of duck - by shredding the leg which had already reaped the tender benefits of being confit-ed, then topping it with a wafer-thin crisp piece of skin. Resembling a piece of pork belly with cracking, the square of duck was unctuously rich, bordering on overwhelming. Fortunately, the sweetness of the carrot puree and prune jus (which I thought tasted like kecap manis, but was actually a jus made from reducing mirepoix, beef stock and prunes for many hours. "Expensive kecap manis," we joked) provided a welcome balance. I'd return to Bronte for this dish alone.

200gm grass fed Murray Bridge tenderloin, SA

Daniel's tenderloin was well-executed, perfectly pink and juicy in the centre. Chef Justin prefers to use grass-fed tenderloin to grain fed, as the flavour is apparently stronger and better for this cut of beef. And although the beef came with bearnaise sauce, it was unnecessary - the meat was flavourful enough on its own. Daniel was also partial to the green beans, which he proclaimed excellent as they were cooked just right, still maintaining their crispness.

Slow braised beef cheeks with mash, mushrooms, baby spinach & red wine jus

Beef cheeks are generally tough because they're lean, and need to be cooked at a low temperature for a extended time to break down all the fibers. Braising is definitely a good call. Unfortunately, neither Daniel nor I are really fans of braising, which tends to leach all the flavour of the meat into the liquid instead of preserving it within. But if you love your braised meats, Bronte's beef cheeks are fork-tender and fall apart with the lightest touch. The highlight though, is the red wine jus, which has an almost Marmite undertone to it. I had to stop Daniel from licking the plate.

We ended off the evening with a trio of desserts.

Pistachio panna cotta with poached pears

The panna cotta is a clear winner, meltingly creamy, without that artificial springiness that results when too much gelatin is used. It was let down by the accompanying poached pears though, which were oddly bitter. Both Daniel and I agreed the panna cotta would have been fine served on its own, or with a berry/citrus coulis instead.

Baileys and macadamia semifreddo with fresh berries

Chef Justin admitted he loved his Baileys, and boy, does it show in his semifreddo! Strictly for Irish cream lovers, Bronte's semifreddo is also strictly for adults only thanks to its strong alcoholic kick. I just wonder if he would consider creating a version with Baileys creme caramel liqueur - I like that even better than the original Baileys.

Kiwi & passionfruit pavlova

The pavlova was a decent affair, but as we both don't really appreciate the aching sweetness of meringue, we'd probably skip this the next time round.

A lovely experience, with food that has obviously been treated with respect and excellent culinary technique, Bronte would definitely be one of our regular restaurants, if not for the fact its location is a tad too far for us Easterners. Nonetheless, we'll gladly make the long trip to the Bukit Timah area again to try their Sunday roast (with wagyu rump!)

Bronte is located at 8 Greenwood Avenue.

- Esther

(credit: Asia Pacific Breweries Singapore)

I run a hawker stall selling beer in Singapore's Chinatown Complex, in the heart of the country's Chinatown where a lot of elderly congregate for company and cheap meals. This also means that I see - on a daily basis - a lot of destitute and poor old folks who wander around the area begging for money to afford a proper meal (this despite the claims of some people in power that Singapore does not have any beggars).

So I am happy to hear that Asia Pacific Breweries Singapore (APBS) is bringing back its Cookies for Charity programme, as part of its Lunar New Year Celebrations for 2012. This corporate social responsibility programme looks to raise funds through the sale of fortune cookies in support of the Meal & Grocery Programme run by Kreta-Ayer-Kim Seng Constituency (in which my hawker centre is based), which seeks to ensure that needy elderly living in the area - many of whom do not have any relatives - can eat more regular and nutritious meals. I've seen many of these elderly folk digging through the remains of YOUR meals at the centre, so I know how important it is that they get some proper food.

The fortune cookies are sold in boxes of 10 cookies, and you'll be able to find them on sale at the Chinatown Pavilion at Banda Street (just right in the open area outside Chinatown Complex) from 30 December 2011 to 24 January 2012.

I'll be working with APBS to see how The Good Beer Company can help more to spread the word, but in the meantime, drop by Chinatown Pavilion during this period and pick up a box of these fortune cookies, which are handpacked by some of these elderly ladies.

(credit: Asia Pacific Breweries Singapore)

It's just $10 a box - you'll just need to imbibe one less Stone IPA, Rochefort 8 or Wychwood Wychcraft at my stall - but the additional karma you'll get for the coming lunar new year will be priceless.

- Daniel

(Disclosure: I run a beer hawker stall that carries beers distributed by Asia Pacific Breweries Singapore (APBS), including Kirin and Erdinger.)