Majestic Restaurant, located on the first floor of the New Majestic Hotel, has been around for quite a while, garnering dozens of accolades for its cuisine, including the 2012 World Gourmet Summit Asian Gastronomic Awards of Excellence for Asian Restaurant of the Year and 2011 Gourmet & Travel Magazine G Restaurant Awards Winner for Most Innovative Menu and Best Business Lunch, just to name a few.

Helmed by Chef Yong Bing Ngen who has led the kitchens of renowned local Chinese restaurants like Hai Tien Lo at Pan Pacific Hotel and Jade at Fullertant Hotel, Majestic offers Cantonese cuisine with an emphasis on modern interpretations of classic dishes. The decor reflects this same modern philosophy, with an open kitchen concept, banquette booths, ceiling portholes that look up into the hotel's swimming pool (definitely a little creepy - imagine hotel guests staring down hungrily at your meal) and overall clean, stylish lines.

As you probably know, Daniel and I aren't fussy about ambience. As long as the food delivers, we can forgive a lot. We ordered a premium (ie. expensive at $40++) set and a deluxe (ie. even more expensive at $60++) set for lunch. Note there is a minimum 2 pax order for the same menu - we were with family and ordered 2 of the premium and deluxe sets, fulfilling this requirement.

Both sets came with a trio of items - peking duck, foie gras and salted egg prawn for the premium set. The prawn was "upgraded" to Thai-style soft shell crab topped with sliced green mango and drizzled with a chili sauce in the deluxe set. All the elements were well-executed, but none really stood out. I do have to say though (speaking as an absolute foie gras fiend - animal activists, please don't stone me!) that I was suitably impressed by the generous slices of foie gras considering the relative affordability of the sets.

Trio of soft shell crab, foie gras and peking duck (deluxe)

Salted egg prawn (premium)

However modern Majestic's food is, Chef Yong didn't forget to retain the single most defining component of any true Cantonese meal - the soup course, served here in the form of double-boiled soup with shark's fin, chicken and black mushroom. The deluxe set even had abalone and a slice of black truffle, giving a much richer flavour. Oh well, you do get what you pay for.

Double-boiled soup

Black truffle slice

For mains, we had the puzzling East-West pairings of rib-eye with kimchi, and beef tenderloin with Chinese-style XO stir-fried carrot cake. The tenderloin easily won this battle of the steaks hands-down, the rib-eye being too greasy. But the overall star, unlikely as it seems, was the carrot cake! With crisp edges and a soft but not mushy interior, Majestic's carrot cake was as good, if not better, than your favourite hawker version. Which is saying a lot since Daniel and I firmly believe restaurant food more often than not pales in comparison with the best hawker food.

Rib-eye steak with kimchi and broccoli (premium)

Tenderloin steak with XO carrot cake (deluxe)

The deluxe set also included this beancurd dish in which, ironically, the humble beancurd outshone its more expensive seafood counterpart. Best described as meltingly soft and silky in the mouth.

Home-made beancurd with baby abalone

A small serving of Majestic's signature dish, the boston lobster stewed noodles, formed part of the premium set, but I'm sad to say that it disappointed. The noodles were al-dente, but lacked the sweet lobster flavour I was hoping for. And while fresh and generous, the lobster pieces were fairly tasteless.

The meal was rounded off with a selection of desserts - the most popular ones being Majestic's batter-fried durian ice cream, and durian puree with gula melaka - which will appeal to hardcore fans of the stinky fruit.

Crispy durian ice cream

Chilled "mao shan wang" durian with gula melaka

Just as we ended our meal, we spotted Chef Yong himself discussing where to display his latest trophy (they had evidently run out of space in the front of house area) with his staff and grabbed a quick photo opportunity.

Just ignore my bad hair

I'm not totally convinced that Majestic's cuisine is truly innovative. When I think of innovation, I expect extraordinary techniques to be applied with unusual ingredients and flavours (ala Heston Blumenthal), rather than just familiar non-Chinese flavours placed on the same plate alongside traditional Chinese ones. But notwithstanding this, all the dishes were well-executed and delicious, making Majestic worth a repeat visit.

Majestic Restaurant is at New Majestic Hotel, 31-37 Bukit Pasoh Road. Note that its menu changes from time to time, and some of the dishes mentioned here may not be available. 

- Esther

I enjoy a good cup of coffee, although my tastes tend towards our local rich, thick 'kopi' as opposed to a finer and more sophisticated espresso variants we tend to find in higher-end cafes. Indeed, I still don't quite understand why some people are so willing to fork out upwards of $8 for a cup of coffee at such expensive coffee joints that comprises mainly of milk!

If I do want to treat myself to a great cup of artisanal coffee, my venue of choice is Papa Palheta; otherwise, I'll make one in the comforts of my own home with our trusty Nespresso machine. Capsule coffee machines truly are a godsend to coffee lovers around the world - a seriously decent cuppa at a press of a button.

Sometimes late last year, we saw yet another interesting coffee-making contraption in the stores - Nescafe, in partnership with Krups, launched a new line of capsule coffee machines called the Dolce Gusto. What caught our eye was the seriously cute Dolce Gusto Genio, which comes shaped like a little penguin (above).

We would find out that Dolce Gusto (which means "sweet taste" in Italian) also had another machine called the Circolo (below) - its name definitely a reflection of its shape - which was launched sometime later.

Using the machine is incredibly easy. Simply pop in a capsule (below), into the capsule slot, make sure there's water in the machine's water receptacle, select the intensity via a rolling knob on the dashboard (your capsule's packaging will recommend the level of intensitiy), and away you go. In seconds, you'll have a nice piping hot brew.

Or a cold one. What's truly special about the Dolce Gusto system - and unlike every other - is that you can actually make cold drinks with it, with variants such as Cappucino Ice or Mocha. This, in my opinion, really extends a coffee machine's functionality. To date, they have around a total of 8 hot and cold flavour variants but are looking to introduce more in the coming months.

I had the opportunity to ask some Nespresso executives about Dolce Gusto, and they all expressed surprise over the incredible reception for their new system since its launch. According to them, demand was easily four times more than they initially expected, and one of the reasons they are quickly ramping up the introduction of new flavours.

One of the upcoming flavours is the Vanilla Latte Macchiato (together with the Caramel Latte Macchiato and the Espresso Ristretto), which I had the opportunity to try. This was a little more lightweight than I preferred (although a spoonful of sugar quickly fixed that), but its pleasant yet subtle hint of vanilla was evident and welcome.

Of course, the challenge with capsule-type coffee machines is the fact that once you're invested into a certain system like the Nespresso or Dolce Gusto, you're pretty much locked in as it's very difficult to switch to another without changing your machine. And since I already have a Nespresso machine, I know better than to broach the topic of getting a Dolce Gusto with Esther.

Still, it's a great machine to have at home. And at $10.90 for a box of 16 beverage capsules, this is a far more affordable option than drinking expensive coffees at expensive cafes. If I had worked in an office environment, I would so get one of these as my personal coffee machine.

- Daniel

One of the reasons why I enjoy being a beer entrepreneur is that I get invited to beer-related trade events. And with EUFA EURO 2012 round the corner, I received an invitation from official beer partner Carlsberg to attend a party announcing their involvement.

This time, for the biggest football event of this year, Carlsberg is introducing limited edition UEFA EURO 2012 packaging and labels for its beer. The green grass themed packaging (above)  looks exactly like turf you play football on, and the limited edition beers will be available at selected supermarkets and bars from 1 May to 1 July 2012 (although it's not something that I'd carry at my beer stall).

It's cute and kitschy - although (thankfully) it does nothing for the beer. And I'd highly recommend you not to leave your beer on a grass field. You may not be able to find it later.

More interestingly for crazy soccer fans, you may like to know that Carlsberg will fly one lucky fan to Poland during the tournament with the opportunity to present the 'Carlsberg Man of the Match' trophy in the rpesence of millions of spectators and viewers during the semi-final match. Yes that's right - with any luck you'll be shaking the hand of a current football great such as England's Frank Lampard or Steven Gerrard, France's Samir Nasri, Spain's David Villa or David Silva, or Miroslav Klose of Germany.

All you need to do is to win the Carlsberg Man of the Match Facebook Challenge, by uploading a video of yourself to convince the organisers why you should be the chose one.

Good luck with that!

When I was studying at RMIT University in Melbourne way back in the late 90s, one of my favourite things to do was to pop out of my campus to Melbourne Central across the road. The objective? The hot chips from Portuguese-style chicken joint Nando's, which were beautifully crisp on the outside and wonderfully moist on the inside. It was a thrice-weekly ritual; yes, it was unhealthy but when you're younger you're less worried about the frailties of life.

Back then, South Africa-based Nando's hadn't opened in Singapore. Yet when they did finally open here, I didn't quite patronize the chain, mainly because Esther and I preferred to roast our own chickens at home to eat. Over the weekend though, we finally did visit Nando's, to try a recently introduced menu item: the Cataplana.

If you're unfamiliar with the Cataplana, it's actually a traditional pan made from copper that has two segments hinged together at one end (and looking  very much like a large metallic clam or a circular Happy Call). It's mainly used in the Algarve region of Portugal to prepare seafood dishes, but Nando's, as you'll see later, eschews seafood for chicken instead.

The two Cataplana versions on offer at Nando's is the Cataplana Originale and the Cataplana Porto (both $19.90):

The Cataplana Originale features tender boneless chicken pieces (marinated in Nando's famous peri-peri sauce no less) and fresh grilled vegetables.

The Cataplana Porto, on the other hand, substitutes the vegetables for mushrooms and olives.

At first glance, both Cataplana dishes looked a lot like Spanish paella (both countries are located next to one another after all). The taste, on the other hand, couldn't be any more different. Instead of being scented with saffron, the rice tasted strongly of cumin, coriander and tumeric, giving it an almost Indian flavour, much like what you find in nasi briyani.

We'd also surmise that the dishes weren't actually cooked with the Cataplana, and probably assembled on the copper dish before being blasted in a salamander. But the well-grilled chicken pieces had great flavour, and we enjoyed the mushrooms and olives in the Porto.

For those who love their spice, you can actually select your spice level from the four peri-peri flavours available - lemon and herb, mild, hot or extra hot - which is an excellent and rather sensible touch. Esther did miss the richer depth of flavour one would get from including seafood in the dishes, but to be fair to Nando's they are a chicken chain after all.

To accompany the Cataplanas, we had mocktails - in this case, the Rosa Fresca or "Fresh Rose" ($4.90), a refreshing drink made from Sprite, and mint and pomegranate syrups. It's a fun drink, and I'm certain kids would love them.

We went to the outlet at the new 112 Katong, which was very well done up. "If I had a restaurant I'd decorate it like that as well," Esther whispered wistfully, looking around at the tiled walls, brushed stone floors and ornate brass decorations on the ceiling.

Maybe one day I can grant her that wish.

You can find Nando's at these locations.

- Daniel

Gold Rush. Coit Tower. 49ers. To Americans, these terms refer to beautiful San Francisco, the country's most densely populated city after New York City. To most Singaporeans, however, it can mean only one thing: Swensen's!

Swensen's was originally founded in San Francisco back in 1948, but the ice cream restaurant made its way to Singapore in 1979, making the veritable restaurant almost as old as McDonald's is in our country! Many of us would have fond memories of spending at least part of our childhoods here - sharing a giant 8-scoop ice cream Earthquake with our friends, or picking up an ice cream cake on the way to a birthday party.

It's been a while since I visited Swensen's, but when I did I was rather glad that while there has been some innovation in the menu, most of the familiar and dearest favourites have been kept.

I can't quite recall if clam chowder was ever on the menu before, but ice fruit blended mango lychee is definitely a newer and far more localized treat (both pictured above).

The legendary clam chowder of San Francisco is replicated here at Swensen's. The soup itself pales in comparison to what you'll find in any seafood joint along San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf or Pier 39 - but that is to be expected. Clam chowder is simply not the same without the amazing quality seafood you can get fresh from the North Pacific.

What's remarkable though, is the freshness and authenticity of the sourdough bread bowl - its crisp yet chewy texture and slightly sour flavour is reminiscent of the sourdough bread I had from Boudin when we were in San Francisco.

Once in a while, Swensen's also introduces special limited offerings to boost its already burgeoning menus. When I was there, it was the Gourmet Burger Bonanza, a range of 6 gourmet mini burgers (or sliders). Customers can pick from 2 of the 6 different mini burgers to make up a meal, which comes with fries and a small side of salad for $12.90.

I picked Prawn Peach Salsa Burger and Lamb Burger with Mango Chutney, but there's also the Spicy Chicken Burger, All American Beef Burger with Pepper Sauce, the Turkey & Tomato Salsa Burger and the Crab Burger with Honey Mustard Sauce.

The lamb patty was juicy and flavourful, and the mango chutney was an excellent flavour counterpoint to any gaminess from the lamb.

What surprised me though was the breaded prawn patty. I was expecting minced prawn, but there were actual chunks of shrimp in it, which gave it a crunchy yet juicy texture. The salsa added a fresh flavour to the entire burger.

This Gourmet Burger Bonanza promotion runs to the end of this month.

But it's the really the familiar dessert favourites at Swensen's that capture the heart and tugs at the memories. Who can forget the Sticky Chewy Chocolate sundae, smothered in chocolate fudge?

My favourite, however, is still the Frosted Chocolate Malt sundae, complete with malty chocolate balls, chocolate nibs and chocolate fudge. A chocolate dipped cherry and wafer complete the chocolate indulgence.

Like I said, it's been a while since I last visited Swensen's. But the visit definitely kindled many good memories.

You can find Swensen's at these outlets.

- Daniel

Chikuwa Tei is nestled in the stretch of restaurants along Mohamed Sultan Road, a couple of doors down from Bistecca Tuscan Steakhouse. It honestly doesn’t look like much from the outside, which is unexpected considering this street is home to many a fine-dining establishment.

A very uninspiring signboard (look at that terrible font!), cheesy fake tile "roof", and a plastic folder for a menu - I admit I had a moment of doubt as we stepped into the restaurant, but clung onto the numerous rave reviews Chikuwa Tei had garnered since it opened its doors sometime last year.

The chef and owner of Chikuwa Tei previously ran Wasabi Tei, a hole-in-the-wall outfit in Far East Plaza, which has had a thriving business for years despite the cramped seating. He sold off the business in 2010 and set up Chikuwa Tei in the current, bigger premises. Wasabi Tei’s bestseller then was its Chirashi sushi set, and it’s no different in Chikuwa Tei and we shortly discovered the reason for it.

Check out my Chirashi sushi with its generous portions of salmon, tuna, yellowtail and scallop atop sticky sushi rice.

Chirashi Sushi ($25++)

The white fish slices were the only ones I couldn’t identify but they were just as fresh and delicious as the other fish. My only disappointment was the lack of my favourite sashimi – mekajiki (swordfish). So when the table next to us ordered two sets of Chirashi Sushi and had mekajiki instead of tuna, I was a little peeved (they also had ikura – salmon roe – in place of a scallop). Apparently, what goes into your Chirashi isn’t standard. I wonder if I could specify my preferences the next time round.

Fortunately, Daniel’s Chikuwa Tei set did come with some mekajiki sashimi which I happily “taxed”.

Chikuwa Tei set ($45++)

Chawanmushi (part of the Chikuwa Tei set)

Fresh negitoro on rice, thick slices of sashimi, nicely charred yakitori (chicken skewers) and a silky chawanmushi (steamed egg), this set definitely checks the box for variety. You even get 2 pieces of mochi (rice cakes) for dessert.

Our only complaint? This set falls firmly into the “Don’t bother unless you haven’t eaten all day” category, which doesn't really work for us as we spend most of our time eating! Even Daniel managed only half of his negitoro on rice despite loving every bite of it.

Chikuwa Tei manages to deliver both in quantity (seriously, the portions are huge) and quality, and is definitely an affordable option for some above par Japanese food. I only hope I get some mekajiki in my Chirashi on my next visit!

Chikuwa Tei is at 9 Mohamed Sultan Road. Reservations are strongly recommended. 

- Esther

We've all heard about food and wine pairings, but here's a pairing that may bring you a little down-to-earth - Grand Mercure Roxy's breez bistro bar is introducing 'CULINEARTH', in collaboration with local pottery studio Ceramic House, an exclusive three-day charity event that pairs food with ceramic pottery dishes.

'CULINEARTH' will take place from April 6-8, 2012, and will feature a one-off menu specially prepared by breez's Chef Lai, with food plated on beautifully handmade ceramic dishes made by pottery artists from Ceramic House.

We were invited down for a preview of this menu.

Food is usually plated on pristine white dishes at high-end, fine dining establishments because that brings out the best in the colours of the food. Thus we don't envy Chef Lai's task - it can be a nightmare when your pottery comes in all shapes and sizes, so plating can take time and lots of careful consideration.

The first dish on the special menu was a salad, feautring fresh mango pieces, avocado salsa, greens and topped with beautifully-seared tuna (still rosy pink on the inside) and a snow crab claw. This dish was beautifully balanced, texturally as well as taste-wise. The myriad of colours from the ingredients also playfully contrasted the colours of the dish. We were surprised - although we shouldn't have been - that each diner got different ceramic dishes. It was fun just checking out what the others got.

The next course was a hearty mushroom soup made from a variety of wild mushrooms, and garnished with a Japanese-style enoki mushroom tempura. As any food photographer or blogger can attest to, mushroom soup is difficult to photograph because its colour is simply unappetizing. I can imagine Chef Lai's headache trying to pair a ceramic bowl with... greyish brown mush. It tasted brilliant though, rich and flavoursome, punctuated in flavour by a drizzle of herbed oil.

To cleanse the palate before the mains, we each got a refreshing scoop of mixed berries sorbet.

For the main course I opted for the classic French duck confit with an orange reduction. This was a masterfully-executed dish - beautifully crispy duck skin, and tender meat that broke apart easily with the fork. This was delicious enough to distract me from the pottery pieces.

Some of my fellow diners chose the miso cod, which comes with purple rice risotto and sauteed spinach. I couldn't quite resist a piece when someone offered - tenderly grilled, the miso accentuated the flavour of the fish without overpowering it. Looks like Chef Lai is a master artist in his own right.

There's also an osso bucco option for those who like their red meat, but none of the diners at my table opted for it.

And finally, dessert. This was probably the dish that I loved best - the ceramic dish, that is. This piece was a long rectangular one that looked like some petrified tree bark, and I can see us using this at home. But Esther may disagree - she loves her simple, white crockery too much. As for the dessert, we didn't quite get to try the version that will be served during the event - deep fried sweet potato balls coated with polenta served with a light cheese sponge cake filled with azuki beans (pictured above) - but my operetta was lovely.

20% of all proceeds from this event will go towards Apex Harmony Lodge, a home for dementia patients. 'CULINEARTH' runs in conjunction with a ceramic pottery exhibition by Ceramic House at the hotel, so diners can head over to one of the function rooms to check out other brilliant pieces of pottery on show.

What I would have loved to see was if the food-pottery pairing actually gave diners a glimpse of how pottery, over history, played a huge part in food preparation in various cultures. Think of how earthern ware is traditionally used by Koreans to ferment kimchi, for example, or why the Berbers in North Africa came up with the tagine. That would have been art, food and education, all rolled into one. According to the organizers, there will be a second instalment of this collaboration if this event proved successful - so there's some hope for that yet.

You can find breez on level 4 of Grand Mercure Roxy, 50 East Coast Road, Roxy Square.

- Daniel

Everybody loves fried chicken. In fact, almost every cuisine around the world has its own version of fried chicken, and it's really difficult to say no to a succulent piece of chicken that is coated in batter and then deep fried to a beautiful golden brown.

Unless, of course, your wife says no on your behalf. Like mine does.

Anyway, we managed to get a packet of CP's recently-launched prepackaged ready-to-cook convenience food Japanese Golden Crispy boneless crispy fried chicken to try. After all, we do so like the brand's shrimp wontons, and this looked like a great - if a far more unhealthy - snack.

The company already has a popular Original Fried Chicken version, but this new product was supposed to follow the Japanese "tori-karaage" style of fried chicken.

Preparation is dead simple - either deep fry for 4 to 5 minutes or bake for 8 to 10 minutes in a preheated oven. No defrosting is required. We opted for the oven, a far healthier preparation method, but I reckon you could use a toaster oven as well, at around 5 to 6 minutes on high.

A good piece of fried chicken needs to have that delicate balance of crispy, crunchy coating and tender succulent chicken, and CP's version achieved that beautifully. Flavour-wise, it's almost everything you can hope for in a piece of fried chicken.

And we say almost, because we like a little bit more fire in our fried chicken. So how about a Korean fried chicken version next, CP?

You can find the CP Japanese Golden Crispy in all decent local supermarkets in Singapore, at $4.60 per packet (around 11 pieces).

- Daniel

When Esther and I first heard of Bistecca Tuscan Steakhouse, it was with a little skepticism - an Italian steakhouse? The Italians do a great many wonderful culinary things - pasta and pizza, amongst many others - but chargrilled steak isn't quite something that comes to the mind first.

Could they rival the Americans, Argentinians, or even Australians, when it comes to burning a piece of meat? We were determined to find out.

The newly established Bistecca - they are just over a month old at the time of this posting - is situated in in a shophouse along Mohammed Sultan Road at the expatriate enclave of River Valley. Renovated to reflect a modern Tuscan villa on the outside, the interior boasts a modern contemporary decor befitting of a fine dining experience. We understand that restaurant intends to make more changes to its layout - converting a rear dining area into private rooms, for example. There's also a third storey verandah that's also set for renovation, to be revamped for al-fresco dining.

We were quickly settled down when we arrived and were served with complimentary freshly-baked foccacia bread, alongside an olive oil and tapenade dip.

Most restaurants tend to stinge and cut corners on this - it's free after all, right, so why should diners complain? Judging from the quality of the olive oil, it was clear Bistecca doesn't subscribe to such cheapskate mentality. The fruitiness of the oil exploded on our mouths with orgasmic fervor, whilst the salty tang of the tapenade cut through its richness and brought a beautiful balance to the fresh bread.

It was with great regret that we stopped at a piece or two of the bread, in anticipation of the coming meal. Wouldn't want to ruin our appetites now, would we?

The polenta with blue cheese (price not confirmed) wasn't quite on the menu yet, but we were offered an opportunity to taste it - one which we couldn't refuse, even though Esther's neither a fan of blue cheese nor polenta.

The polenta cakes were beautifully fried, and sandwiched between them were chopped fresh and roasted tomatoes, caramelized onions as well as some pungent blue cheese. You would think that this would have come out a confused mess in terms of taste and texture, but somehow it works.

This, we declared, was something worthy to be listed permanently in the menu.

Our next starter was the Bruschetta al pomodoro con burrata e olio al basilico ($18), a mouthful in both name and experience. It's essentially Tuscan country bread topped with crushed tomato and creamy burrata cheese.

We both initially mistook the burrata for a beautifully poached egg, until we bit into it. The soft, chewy creaminess of the burrata - an Italian cheese made from mozarella and cream - provided a lovely textural counterbalance to the toasted bread, while its mild flavor was punctuated by basil oil and bits of fresh tomato.

This starter left us literally speechless - we took a while just chewing and savouring every bit of loveliness from the bruschetta and burrata tag team combination.

We were also convinced to try at least one of the pastas, the Stracci con pesto di basilico e pistacchi e pecorino fresco ($22) by our server Enrique, who hails from Genoa (the pesto sauce from the Ligurian capital being hailed as the most authentic in Italy). Traditional Genovese pesto employs basil, pine nuts, garlic, olive oil, Parmesan and pecorino cheese as key ingredients, so we were curious how the addition of pistacchio nuts would change that.

We were pleasantly surprised. The pistachios gave a slight sweet nuttiness to the dish that gave it a new dimension. And unlike some other places where the pasta would be smothered by sauce, the stracci was nicely coated with enough of the pesto for maximum flavour without overpowering the noodle. Even Esther, who normally doesn't like pesto, grudgingly admitted this was a dish she'd come back for.

Already suitably impressed, we waited for the pièce de résistance - the Bistecca alla Fiorentina ($178), a huge 1 to 1.2 kg chunk of dry-aged, charcoal-grilled T-bone meant for sharing between 2 to 4 people.

The Fiorentina - a Wagyu cross with a marbling score of 6 - came to the table sliced, which was a great idea because it not only shows you the doneness of the meat, you really don't want to be in a wrestling match with a piece of meat when dressed in smart attire.

Here's a closer look at the meat with its beautiful marbling.

Each bite of the meat brought an explosion of flavour. We sat there silently chewing, looking at each other with a raised eye, but neither willing to stop chewing and speak, lest the flavour stops.

For your info, we ordered our steak medium-rare, which we strongly believe is the best way to have it. Any more done, you would have lost the tenderness of the meat and too much of the fat would have rendered off, while any less done the meat wouldn't have carried enough of a char-grill flavour.

The steak can also be served with sauces like salsa verde, garlic mayonnaise, grain mustard and even a lovely red pepper tomato compote - but in all honesty, the meat shines through all on its own and so doesn't need any additional flavour. The side dishes of sauteed mushrooms, roasted potatoes and brussels sprouts were also relegated to the sidelines.

In other words, this, my dear carnivore friends and steak aficionados, is one of the best steaks we've had, ever.

Esther and I were already full, but no visit to an Italian eatery is complete without trying their tiramisu. Although already suitably moist, the tiramusi tradizionale servito con crema al caffe ($12) comes served with coffee cream, so diners can "tweak" their tiramisu to their own liking if they want more of a coffee flavour or more moistness.

True to its name, this tiramisu is traditional in the sense that it has a lot more cream and mascarpone that many other renditions, which is more cakelike in nature from having too much of a biscuit base.

The Martini di coulis di fragole, crema di ricotta, banana e chips di cioccolato amaro (also $12), was a strange one. It's strawberry coulis, ricotta and banana cream topped with bitter chocolate chips served in a martini glass, that feels and tastes pretty much like breakfast oatmeal - wonderful perhaps, but surprising as a dessert.

And of course, an espresso to wash all that sweetness down. If one is to judge an Italian joint by its espresso, then Bistecca passes with flying colours. Just look at the crema on that coffee! A nice touch? Dark chocolate with bitter orange, handmade on the premises.

It's clear from the food that executive chef Francesco Mansani runs an incredibly tight kitchen.  Was there one thing about Bistecca that we didn't like? Perhaps it was the incredibly hot afternoon the day we visited, or the short sweaty walk we endured to get there. We struggle to come up with something. Let's be fair - sometimes you get that perfect dining experience, with great food, and wait staff who knows what they're doing.

This was one of them.

As we left Bistecca, Esther and I were already planning our next visit.

You can find Bistecca Tuscan Steakhouse at 25 Mohamed Sultan Road.

- Daniel

Before I visited Amsterdam, I wouldn't have thought that the capital city of the Netherlands, as the birthplace of Heineken - the world's third largest brewer in terms of revenue - would have a thriving microbrewery scene. But I was pleasantly surprised.

As part of our itinerary on the second-last day of our Europe tour last year, we had pencilled in a visit to the microbrewery Brouwerij t' IJ. t' IJ is named after the river IJ which it was initially founded along in 1983 by Kaspar Peterson (who used to be a musician before he became a brewer), and is located within an old building that used to be a public bathhouse. Perhaps unsurprisingly, there's even a windmill attached to it.

Proef Lokaal, which means "tasting room", or what we call a bar.

And since it was a beautifully warm and sunny Sunday, the Dutch were out in full force, and many converged onto t' IJ's brewpub. The brewery pub wasn't yet open when we arrived, but there was already a long snaking queue.

In fact, the Dutch must have been pretty thirsty, because we witnessed some patrons trying to break down the door before opening time to get to the beers, and only stopped when the staff begged for patience.

There was a near riot when the doors were thrown open.

Naturally, we settled down for some beers - they didn't have the dark and sweet Struis that we wanted, so we opted for a hoppy Plzen and a seasonal IJBock instead.

We originally wanted to participate in a brewery tour, but unfortunately the tours were cancelled for the day as the staff were overwhelmed by the demand (one or two of them were also on sick leave, which didn't help).

Just how much do they love their local beers? Well, I was wearing a Heineken T-shirt I had bought from our visit to the Heineken Experience, and was roundly boo-ed by other patrons. A staff even sarcastically asked if I wanted to buy one of the brewery's T-shirts and change into it instead.

Which I promptly did.

As we headed back to the city via one of the city's incredibly efficient trams, we discovered in an iPad travel application on Amsterdam that there was another brewery pub right smack in the middle of the city very near where the main train station was.

Brouwerij De Prael is, in fact, located right next to Amsterdam's famous (infamous?) red light district. We didn't have time for a full brewery tour, so we settled for a few drinks instead.

Their beers are actually named after famous Dutch singers - with names like Mary, Johnny, Heintje - and they were of superb quality. I can't remember which we ordered, but they were really good.

So thankfully, there's more to beer in Amsterdam than Heineken. If you're interested in craft beers, t' IJ and De Prael - and their brewpubs - are definitely worth visiting if you visit the city.

- Daniel