I'm a sucker for alcoholic ice creams, so I just had to try the made-in-house Chocolate Whisky and Pineapple Malibu ice cream at Barracks. Unfortunately, the ice cream was icy in texture and were mediocre flavor-wise. The chocolate whiskey ice cream tasted rather unrefined reminded me of cheap chocolate-flavored ice cream. Pineapple malibu (a mix of malibu rum, coconut and pineapple) fared slightly better and was somewhat refreshing.Thankfully, the red latte (rooibos tea latte) ($6++) was light and soothing. A pleasant drink.

One gripe that I had was that while I ordered a double scoop ($7.50), the two scoops of ice cream were served in separate cups and charged likewise at $4.20 a scoop. We were, however, bade warm goodbyes when we left the cafe.

Having never attempted a tea-based milkshake before, I ordered a regular Earl Grey Lychee milkshake ($4.50). As bizzare as this might sound, the combination was really delicious. Granted, it tasted mainly of canned lychees, but the earl grey syrup provided a refreshing edge to the drink. Texture-wise, the milkshake was a pleasure to slurp- smooth and not overly thick, with lychee bits for contrast.

I should have ordered a larger drink for an additional $1.50 though. The regular serving is really tiny!

Saizeriya's concept is a real winner: tasty western food at affordable prices that can rival those at food courts. As with most restaurants, orders are taken at the table but there's no service charge! The only self-service here would be to help yourself to the free flow of water or to the unlimited flow beverages for $1.50.I'm no expert at escargots but I was quite pleased with Saizeriya's rendition, which came with a very generous serving of garlic. Plus it only costs $5.80 for six!The Chicken Bolognese Doria was very competently executed as well. While there could have been more meat, this dish came slathered with a satisfying amount of creamy cheese. But I guess I shouldn't be complaining since this only cost $4.80 if i remember correctly!

While Selegie's soya beancurd is one of the better ones around, it isn't nearly as smooth and soft as Rochor Beancurd and GoGo Beanz. Unfortunately, the ah balling were a different story altogether. While the yam filling was pleasantly smooth, the glutinous rice skin was thick and stiff.

Following the likes of Lao Ban, Selegie has also diversified into the soya pudding market. Their version was, however, rather tasteless. Stick to the old favorites, I say.

I dislike beer in general. But it's a different story altogether when stout is combined with chocolate. The bitterness of the alcohol is counteracted by the sugar; vice-versa, the bitter tang of the stout helps to tame the sweetness of the chocolate.In fact, I love Plain Vanilla's chocolate stout cake base more than their regular chocolate version. The malty, roasty notes of Guinness give the chocolate sponge a fuller flavor, and the carbonation of the beer gives the cake a softer crumb. Paired with PVB's swoonworthy cream cheese frosting, this is one cupcake that will guarantee you sweet dreams at night.

If my memory serves me well, PVB's vanilla-Irish cream cake tastes even yummier than their signature vanilla sponge, and that means a lot because the former is seriously delicious! Dreamily fluffy vanilla cake meets Bailey's-infused chocolate fudge (wouldn't have minded having more of this), Irish cream frosting and an alcoholic truffle, mmm.

The chocolate stout and Irish cream cupcakes are available till April 1.

Price: $3.20 per cupcake, $18 for a box of six