Mention sweet and salty, and salted caramel (and possibly Tom's Palette's salted caramel cheesecake ice cream) immediately jumps to mind. If you're keen to try another salty-sweet flavor combination, do drop by Tom's Palette to try the new flavor for this month - Savory Crunch! Who knew that crunchy, salty potato crisps would taste so good sprinked in milk ice cream?Tom's Palette's milk ice cream tastes great with chocolate-coated almond bits too (left), but I personally prefer Savory Crunch over the former!

Having dinner at Aoki is a pricey affair, starting from $165++ per pax. But it's possible to get a premium sushi fix at the restaurant without bursting your budget, for Aoki dishes up affordable set meals during lunchtime (at $30++ and above), without compromising on quality or portion size.

Being one who'll never pass on a chance to catch the skillful sushi chefs in action, I opted for a seat at the counter. But the tranquil atmosphere of the restaurant makes it an ideal location to catch up with friends- you should consider sitting at the private booths on the second floor if you intend on doing so.

The meal started off with a tasty braised renkon otoshi ($3++), followed by a simple but refreshing salad- for a dose of fiber and vitamins!Salad tossed in a soy sesame dressingWhat makes Aoki’s mazechirashi an excellent deal is the vast variety of seafood it features. Unearthing the assortment of fresh sashimi piled atop, I discovered pieces of buttery uni, shoyu-marinated ikura, as well as cubes of ebi, tako, shime saba, kanpachi, shiromi, maguro and chutoro. The well-seasoned sushi rice was also topped with delightfully spongy cubes of tamago castella, slices of cucumber, nori strips, shreds of perilla and a dollop of nama wasabi. Needless to say, I polished it all off with much relish!

Colorful tsukemono, pickled ginger and a bowl of prawny miso soup were served along with the mazechirashi.Variety pleases me, and the trio of the dessert miniatures- namely plum wine jelly, smooth milk pudding drizzled with caramel sauce and icy muskmelon sherbet– certainly made for a light but satisfying ending to the meal. A cup of genmaicha was also served to aid digestion- a thoughtful gesture on the kitchen's part!

Food aside, the service was attentive and I loved the pretty tableware. To round it all off, I had great company as well!

The mazechirashi set is priced at $35++.

P.S. Do make a reservation before visiting Aoki as the restaurant can be quite packed at lunchtime. If you're planning to order the mazechirashi, it would be wise to indicate so in your booking- I heard that the restaurant only makes 10 bowls of it a day for lunch. どうぞめしあがれ!

There's no need to worry about limited seating at Tom's Palette anymore, for it has now reopened with enough space to fit 22 40 people! 18 27 flavors are also on display at once now, up from 12 18 flavors previously. In addition, Tom's Palette is now open seven days a week, save for the last Sunday of the month.To celebrate CNY, Tom's Palette has launched five seasonal flavors- Eight Treasure sorbet, luo han guo, pineapple tart, pumpkin & winter melon and tau sar piah. My favorite would be the pineapple tart flavor (right), an amalgamation of tangy pineapple ice cream and bits of chewy pineapple jam, with tart chunks crumbled in for a buttery edge. And my favorite pistachio ice cream (left) never fails to put a smile on my face- how I wish it'll be available more often!A friend recently tipped me off about the limited-edition kuromitsu ice cream, and I'm absolutely glad I dropped by Shaw Towers that evening just for it- the deep and earthy flavor of Okinawan brown sugar combined brilliantly with the signature silkiness of Tom's ice cream! It's a real pity that this flavor will no longer be available due to certain reasons, but nonetheless, do give kuromitsu ice cream a try if you ever come across it.During my latest visit, I had some decently intense green tea ice cream (left), as well as pineapple tart ice cream (right) that tasted even better than before! Do give the latter a try soon if you wish- the CNY flavors will only be available till the end of the month.

I was ecstatic to learn that K ki- my favorite cake shop- has recently launched two new creations, Naturally I headed down to Ann Siang Hill at the earliest opportunity for a dessert fix.

The dreamy Tiramisu ($9+) featured feather-light mascarpone mousse ensconding a well-soaked ladyfinger. This boozy creation certainly got me raring for more!

Just as light and refreshing as its look-alike Kinabaru, Emily ($9) featured smooth champagne mousse sandwiching a delightfully intense wild strawberry gelee. Being a fan of passionfruit, I still prefer the Kinabaru to Emily, but give me either and I'll be one happy girl!

Most will conjure of glorious images of salted caramel in their minds when sweet-salty flavor pairings are mentioned. Salted egg yolk in mooncakes and even macarons are some other such combinations I’ve tried. But salted egg yolk ice cream is something that I've never heard of, at least until lately.

And where else but Tom’s Palette could we expect to find such a novel concoction? While this flavour may not suit everyone’s tastebuds, I personally felt that the salted egg yolk was pretty well-incorporated into the ice cream, making for a cheesy and
intriguing taste experience.

It’s a pity that there aren’t any A&W outlets in Singapore anymore, but why not try the Sarsi float ice cream at Tom’s instead? Fizzy yet creamy, this refreshing flavour was like an ice cream float in reverse. I'd have Sarsi float ice cream over the actual drink anytime!

There's been an explosion of ice cream parlors in town, and while the flavors they offer may be just as numerous and well-executed, the key reason why I've been going back to Tom's Palette is because few manage to hit the spot in terms of texture like they do. Quality ingredients (read: NO stabilizers are added) are key to good ice cream, and at $2.80/$3.60/$4.50 for a small/medium/large cup, you get a really good deal for the price you pay. Go on and be envious (as if it actually helps?!), but I'll readily declare that Tom's Palette is one of the few ice cream outlets in my book which truly deserve a revisit.

I've also sampled Black Sesame, which I found to be too intense for my liking. I’m sure those who like 芝麻糊 will love it though! Fans of the malted milk drink should give Horlicks a try, and the refreshing sabayon- marsala wine ice cream with berries- is bound to please too.

Tom's Durian ice cream is available only twice a year, in Tom’s anniversary month of September. That's such a pity, 'cos their durian ice cream was really good- I simply had to have more after devoring a medium cup of it! Non-durian fans need not worry about the aroma of the pungent fruit possibly affecting the taste of the other ice cream flavors as the tub of durian ice cream is thoughtfully covered up. Hazelnut is decent too, and really reminded me of Ferrero Rocher!

With a generous amount of roasted pecans embedded in an especially smooth and creamy ice cream, Buttered Pecan and Banana Honey Roasted Nuts will definitely please those who love nuts. Fans of cinammon should go for the Apple Pie, studded with apple chunks and bites of speculoos.

What was, however, more memorable for me was the Melt ‘n’ Sizzle, brown sugar ice cream mixed with berries and chocolate chunks. I had a blast enjoying how the popping candy embedded in the chocolate fizzled away in my mouth- you've got to try it for yourself!

I like my cheng tng, so it was no surprise that I loved Tom’s Longan Red Date, a silky cold creation concentrated with the natural goodnesss of dried longans. And their Pistachio ice cream will always remain a perennial favorite of mine, ‘nuff said (: