From my personal account, every dining experience with NYDC has been memorable. I remember celebrating my 17th Birthday with 15 of my classmates over their famous chocolate mudpies. Ever since, whenever I see any NYDC restaurants, it reminds me of only one thing – Life… And you just gotta celebrate it!!!

Just last week on Thursday, my colleague and I went to nydc to try out their new menu.

It’s hard to imagine that it has been 17 years since the opening of NYDC. To honour this special occasion on the 18 September this year, NYDC launched a new menu – with lotsa booze!

Here are some of the dishes we tried.

Waldorf with a Hic, $10.80 – Fresh grapes infused with Whiskey. Romaine lettuce tossed with almond flakes, raisins and lemon mayo. (Salad? What salad? I only saw Whiskey grapes!)

NYDC also came up with different levels of alcohol (for the grapes) to cater to those who are tipsy-prone. You can choose to go for one shot, two shots or three shots.

Yankee’s in Town, $14.80 – Thick garlic bratwurst sausage wrapped in bacon, roasted with hot smokey ranch sauce. Potato wedges and greens to go along.If I could, I would tabao this and smuggle it into a cinema screening late night movie on a weekend. No, just kidding… Am I?

Skinny Dip Chips, $13.50 – (Very) Spicy Chilli Beef, Creamy Blue Cheese and Artichoke Blend with tortilla chips (to skinny dip).This is another party platter and great for sharing between 4 or 5 friends.

Next up is my personal favourite…

Romeo & Juliet, $11.90 – Baked rice coated with garlic mayo and bits of sweet corn underneath a melted blanket of mozzarella. Smokey crispy bacon sprinkled liberally over the top.Like a wholesome true love story, it has to come with layers of flavourful dynamics. It was love at first bite.

Nutty Cookie Cruncher, $7.80 – Blend of cookies, cream, espresso and Bailey’s. This creamy, buttery, cookie drink also comes with choices of 1, 2, or 3 shots of Bailey’s.

3-some, $11.80 – Made of 3 layers of ice cream, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, Strawberry, Strawberry Cheesecake.Under that promiscuous name is an overload of delicate sweetness – perfect for people with a sweet tooth.

Verdict: I'll definitely return for more to try out more dishes from their new menu... all in the name of fun!

Went to Domani on a Thursday night with a friend and was suprised to see that there was not much of a crowd. The cozy ambience is perfect for couples or for a girlfriend-girlfriend chat session.

Food we tried
Both my friend and I took Domani Delight Course (comes with a variety of options)Mushroom soup - Rather a classic choice of appetizer. The soup has a strong aroma of mushroom, creamy to taste and has bits of real mushroom in it! My pasta and main course.

Pasta - Pancetta Carbonara. A cream based spaghetti with salted pork belly and crunchy shimeji mushrooms. Heard good reviews about their Carbonaras but I was disappointed as the taste wasn't really that awesome. The cream was rather blend.

Main course - Hamburg Steak. Beef hamburger steak drenched in mushroom sauce. There's something undescribable about their mushroom sauce and it tastes different from the normal mushroom sauce. I wouldn't recommend this though. My friend's pasta and main course.

Pasta - Valencia Seta. Tomato based spaghetti. Had a taste of it and it was refreshingly appetizing. It's not too sour, just the right zingy taste that I like.

Main course - Chicken M&M. Grilled chicken covered with Mozzarella cheese and Mushroom. (that's why the name M&M I suppose). It comes with an orangey sauce at the side.

Costing

The total bill was around $63 with service charge and GST inclusive. For a hearty meal like that I think it's really worth it.

Service

The service was good, waitresses were attentive to us. Spoons were replaced after the soup. Then again it was expected from a restaurant of that calibre. However, there was actually a mix up of orders - my friend's main course was plated with my pasta and vice versa. We just ask them to change it and laughed it off.

Verdict: Actually we wanted to try some of the other sides but we were too full to order anymore, so we would definitely go back for more the next time!

If I could order the whole list of sushi on the menu, I would.

Itacho Sushi offers premium, exotic sushi at affordable prices. Here's a few.Flying fish roe gunkan and lobster salad gunkan. The sushi were all made fresh. Fried squid with salmon and ebiko roe salad. It was flavourful and the cucumbers in the salad added a refreshing crunch to the taste. Tempura Shrimp with sea salt. It was freshly fried and not oily at all.

Ippudo at Mandarin Gallery always has the longest queue as compared to other restaurants who has ramen as their star dish.

What I love about Ippudo is their thick and authentic broth that never fails to deliver - always hitting the right notes on my taste buds. Here's my usual bowl of ramen, which is one of their three signature ramen selections. Tonkotsu broth, with a dollop of miso paste and dark sauce. Thin noodles were cooked to a harder texture and that's what I like about Ippudo - that the customers get to choose the hardness of the noodles.

PS Cafe at Palais Renaissance is much like their other outlet at Dempsey Road which has an alfresco area. Went there with three of my friends for lunch and this was what I had!Croque Monsieur. Basically it's just sandwich with ham and gruyere cheese. The last time I had this was so long ago at another restaurant and I didn't had a good impression. This was so much better, the toast was toasted to a perfect crisp and the cheese was warm and oozy. The salad dressing was different from those usual ones and it tasted awesome with the rocket leaves and spinach.