The Hungry Bunny

For a while, rainbow-hued layered sponge cakes were all the rage. One of the earliest purveyors of the very instagram-able confection is Medz , the Mediterranean-style, Marche-like, restaurant over at Orchard Central. In addition to the "rainbow cake", the sprawling restaurant also offers up a decent array of French-inspired desserts, all of which are really pretty. But, they're more style than substance, fairly sufficing but forgettable. The Medz Signature Rainbow Cake ($6.90) was a pretty concentration of colours, fluffy enough sponge, but unmemorable. The La Opera ($5.90) was probably the best of the lot. Dense, moist and balanced. The Red Velvet ($4.90) was dewy but insipid. The Salted Caramel Cheesecake ($5.90) was terribly pedestrian, moderately lush, but lacking in oomph. The Chocolate Truffle Cake ($6.90) was commendable, nuanced and rich. Medz Bistro & Bar 181 Orchard Road Orchard Central #B2-01 Tel: 6238 9028 Open daily from 1

Hai Di Lao , the famed steamboat chain hailing from China, arrived on our shores with much fanfare. Equally legendary is their ridiculously unbelievable 4-hour-long waiting time. Even if they've just opened up an outlet at 313 Somerset, the original branch at Clarke Quay requires a waiting time of at least 2 hours on good days. Unless you're dining over lunch, or anytime after 11pm. Apparently, those are the times to visit if you abhor waiting. We took a leisurely lunchtime sojourn and drove out to Clarke Quay to celebrate a friend's birthday. Another plus point: free parking over weekday lunch hours! Because we didn't have to wait for a table, the snack and mani stations weren't opened; there was no need for such freebies to distract us from rumbling tummies. No biggie, I'd take no queue over free snacks any day! Still, the frills were all there; the rubber hair-ties to tame flyaways, the plastic ziplocks to protect your phones from drips, the microfibre

This is another easy peasy 10-minute vegetable dish. To shortcut the cooking process, you can pre-cook the beans first by dumping it into a pot of boiling water for about 3-5 minutes, and draining before frying, without the water, at step 2. Ingredients (feeds 6): 600gm fine French beans, washed with ends trimmed 2 cups sweet corn kernels 2 cloves garlic, minced (can up this to 5 cloves if you like) 3 tbsp butter (get the best French butter money can buy, it makes a difference) 2 tbsp olive oil 1 tsp sugar Dash each of oregano, thyme and tarragon 1/4 cup water Salt to taste Directions: 1) Fry garlic in olive oil-butter combination until fragrant, about 1-2 minutes. 2) Add beans and water, and fry for about 10 minutes. 3) Add corn, and stir through for another 5 minutes, with sugar and herbs. Salt to taste before serving.

I love pink sauce-based pastas. It's just the perfect marriage of the tart and rich. The cream mellows the bright tomato sauce, and the tomato sauce, in turn, lightens the heavy cream. This dish has just 4 simple steps, which makes it a cinch to whip up for a party. And the yummier the sausages used, the more sophisticated this appears! For vegetarians, you can switch out the sausages for mushrooms and/or zucchini.  Ingredients (feeds 6-7): 8 cups fusilli (or any other small shaped pasta you like), dunked in boiling salted water till 1 minute to al dente, and drained 200 ml double cream 10 cups marinara/tomato pasta sauce 550 gm sausages, diced to 3/4" cubes (approx 5 large sausages, I used Johnsonville beer brats here coz they're AWESOMESAUCE) 1 tsp olive oil Optional: 3 tbsp grated Parmesan, and more for sprinkling Directions: 1) Fry sausages in oil till just cooked through. Set aside. 2) Heat marinara sauce through, and add cream, stirring through,

When Kang first suggested going to " Ronin " for brunch, I was tickled. Having just watched 'Guardians of the Galaxy' (yeah yeah, I know, I'm a little late to the game, but I don't go to the cinemas anymore, and the dvd/blueray was only released 2 weekends ago), I was bewildered that someone would name a bistro after 'Ronan', a lesser-known comicbook villain that only exploded onto the public's consciousness after what was arguably the best movie of the year hit the theatres. So after a hilarious, albeit lengthy, exchange, it turns out that the cafe's name is what you'd call a Japanese samurai without a master - absolutely no correlation with what the cafe is about. Ronin the cafe is what you'd expect of just about every other coffee joint: dark, eclectic, industrial and totally hipster. The fact that the facade is completely hidden speaks volumes as to its wannabe pretentiousness. But, at least the service was warm and smiley. I&#