The Hungry Bunny

Located at the rear of Paragon, Cedele All Day Dining is often overlooked by much of the foot traffic. Which is probably why we like it. It's comparatively quieter than the rest of the dining options. The food here, focusing on wholesome healthy fare, is trite but decent. Service is sluggish though, a manifestation of the bistro's short-handed labour force. A favourite of ours, the Grilled Rosemary Chicken ($18) is juicy and flavoursome, balanced by a tangy pomegranate sauce, and sided by a delicious mushroom and edamame-specked quinoa. Cedele serves all-day breakfasts, and we like the substantive Sesame Egg Tofu ($14.50) with scrambled eggs, sauteed mushrooms, pumpkin glaze, grilled cherry tomato, and brioche toasts. The Omelette ($14.50) choc-a-bloc with field mushrooms, red pepper, onion, and additional Cheddar filling ($1) was delicious. Cedele 290 Orchard Road #01-20A Paragon Tel: 6887 5303 Open daily from 9am to 9pm Website: cedelegroup.com

There is a dearth of truly lavish hotels in New Zealand. Although tourism has overtaken agriculture as New Zealand's top GDP ticket, the infrastructure to cater to the burgeoning tourism receipt has yet to catch up. For some reason, big established hotel names have yet to enter New Zealand's tourism industry. A tip when searching for luxury accommodation in New Zealand, is to click on the 'Others' option from 'Hotels' or 'B&B', when searching on tripadvisor. For some reason, the only luxury options in New Zealand are lodges. Hotels go up to a maximum of 3* in the small towns, if there are any in the first place. Hapuku Lodge & Tree Houses is the premier luxury option in Kaikoura. Heck, it's the only luxury option in the whole of Kaikoura. By and large the accommodation options in Kaikoura are motels, apartments, and the like. Nothing fancy really, so by default, Hapuku Lodge is the ritziest. So, a luxury lodge isn't as posh as t...

So, we really really really wanted to return to Green Dolphin for dinner, but we forgot to make reservations, and ended up stranded in the restaurant one cold drizzly evening. We'd hoped, fingers (and toes) crossed, that there'd be a last-minute cancellation, and a table for 2 would miraculously become available for us. It was just too bad that miracles don't happen everyday, and the waitress, amidst profuse apologies, rejected our pleas requests to dine in or takeaway (they don't do takeaways). The silver lining, credited to Green Dolphin's extraordinary service, was the discovery of Passione Italian Restaurant . We wouldn't have thought to eat Italian cuisine in Kaikoura, but the manager at Green Dolphin recommended it, and even aided in securing reservations for us! How's that for the best service ever? And no, Green Dolphin isn't related to Passione in any way, so the suggestion wasn't borne out of a conflict of interest. Passione is a br...

It's been joked that if you want to host a successful barbie, invite an Aussie. Indeed, all of my Aussie friends love to barbecue. Like A LOT. In fact, I've a friend, a native Sydneysider, who actually custom-built a massive brick oven in her backyard after she and her family moved to Singapore. Now, that's hardcore. Okay okay so all that was really just supporting anecdotal evidence that Aussies make the best barbecues, and to segue into one of 2016's best eats, modern Australian barbecue joint Burnt Ends . I've put off dining at this trendy hotspot for a couple of years, waiting till the hype died down and snaking lines dissipated at the itsy-bitsy galley of a restaurant. But now that I've finally tried this award-winning restaurant, I'm kicking myself for missing out for so long. Burnt Ends is phenomenal, and totally deserving of every accolade extolled. Every dish a slamdunk, Burnt Ends makes the barbecue an exquisite affair. You wouldn't expec...

Kaikoura Seafood BBQ is the only other food truck in Kaikoura, in a similar fashion to Nins Bin . Its location at the town fringes is evidently advantageous; they attract a larger crowd despite the lackluster seafood and drab landscape - boring shrubs lining an endless stretch of tarmac. It's a good distance away from the sea so all you see are shrubs, the blue sky above and the grey road ahead. A monotonous, uninspired, and dreary view. I say, skip Kaikoura Seafood BBQ , and take the short drive out to Nin's Bin instead. It's a strikingly gorgeous drive, the food is markedly better, and the view incomparably breathtaking. The Grilled Crayfish ($38) had been left on the sizzler too long, resulting in rubbery and insipid flesh. Such a terrible waste of a beautiful crayfish. In contrast, the Garlic Scallops ($9 for half dozen), while minuscule, was perfectly cooked, retaining its plump lusciousness. The Grilled Fish ($17) was dreadfully undersalted and overcooked...

A historic pseudo-food truck along the coastal State Highway 1 just 15 minutes north of Kaikoura's town center, Nins Bin was one of our most memorable eats in New Zealand. With just the one person juggling the chef, server, cashier and cleaner roles, sided by her go-fer of a younger sister, this was the epitome of a charming little family-run establishment. Replete with a primitive robinson crusoe-like setup, with well-worn driftwood benches haphazardly strewn next to what appeared to be an abandoned rowboat. Nins Bin serves a decidedly limited menu of crayfish, mussels, and whitebait, all of which were swimmingly fresh. What they lacked in variety, they made up with quality and finesse in treating the seafood. The crayfish here was truly smashing, and totally unforgettable. It was so delicious, we promptly ordered a second, bigger, one as soon as we took one bite of our first order. Half hour waiting time be damned. We were happy enough to stare out into the great big pacific ...

Tanjong Pagar Road may be known as Little Korea for its multitude of Korean eateries, but there's the occasional oddball that bucks the pattern. Pho Stop , a sensible little outfit sandwiched between 2 Korean barbecue eateries, churns out notable Vietnamese cuisine for those not keen on bulgogi or kimchi. Which was exactly what we were thankful for when we found ourselves stuck in the area without a brolly in the middle of a thunderstorm. We'd thought a steaming hot bowl of soupy noodles would hit the comfort button in rainy weather, so we walked in even though Pho Stop 's clean, modern aesthetic didn't quite inspire confidence for authenticity. Turned out the food was great. Not as great as Long Phung , the undisputed best Vietnamese restaurant in sg imho, but great for its centralised location, less brusque service, less shabby ambience and wallet-friendly price points. The Cha Gio ($5.50) a cornucopia of minced root vegetables and pork mince, was a lot more meat...