Celadon

One of the better outlets in the SEA Group family of mall-friendly Thai restaurants, which also includes BSC's Busaba, 1 Utama's Good Evening Bangkok & Mid Valley's Flying Chillies.

Prawns Part I: Tom yam soup _ sourish, spicy & swamped with prawns & mussels.

Prawns Part II: Pomelo salad, with plenty of juicy pulp complemented somewhat unusually by battered prawns, squid, roasted coconut & ground peanuts.

Prawns Part III: Northern Thai prawn curry with pineapples. Delicious, even without the distinctive flavors of the typical Thai green & red curries. Tastes like it could be Malaysian.

Prawn-free interlude: Grilled strip loin on hot plate with northern Thai sauce. Can't complain; the well-marinated beef is the furthest thing from bland & chewy.

Prawns Part IV: Sizzling seafood with Thai herbs. Bonus point: Celadon's food displays few apparent signs of MSG.

Prawns Part V: Pineapple fried rice, intriguingly topped with chicken floss (besides the prawns, naturally) for an enjoyable chewiness.

A fair range of wine is available _ not something to take for granted at a Thai eatery.

Celadon Royal Thai Cuisine,

Pavilion, Kuala Lumpur.

Flavors & Baan 26

Have yourself a merry little turkey...

The festive buffet at Swiss-Garden's Flavors Restaurant is a fulfilling feast, even though some customers might be driven bonkers because 'Jingle Bells' is played on an endless loop here _ every second, minute & hour.

All the Yuletide essentials are accounted for, from oysters, prawns & mussels on the fresh seafood counter to turkey pot pie, lamb osso bucco, sea bass & scallops in the hot food section.

Roast beef too. A fair spread at RM70++ per adult & half-price for children & senior citizens.

A plateful of turkey (dark meat, please), chestnut stuffing (delicious!), giblets & cranberry sauce to help me meet my turkey requirement for 2011.

Much meat & various veggies build a balanced meal to make the spirits bright. Quality-wise, it's not top-flight though _ the duck confit with orange zest might seem leathery & overcooked.

Log cakes, stollen, puddings, fruit cakes _ enough desserts to make every belly as bounteous as Santa's. Service at Flavors is reasonably attentive & efficient, with used plates regularly cleared & empty glasses of water replenished.

If the evening is young & there's no hurry to head home to make sure the kids are fast asleep, then take a 10-minute drive to Changkat Bukit Bintang for a nightcap.

Many know Changkat's Baan 26 Restaurant for its tasty Thai food, but the Thai-inspired cocktails here are equally enjoyable: Tuk Tuk (pandan vodka, bacardi, lychee juice) & Pandan Fantasy (pandan vodka, malibu, gin, midori, apple juice).

Thai's Land (red wine, vodka, orange juice) & Monsoon Red Alert (tom yam vodka, malibu, watermelon, lychee).

Kiwi Vodka Caipiroska & Golden Triangle (that's what the receipt says it was, but we've forgotten what it contains _ blame that on the booze!).

Flavors Restaurant,

Swiss-Garden Hotel, Kuala Lumpur.

Baan 26,
Changkat Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur.

Maduro & De Solvang

Drink & be merry! Maduro & De Solvang are two watering holes, one at TTDI & the other at Solaris Mont Kiara _ a 10-minute drive from each other, using the excellent Penchala Link.

First up, Maduro _ a handsome TTDI cigar lounge, free from crowds on weekday evenings.

Food wasn't available on our not-so-recent visit here (months ago, eeeks!), but we were satisfied with red wine at about RM16 a glass.

We're not cigar buffs though, so this selection was wasted on us.

Next up, De Solvang _ not one of Mont Kiara's high-profile watering holes, but still worth a stop.

De Solvang's menu is wide, featuring snacks such as Haitian Chicken Wraps _ tortillas filled with meat marinated in rum & Coke. Sounded unusual, but tasted unmemorable. Or maybe we were too tipsy to remember.

Decent drinks at decent prices: Japanese Slipper (midori, cointreau, lemon juice) & Walking On The Beach (What's in this cocktail? We forget. But we think Sex On The Beach is better).

Ninety-nine bottles of something-something on the wall, ninety-nine bottles...

Bar Maduro,

Lorong Rahim Kajai 13, Taman Tun Dr Ismail.

De Solvang,

Solaris Mont Kiara, Kuala Lumpur.

Charlie Brown Cafe @ KLCC

Charlie, Snoopy & the rest of the Peanuts gang have found a new home at KLCC, in the nick of time to spread the Yuletide cheer.

This is Malaysia's second Charlie Brown Cafe; the first opened at Penang's Straits Quay several months ago, while another may launch later at Puchong's Setiawalk.

We stuck to sweets for this visit, ordering treats _ like this Lucy-adorned New York Cheesecake _ topped with chocolate miniatures & hand-made artwork of Charles Schulz's characters.

Snoopy mango cheesecake. Notwithstanding their novelty value, the taste & texture of these cakes fall short of expectations. Blame it on a palpably gelatinous artifice.

Woodstock blueberry cheesecake. Each small slice costs RM9.50; Charlie Brown Cafe's prices seem steep, but perhaps justifiable considering KLCC's rental rates.

Charlie Brown tiramisu. My favorite Peanuts character _ though really, nearly everyone in the comic strip is lovable. Even Sally Brown.

Chocolate mousse, with a somewhat off-kilter flavor & strange graininess (though we liked its creamy top). Based on desserts, the cafe needs tons of work in the food department; still, its fun surroundings make it worth a visit.

Hot Chocolate. Our beverage was nice though. Fragrant with cocoa milkiness.

Charlie Brown Cafe Malaysia,

LC-207, 2nd Floor, Suria KLCC, Kuala Lumpur.

SUB 18 @ TTDI

Hidden at the back of Taman Tun Dr Ismail's's Petronas station, SUB 18 is melting the hearts of this neighborhood's numerous ice cream lovers.

Open through 10 pm daily, the outlet offers no fewer than 18 frosty flavors, including fascinating ones such as cempedak & durian. Both would partner perfectly with the cempedak pandan cake at The Troika's Acme Bar & Coffee.

SUB 18 brands its treats as gelato, but the textures seem to lean closer to regular ice cream instead of the Italian sort. The flavors are nevertheless potent & true-to-life, even though this bubble gum one could have been concocted in a laboratory test tube.

Traditional gelato flavors _ bacio (chocolate hazelnut) & creme caramel _ sandwiched in vanilla oat cookies for a messy, sticky-finger confection that children would likely love.

Need something stronger? Take a five-minute drive to Damansara Perdana's PJ Trade Center, where Gecko Gastrobar serves its own kitchen-made alcoholic ice cream.

We tried three types _ Johnnie Walker Whiskey, kahlua & stout _ each boasting a distinct though not overwhelming boozy undertone.

For RM10 a glass, all are a nicely affordable change from normal desserts.
Earlier entry on Gecko's savory snacks: October 27.

Need something even stronger? Drive another five minutes, this time to 1 Utama's L Table by Lavender, which serves astonishingly powerful cocktails for only about RM20 each.

Lychee martinis. Much better than many RM30 versions elsewhere.

Hendrick's gin & tonic, alongside a Bellini (prosecco, peach puree).
Earlier entry on L Table's food: September 26.

SUB18 @ TTDI.

Gecko @ PJ Trade Center, Damansara Perdana.

L Table @ 1 Utama.