I'm not very impressed with NYDC, so I'm not very sure what made me decide to come eat at its more expensive sister restaurant.

Oh right. The bf. That's usually the case.

Anyway how much you enjoy this restaurant really depends on what you order. I've come here twice; the first was more of a hit and the second, a miss.

The first time, I ordered the penne seafood marinara ($18.90). I was almost blown away by the pasta; it was really delicious. The pasta was cooked al dente, the generous helping of tomato gravy was flavourful and tasty, and the pasta was chockful with fresh squid, crabmeat slices and clams. Yum. This is a dish I definitely can come back to order again.

The second time round however, I ordered the crabmeat linguine ($17.90). What's the difference, you ask? Well, for one, it's just a lot of crabmeat, no squid or clam. For another, it's not a marinara sauce anymore; it's more of an aglio olio style, pan fried. For a third, I didn't find this quite so tasty. I felt like I was eating fried noodles, and the taste was much more subtle. Personally, I don't like subtle tasting food as much. I suspect that my tastebuds have been spoilt or something by too much salty tze char, but the fact remain. I don't like too subtle. And I can't stomach the idea of paying $18 for something that tastes like fried noodles, even if there are bits of crab meat inside.

My bf ordered the baby back ribs ($18.90) the first time he came as well. One thing about the mains here, is that they aren't really American portions. His ribs, in contrast to Billy Bomber's and Hog's Breath, were tiny. Okay, they were a reasonable size, but comparatively, still quite tiny. On the upside, this means that us girls can order a portion without worrying if we can finish. And we don't have to stuff our faces with meat. The ribs were not bad anyway. Meat was tender without being overboiled; gravy was tasty. Worth a second order, methinks.

The second time he came around, he ordered the bacon-wrapped chicken leg. Again, a good choice, albeit a little tiny. It was literally a few pieces of chicken leg wrapped in bacon, and covered in a sauce which I believe to be teriyaki. Okay, none too imaginative, but very delicious nonetheless. I think it didn't fill him up much though; he still seemed hungry thereafter.

As for desserts - personally, now with the whole range of upmarket homemade gelatos and ice-creams around, I would say to skip the ice-creams and sundaes. They are expensive, but I don't find them any better than say, Swensen's. I still can't distinguish a macadamia nut ice-cream from a rum and raisin (except rum and raisins has raisins and is impossibly sweet) and so on. If you can't distinguish your ice-cream flavours, it's probably not a very good kind of ice-cream.

What we go for, is the cakes. Can't help it; you walk by the display of cakes in the counter. What is a hit for us is the Indecent Obsession, the chocolate hazelnut cake ($5.95). Yes, it's really sweet, but there's chocolate and there's chocolate mousse and sponge... well... You get the idea.

What is a miss for me is the Aphrodisiac ($5.95). It sounds great on paper - heart-shaped chocolate truffle cake. And it looks pretty too (the heart-shaped thing). Problem with it, chocolatey taste nonwithstanding, is that it comes across rather dry. You can pair it with ice-cream for another $3.80), but methinks a really good cake is best on its own.

As for service, so far we've had pretty good service each time we go. We get to order promptly, our glasses get refilled quickly, and we get a change of cutlery every time. With a smile too. I like that.

Oh. And the dogs. Who can forget the pictures of the dogs on the wall. Great talking point in between waiting for your dishes. You can decide between which breed you'd prefer to own, and which breed is a little stu... uh, less intelligent than the others.