If gorging yourself on desserts needs a justification, a 21st birthday is as good as any. My friends and I celebrated mine over four days; decisions were made, 10 desserts were consumed and. Well, we'll be in the gym if you want to talk to us.We started out with a flan at Taqueria Mexico (24 Charles St., Waltham). It was freshly made, with a good, solid custard; a great investment at $2.50.

Next up was some quality time at Fire and Ice (50 Church St., Cambridge). The restaurant is unusual: basically a you-choose raw buffet with a huge stovetop in the middle and a few chefs around the edges. It's a great place for full meals-$17 per person, all-you-can-eat-but not for dessert. The turtle cheesecake (caramel and chocolate) was pretty average, even with whipped cream, candles and some obligatory singing. The best part of our meal was the Lava Flow, a mixture of strawberry daiquiri and piSa colada with coconut and a big slice of pineapple for about $12, although it was a little light on the rum.

We then headed to Om Restaurant and Lounge, where we ate in a private room. We were lucky to secure such arrangements: Om was rated highly this year among the best new restaurants in America by Esquire, has a chef with a prominent name-Rachel Klein-and desserts to die for.

By this point, the girls and I had tired of heavy sweets, so we chose a rice pudding. It was a great decision-a beautiful balance of golden raisins in light syrup, pralines, caramel and, of course, a light and delicious rice pudding. Reasonably priced, dessert came to about $9. Om is also known for its aromatherapy cocktails; my roommate had a lavender cosmopolitan for $12, which she enjoyed thoroughly. I stuck with champagne while listening to the music-clubbish electronica. The prix fixe menu also seemed worth checking out: $50 per person with wine, and their wine list is one to drink by.

The next day, we dropped by Ponzu (286 Moody St.) for several courses, culminating in a complimentary tapioca dessert soup and some fairly typical mochi (marshmallow-wrapped Chinese ice cream). The soup was one of the best parts of the dining experience, although the restaurant was still expensive for the quantity and quality of its fare. They do serve an excellent-if over-priced-plum wine and a very nice cream sherry, which was reasonably priced at $6.

Saturday evening's close was Tempo (474 Moody St.). The menu is expensive for the college and young-professional budget, but seemed worth it. Feeling indecisive, we ordered the dessert sampler ($16), which is a selection of five mini-dishes from the kitchen of Jennifer Renaud, a pastry chef. We tried an extremely rich chocolate brownie with a ball of something good on top (it disappeared too quickly to discern its identity), a miniature cheesecake-style tart with a caramelized sugar emblem, an apple tart, a dollop of hazelnut turtle cream mousse and about two ounces of craeme brule in its own dish, complete with suitable, if out-of-season, fruits.

We paired this with a dark hot chocolate ($3.75) that was too good to pass up, and a 1979 Armagnac ($12) that was excellent, if a little masculine for our tastes. Tempo also offers various specialty martinis and a long and comprehensive wine list, including some very special reds that would be fun on their own.

Of the restaurants we tried this week, Tempo and Om are best saved for special occasions or parents' visits, while Fire and Ice offers a decent (if loud) birthday experience. It is significant, I think, that Ponzu's highlight is its free item (The restaurant should rethink its menu,) while Taqueria is a good everyday Mexican place and easy on the pocketbook. In the meantime, I'm not interested in eating anything sweet ever again-at least not until Wednesday.