MIN RATNA BAJRACHARYA

Bored with the same old food? Rox Restaurant at the Hyatt Regency has livened up this month's menu with new risotto and gnocchi 'specials', available until 20 July, which head sous-chef Dawa Lama says will offer a "unique pasta flavour to the Nepali people".

These additions to the usual menu, it must be said, are simply delicious, offering customers a whole new taste of Italian food beyond run-of-the-mill pasta dishes and plain old pizza.

The risotto, cooked with the delectably soft, plump and sticky japonica rice sautéed in olive oil or butter is definitely worth trying. One option, the 'risotto de mari', is a magnificent combination of shrimp, squid and prawn covered with a luxurious bisque sauce. Or there's a green asparagus risotto, which uses asparagus and seasonal vegetables organically grown in the hotel's own garden. Perhaps best of all is the wild mushroom and Fontina cheese risotto, which draws out the exquisite flavour of the porcini mushrooms.

With the gnocchi, Rox offers an adventurous beetroot, saffron and spinach gnocchi as well as the plain variety. Accompanying this simple yet delicious dumpling dish are a selection of rich, aromatic sauces ranging from basil pesto to sage butter, mushroom and blue cheese, and bolognaise.

Washed down with a glass of crisp Australian Pinot grigio, these new dishes will give your taste buds a thorough,
and doubtless pleasing, workout!

Shradha Basnyat