KUALA LUMPUR, July 3 -- Italian restaurants, by virtue of the cuisine's unceasing universal appeal, are a dime a dozen in Kuala Lumpur. But the actual variety of dishes on offer remains limited to the specific brand of Italian cooking that's proved popular with Malaysians: safe, uninspired pasta and pizza.

And although we have finally started coming around to Neapolitan pizza in the last few years, our reluctance as diners to expand our palates beyond what our TikTok and Instagram algorithms tell us means most restaurants have to stick to what is tried and tested.

So how does one stand out from the rest?

Some try in ways that don't quite work. They might chase trends and shoehorn pistachios into a dish - yes, it's a current trend, slat...