CHRISTMAS is far from over, but one too many mince pies can leave you feeling more stuffed than the turkey and looking forward to the fresh tastes of the new year. And if you are looking for a fresh taste, say Ayya to Weymouth’s latest offering.

This new bar on St Thomas Street offers something decidedly different for the town’s nightlife (and day life, also).

Namely, it serves its delicious pan-Asian food until the early hours. Which is handy if a cocktail or two can leave you rather peckish (and leads to the inevitable next-day guilt after a greasy kebab on the way home.) This food is fresh out the kitchen and the sushi is delivered every day by a local Chinese lady called Ann, proprietor of A S Sushi.

It is a proper treat, as is the Jasmine tea; watch as the little pod bursts in to a beautiful flower. When something looks so beautiful, you might expect the taste to be a bit of a disappointment.

But what a taste it had. Here’s that word again – it was fresh.

This is one of a wide variety of teas, including Asian leaf tea (the same variety they sell at The Dorchester), Assam Breakfast, White Peony and Organic Jade Sword.

But if you’re looking for something a little more, why not try the sparkling Sake?

Having never tried this Japanese drink before, I didn’t quite know what to expect. I assumed it would be a champagne-esque.

But it’s a lot more refreshing, doesn’t leave you feeling heavy and goes down a lot more easily (perhaps too easily).

If full-bodied is more your thing, a ‘must try’ is the Indian wine – how about a lively Shiraz from Maharashtra?

And when in Rome (or a pan-Asian-inspired bar) then one must try the pan-Asian inspired drinks.

Choose between chocolate-infused vodka with chocolate milk, ginger infused gin with orange juice, bitter orange and cardamom-infused vodka with cranberry juice, cinnamon and vanilla-infused rum with apple juice.

Your budget may not stretch to foreign travel in 2015. But I can honestly say that sitting in this new pan Asian bar felt a million miles from Weymouth.

So let your taste buds travel the world whilst you stay just a stone’s throw away from the Town Bridge.