... My younger son had taken his girlfriend to Ask a few weeks before and recommended it. I had never been to Ask as we don't have one locally, so I was all in favour of trying somewhere new.
When we arrived at 4.30pm that Saturday the place was fairly quiet and as there were three of us we were ... Read review
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Advantages: Good food at reasonable prices. Disadvantages: No food delivery that day!
...had taken his girlfriend to Ask a few weeks before and recommended it. I had never been to Ask as we don't have one locally, so I was all in favour of trying somewhere new.
When we arrived at 4.30pm that Saturday the place was fairly quiet and as there were three of us we were shown to a table that was intended for four. Before I had even had chance to sit down the waitress was handing out menus but warning us that several things were ... ...serving if you did not ask the waitress to stop grating. The main-course portions were not overly large and anyone with a big appetite might want to order a side salad, but we all felt that our main dishes were just enough. My elder son said that his risotto was the best he had ever tasted, and I know he's sampled a good few. My younger son can be quite a fussy eater but he had no complaints, polishing off every last mouthful. I was equally happy ... more
Bath city centre has no shortage of restaurants to offer, but many of them close between 2.30pm and 6pm. We had to catch a train just after 6.30pm and realised that we would have to settle for a chain restaurant that stayed open throughout the afternoon. My younger son had taken his girlfriend to Ask a few weeks before and recommended it. I had never been to Ask as we don't have one locally, so I was all in favour of trying somewhere new.
When we arrived at 4.30pm that Saturday the place was fairly quiet and as there were three of us we were shown to a table that was intended for four. Before I had even had chance to sit down the waitress was handing out menus but warning us that several things were not available. These included all the main course specials, salmon and ciabatta. I was a little peeved about the salmon, but I presumed they had had a busy lunchtime and had run out.
The waitress was soon back to take our drinks order and I asked for a Fruitiser. She went off to check and came back to regretfully inform me that that was not available either. Not a good start. My elder son and I ordered Appletiser (£1.95 each) whilst my younger son went for a Peroni Gran Riserva beer at £3.65 plus a glass of water. These were soon brought by a different waitress.
Turning to the food menu, I didn't want a starter, not wishing to spoil my appetite for the main course, but my sons decided to share the prosciutto and mozarella crostini at £4.65, which is served with fresh rocket salad and a balsamic glaze. We also ordered some marinated olives for £1.95. I noticed on the specials board that there was a king prawn starter that day for a whopping £7.95 as well as mushroom and marsala soup which was under five pounds.
The main course menu has sections for pizza (including calzone or folded pizza), salads, pasta and risotto as well as oven-baked dishes. My younger son had had a pizza on his previous visit and thoroughly enjoyed it but decided to try something different this time. He chose a Milanese oven dish, polpette al forno, made with penne pasta, beef meatballs, fire-roasted peppers, caramelised onions, chillies, garlic, pomodoro sauce and melted cheese (£8.25). My elder son is very partial to risotto and liked the sound of the vegetarian one made with cream and white wine, courgettes, caramelised leeks, peas, oven roasted tomatoes, artichoke and black olives (£8.95). Still lamenting the lack of salmon, I decided on ravioli burro e pesce, large ravioli parcels stuffed with crayfish, crab, smoked salmon and mascarpone cheese with a white wine, spring onion and dill sauce topped with fresh rocket (£9.25).
The starters arrived promptly and the crostini certainly looked very appetising, although I declined the offer of a taste. The green olives (of which there were eight, along with a couple of black ones) were huge: the biggest I've seen. The taste of them definitely lived up to expectations. When we had finished it was only a short wait until the main courses were served. The ravioli and risotto were served in round dishes whereas the pasta came in an oval-shaped oven dish. Grated parmesan and black pepper were offered, and the parmesan was a very generous serving if you did not ask the waitress to stop grating. The main-course portions were not overly large and anyone with a big appetite might want to order a side salad, but we all felt that our main dishes were just enough. My elder son said that his risotto was the best he had ever tasted, and I know he's sampled a good few. My younger son can be quite a fussy eater but he had no complaints, polishing off every last mouthful. I was equally happy with my ravioli, which had plenty of dill and sliced spring onions in evidence on top. The ravioli itself was just the right consistency and there was plenty of filling which tasted delicious. I was satisfied that I'd managed to get some salmon after all.
Perhaps the fact that we were celebrating my younger son's birthday a few days early encouraged us to ask for the dessert menu. It was a different waitress again by this time, and she explained that they were short of particular things that day because they had not had a food delivery for some reason. She said it would actually be easier to tell us what was on the dessert menu rather than what was not available. We had a choice between profiteroles, two flavours of ice cream, a tempting chocolate pudding with an orange sauce centre (on the specials board), chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream or lemon and mascarpone cheesecake. Two of us decided that the cheesecake, at £4.95, was the slightly lighter option and one ordered the chocolate cake (£4.75).
It was about 5.30pm by this time and the restaurant was filling up quite quickly. There was a slightly longer wait for the desserts to arrive, but we were happy to have a bit of a break after our main courses. The cake looked very indulgent, covered as it was in chocolate sauce with a scoop of ice cream to the side. The verdict was favourable except that the sauce could have been a little warmer to contrast with the ice cream. We did feel we had made a good choice with the cheesecake, which had a gorgeous lemon flavour and was topped with flaked almonds. We certainly felt full by that time and did not order coffee as we needed to make our way back to the station.
By 6pm the restaurant was almost completely full. My son said that on the previous occasion they had arrived about 8.30pm, again on a Saturday, without a reservation and had been asked to come back in an hour. (They had drinks at the Pig and Fiddle just across the road whilst waiting). Ask is obviously a popular place, serving good food at reasonable prices in very pleasant surroundings. One thing that did strike me was that the tables were not too close together in the area where we were seated, so it was possible to have a conversation without feeling that others could hear or being aware of conversations at nearby tables. The music was not so loud as to be intrusive either.
The décor is mostly white with arty vases on windowsills and the occasional abstract painting. The bar is a contrasting black, and bottles of wine are displayed in profusion. Potted palms dotted here and there provide more privacy between neighbouring tables. Lighting is provided by spotlights on a frame in the ceiling, and these were lowered quite a bit at around 6pm. One reservation I have is that the toilets are situated in the basement down two flights of stairs.
Ask does have a special children's menu and there were several young children there when we arrived. One tiny one, however, escaped and was playing with the chain in the middle of the two sides of the large specials easel; if mum hadn't come to the rescue fast enough, he could have pulled the whole thing over and perhaps been squashed in the middle. Not a pleasant thought.
Our bill came to £55.25, so you could say £20 a head after adding a tip. That seems very good value since my sons almost had three courses each, bearing in mind that they shared a starter.
I came away feeling that I wished there were an Ask restaurant in Portsmouth. (My nearest would be Chichester or Petersfield.) The waitresses were polite and friendly, the food was enjoyed by all three of us without a single complaint, we liked the place itself and felt that prices were very fair. Had there been a food delivery that day, we would have had even more choice on the menu. I am sure that I shall be returning to Ask when I have an opportunity, and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys Italian food.
Ask Restaurant The Royal York Hotel George Street Bath BA1 2AF
Advantages: Lots of variety, fast service Disadvantages: Drinks can be expensive
we went to Ask pizza in Basingstoke today armed with out buy one get one free voucher from moneysavingexpert.com It was just after the lunch rush so we were asked to wait on some cumfy sofas whilst they prepared a table for us, we were given the menus whilst we waited (which was only about 5 mins) we were there as a family with our two children ( 11 and 9) and we just had a main meal each - I had the aubergine dish, OH had the vesuviopizza, our son ... ...pineapple pizza, we also had a jug of water, a huge beer and some cokes and it came it just under £30 as we had the voucher with us The vesuvio was very, very hot especially after the OH added some chili oil - it was just what he wanted and it was the heat he wanted too, it was far too hot for us though so just be warned that it is a very hot pizza My daughter had the ham and pineapple - it was nice, nothing amazing but she was happy with it My son ...
posy1 07.06.2009
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Ask Pizza
Advantages: Drippy thin crusted pizza at its best Disadvantages: Pizzas are getting smaller
We discovered Ask about a year and a half ago. We always frequented Pizza Express, but got a little fed up with their prices constantly going up and their portions always going down. So we stumbled upon Ask and decided to give it a try.
Ask is just what we were looking for. The pizzas are yummy! Greasy and thin crusted with sublime toppings. They even have a Fiorentina like Pizza Express does and I like it even better. It drips with grease. I like ... ...share.
Not only does Ask do pizza well, but their salads and pastas are delicious as well. Ask for their Ask salad as a starter. You won't be disappointed. Their dressing is a perfect accompaniment. Their lasagne is delicious and a healthy portion as well. Actually, every pasta we've had has been very nice.
I think the dessert menu is a bit weak, but their Ask Chocolate Fudge Cake is heavenly. Ask for it warm. Mmmmm Mmmmmmmmm!
The decor is perfect ...
Lgair 11.10.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Ask Pizza
Advantages: Great service, value, food, atmosphere and just a heck of a nice place to visit Disadvantages: somewhat limited menu. Meat-lovers beware
...menu in the beautifully atmospheric Ask restaurant. Weird and wonderful vegetables, mouthwatering pasta and garlic breads all seemed irresistable until I learned of the distinct lack of meaty products. Indeed, it seemed as though the inclusion of meat products in the menu was something of an embarassment (the discussion of sexual positions with the in-laws, for example) as they all seemed to be added as an afterthought. My fiancee wiped the cold ... ...as I came to terms with my fate. My friends waiting for me to experience a Linda Blair moment when the full realisation of the evening to come would dawn upon me.
The waitress approached and we ordered drinks. The service was very impressive and the environment was wonderfully distracting, with soft music filling the background and modern art adorning the walls. The low hum of conversations being carried out on nearby tables added to the perception ...
stoolie74 17.06.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Ask Pizza
Advantages: All around London and major towns Disadvantages: Same menu everywhere
Hi all, This is a pizza chain with more than a Italian hint, It has a lot of charm and the food can come to as little as £15 a head for a 3 course meal, £20 including wine,
The Pizzas are all thin crust and the toppings vary but the two that I have found are best. - 4 seasons and Inferno. 4 seasons has everything and inferno - well its mild. The chilli oil that they have does really hit the spot if they have left it to mature for a while.
The baoffee ...
Victor77 25.02.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Ask Pizza
Advantages: Good menu, in the main Disadvantages: None really
As Italian restaurants go, Ask is pretty typical. The menu consists mainly of pizzas, but this is supplemented by a good (better than most chains of Italian restaurants) range of alternative pasta dishes as well as the ubiquitous salads.
The pizzas are a good size, well-topped and tasty. However, depending on what you consider to be good value, you might say that they are overpriced, even though in general they are less expensive than at Pizza Express ... ...quality is good.
While Ask may not plug its own proprietary salad dressing (as Pizza Express does), theirs is jolly good. The contents of the salads are perhaps not as exciting as elsewhere, but they are a fairly healthy and enjoyable meal nonetheless.
The desert menu is a bit short (with a choice of only about four or five different sweets), but that is one of the few down-points. The drinks are not as overpriced as they might be and the service ...
richardashdowne 30.01.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Ask Pizza
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I'm a big lover of Italian food, and am pretty spoilt for choice where I live for choices of places to go - Prezzo, Zizzi, Ask, Pizza Express..... Ultimately though, I will opt for Prezzos nine time out of ten.
The restaurant itself is lovely, I appreciate that as a chain this will vary but I have been to two or three Prezzos and they all seem to follow a similar format. There are a variety of table sizes, with big parties kept away from couples dining - either in a seperate room or 'section' of the restaurant. This is good for all concerned as there seem to be a lot of hen parties on a Friday or Saturday night! I have always found them to be clean (and clean cutlery too, which is always the first thing I notice!), with used tables cleaned away quickly. There always seems to be a good atmosphere too, with soft music playing ...
Advantages: Bargain of a meal with our discount voucher. Good portions. Friendly service. Disadvantages: Fairly bland food. Poorly appointed table.
Money Saving Expert once again came up trumps on our recent trawl to find someone new to dine out. Having tried Ask last year (and coming away replete but not exactly over-whelmed with the menu), this time it was the turn of Prezzo, another high street Italian chain. Like Ask, Pizza Express, Strada, Zizzi et al, Prezzo offer informal Italian themed dining in contemporary and stylish looking outlets. Prezzo have around 140 different city centre outlets dotted throughout the UK, many of which are located in listed buildings or places of historic interest. For example, the restaurant in Chichester (where we dined) is located in an old city centre pub with loads of traditional wooden beams and stained glass windows.
Prezzo offer a broad range of Italian dishes including pizza, pasta, risotto and salads. Their emphasis is on using fresh ...
