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A few weeks ago it was my mum’s birthday so I decided to take her out for a meal in the evening to celebrate. I let her choose where she wanted to go and she picked Ask after we had a really nice meal in there last year and we were both keen to go back and try more things on the menu. One thing that really daunted me about the place when we first went is that it would be too expensive, the modern decor and look of the place made it seem like a really expensive place to eat but it’s not at all. It’s a bit more than your average chain restaurant [see Frankie and Benny’s, Bella Italia] but the quality of the food and service is worth paying extra for. There also isn’t an air of snobbishness there which is nice because I hate walking into a restaurant and instantly feeling uncomfortable for not being posh enough etc.
We were booked in for 5 and arrived a bit early but were shown straight to our table, there’s no ‘you’ll have to wait until it’s ready’ here. We were given the menu’s and a chance to pick a drink before being asked what we would like, number 1 pet hate is being asked what I want before I have even sat down/looked at the menu, so another plus for Ask there leaving us time to get settled. We decided to go for a bottle of sparkling rose which was amazing, £20 for the bottle isn’t too bad for restaurant quality and between 2 people it certainly went a long way. While they were getting our drink and we were choosing what to eat Howard from GBBO walked in and I had a bit of a fangirl moment to mum, I love Howard, he was ace on Bake Off.
Anyway back to the food, I ordered a vegetarian pizza called ‘Verdure’ on a Prima base instead of classic. It had two of my favourites artichoke and olives on it and as I have a serious love for anything with artichokes or olives on it or in it that pulled me in and I’m glad I had it. The pizza was amazing, it was beautifully cooked with amazing flavours and very filling. My mum had ‘Penne Al Pollo Della Casa’ or chicken and mushroom pasta to you and me which came with a side salad. I also ordered her a garlic bread and pretty much forced her to eat it all regardless of how huge it actually was because it was her birthday. If you can’t pig out on your birthday then when can you.
I was pretty full after that huge pizza but it was mum’s birthday so obviously it would be rude not to have dessert and treat ourselves a little. Mum went for profiteroles, her absolute favourite, you got quite a generous portion all covered in a chocolate sauce and filled with ice cream instead of cream which if I’d have known I would have had those. But my dessert was just as amazing! It was ‘Calzone Di Mele’ which is basically a fruit filled calzone. There are cinnamon flavoured apples and currants wrapped in dough in the style of a calzone, cooked and sprinkled with icing sugar and served with ice cream. Literally so so beautiful! I dread to think how many calories were in it but I totally recommend it. All the spices coming through the apples and currants with cinnamon was beautiful and just my kind of dessert.
It was a lovely meal and the perfect place to go for a birthday as a treat. The food was lovely, the staff were amazing, we didn’t feel rushed at all and enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere. I would completely recommend Ask to anybody whether it is for a special occasion or not, it really is one of the nicest restaurants I have eaten at in the city.
Mixtape Couture 