ASK Italian

We used to love Ask Italian in Islington but they sadly closed recently. As we were in the neighbourhood, we gave this branch another chance and were totally disappointed.

We ordered Lingione Con Fruitti di Mare and Sea Bass al Forno. The pasta sauce was bland and congealing, and sea bass wasn't fresh - it was almost off. Our neighbour's pizza looked very soggy and unappetising.

There were only 2 servers and the serice was friendly but very slow. Park Street branch is far better.

Four of us came in for a meal as its so close to our hotel and one of the guys had been in before.

We ordered our drinks,then our food, but we must waited over 45 min for our starters, one guy wondered if the bruchetta was meant to be cold, and found it uninspiring!next guy said his garlic bread was cold, and sent it back, asking for it to be taken off our bill, third guy had calamari which he said was fine. Mine, my starter never arrived, so I had to catch the waiter's eye and ask for it! It did arrive few mins later, piping hot, thankfully!!!

Service was slow, but they redeemed them selves with the Mains, which were hot and arrived relatively together.

We were able to use a 20% off voucher off both food and drink inc alcohol! Good saving!

Well I'd never been to an Ask before! "Why?" I hear you ask! Well, because if I fancied that quick and inexpensive pizza/pasta malarkey then Pizza Express was always my one-stop-shop as they always had some kind of offer on the go.

After a couple of none too impressive PEx visits over the last couple of years I'd decided no more! I will not set foot in a Pizza Express ever again (for a while at least), deal or no deal, Noel!

But recently I was near Warren Street with a friend at lunchtime craving pizza and there was Ask! "So what did you do?" I hear you ask! Well, I went in of course.

There were a couple of tables occupied and one man (I'm pretty convinced he was a manager) working all on his tod. He welcomed us warmly and told us to choose where we'd like to sit. "So, where did you sit?" I hear you ask. We sat by the window.

I ordered the Quattro Stagioni pizza which was a curious oblong shape and served on a board with one of those rolling cutters - hurrah, you're already one step up on Pizza Express!

It was delicious with plenty of fresh topping and a lovely thin and crispy base. I was stuffed!

The waiter/manager was attentive but not overbearing, friendly and cute enough for my dining companion to develop a crush on him over lunch.

It looks as though there is downstairs dining space so plenty of room for big groups, and the food is good and cheap enough for the amount you get.

"So, what's the conclusion to this story?" I hear you ask. Well if you're in the market for a quick and tasty pizza why not give Ask a go? Have a Quattro Stagioni for me!

Really great casual Italian food!

For an appetizer, I ordered the Garlic Bread with Cheese. Unfortunately, I had to share this dish with everybody at my table; I could have eaten the entire plate by myself because it was so darn good. The bread that they used was their own pizza dough. It was really fluffy and absorbed the garlic flavor really well. YUM!

I also highly recommend the Ravioli Marittimo for an entree. The ravioli was stuffed with bits of crawfish, crab, and poached salmon and came in a creamy, garlicky tomato sauce. A perfect combination of ingredients. I definitely want to order this again the next time I come here.

Service was really slow when I was here because, according to my waitress, they were training new chefs in the kitchen that day. But hey, I'm willing to forgive since I left this place with my taste buds satisfied and my stomach filled to the brim.

I went to Ask for lunch on a Friday and I was pleasantly surprised. It was the first time I'd been and the space was welcoming. If you don't want to be around screaming children during your lunch seat at the second level, which feels more like a balcony because you can look down on the rest of the restaurant and out the large windows. Sadly the view is a large empty lot that's being turned into something, not very interesting or romantic.

For lunch I had the chicken Caesar salad which had lots of chicken in it. The salad was very well done with just the right amount of dressing. I have had other chicken Caesar salads where I can barely see the chicken, so I appreciated a salad that had a full chicken breast in it. Overall my experience was good, the service was good and for lunch it didn't break the bank, something that's always appreciated.

There's really nothing bad or good to be said about Ask, this one or the chain in general!

They have a 50% off main courses, or a 40% off all your food, voucher on right now and as the queue for the nearby Franco Manca was out the door (at 2.30pm on a weekday!), I ended up here at Ask.

I ordered a rigatoni with courgettes in a creamy pesto sauce, and added chicken for an extra £1.50. I also asked for garlic bread with cheese to come with my main course. I washed it all down with a Coke and with the discount, it came to £11.70. So not cheap (mainly because the garlic bread with cheese was a fiver).

So the garlic bread came before my main (grr) and it's one of those pizza types, which wasn't really what I was after. It went a bit hard and was like gnawing on slightly garlicy, not very cheesy pizza crust.

The pasta was fine, but there wasn't anywhere near enough courgettes, as it was meant to be the main component. I had about 5 small pieces of chicken - but for the small upcharge, I wasn't expecting much. The pesto cream sauce was different - very chunky, and tasted mainly of garlic and pine nuts (there were quite large pine nut pieces in the sauce). I like garlic and pine nuts, so I didn't leave hungry.

It was fine. It would have been too expensive at the nearly £20 it would have been without the voucher. If you're at a loss, it's not the worst choice you could make. It just won't be very exciting...

I often joke that London is the best diet plan ever - horrible overpriced food makes losing a few pounds quite easy.

Ask is the exception to the rule. I've been to several locations of the mini-chain and I've never had a bad meal at Ask.

Try the Spaghetti al tono. It's delicious!

The interior decoration of this restaurant is bright and cheerful. The food is OK at Ask Italian Warren Street. The Pollo Milanese was soggy and the breadcrumbed chicken was not crisp at all. The pizza Sourdough Carne was a little bit too crunchy. The pizza base was too hard but the topping was cheesy and was dotted with meat sauce (Ragu). A little unusual but tasted OK.

For dessert we had Tiramisu which was far too sweet and not the right texture. I thought the food was OK but it needs to Improve for me to be a frequent visitor.

Delicious! Came in for a late dinner and they were still happy to serve me after 10 pm. The pancetta asparagus carbonara was great. For dessert: honeycomb cheesecake!!!

Food's good. Service was just painstakingly slow, on a late Friday night (almost 9 pm).

I thought the 2 course special for under £11 was a good deal, although it took forever to get the appetizer and the main entree out. Good portions, too.

Wouldn't mind going again, but I am hesitant to try if I'm on an empty stomach.