ASK

ASK Italian, London Bridge — It was only I became a mum, to my 13 month (and still in training mode) old child, that I had to think carefully about the place when we dine out. Now, I need to know if it is stroller friendly, has proper high chair, the appropriateness of the ambience, was there baby changing room, etc. My little one is still not able to eat a kids meal but we already need to consider at great length for a children and baby friendly restaurant. And, oh no, you will not find me in a McDonald’s yet.
ASK Italian welcomes baby and children. There were prepared balloons, colouring provisions, kids menu and children’s board of fame to hang their colouring masterpiece. Even the menu of pizzas, lasagne, pastas and desserts is popular irrespective of age. Of course, there was prosecco and wine for the grown ups. ASK knows how to deliver a family friendly place. I can hardly be less enthusiastic to write more a food chain business, so let’s just go straight on to the food which took a lengthy time to be served.
sea bass al forno £14.55 — the piece of fish was quite thin, served hot but I felt it was a smallish plate for a main.
spaghetti al pomodoro £8.25
calzone con carne picante £11.95 — cheesy with various meats, disappointingly under spiced, and not quite big enough, but somehow I still found myself enjoying it in some sinful way.
lemon tart — again too small, not tangy enough, but thankfully not over-​sweetened
profiteroles al cioccolato — the choux pastry tasted very dry and tasted like a mass produced frozen product but, on the bright side it has a nice chocolate sauce.
Service for the night was especially slow despite the restaurant being half empty. The staffs looked overworked, tired and were ready to get off their shifts on that Saturday night. The Italian laid back approach might have been adopted but the Italian amore? Not found in ASK.

Average food, slow and erratic service. The location looking at Tower Bridge is great but everything else is distinctly moderate.

I went to ASK italian with a group of friends. Mind you we went there because we were next door drinking and didn’t want to go eat pizza.
We waited for about 30 – 45 minutes to get seated but it was not an issue. We weren’t starving while waiting. Mind you, we had a 25% off coupon for the whole bill which made our whole meal that much more delicious when we were done paying for the bill.
Starters we had the
Bruschetta — not too bad…2 large slices with lots of tomato chunks found on top!
Funghi al Forno — Mushrooms in garlic butter… not too bad but I don’t particularly like mushrooms…
Butterfly King Prawns — i think there were 5 different prawns (shrimp) and they were pretty yummy
Calamari — my favorite of all the starters… probably because it was in front of me and the garlic mayo was pretty yummy too!
Mains:
Mine — Terrina Fruitti Di Mare — I don’t know if i particularly found it all that delicious it was only ok… the portion was small but wasn’t too bad.
2 Friends ordered — Pork Belly Porchetta — that looked pretty good and from the bites i had they were okay but the greens were just boiled cabbage… not sure if that was all that good…
last Main — Calzone con carne piccante — looked pretty good… didn’t try any of it.
Overall the food was decent. Nothing all that special but the people I went with were nice!
A-​OK in my book!

While I was visiting London this summer for the Olympics I had a meal at ASK and I do apologize for not doing the review at that time because they really did deserve the praise. If you’re looking for a simple meal at a reasonable price (and in London that’s saying something), I think you’ll find ASK fits the bill. At the time we were there we had a 3 course meal-​Appetizer, Main and Dessert for £13.95. It’s not a «fancy» or «formal» restaurant. (well it wasn’t when I was there) but it was very «Kid Friendly» and with children, you DON’T want formal. If you want good service, «ASK» for Lucia-you’ll feel like you’re in ITALY! Good Food and Excellent service! Just ASK!

A lovely place for al fresco dining. We had to wait a short while for a table, but one did materialise.
The food was pretty good (linguine genovese were cooked correctly!) and services, while slow due to being overwhelmed on the first summer night of 2012, was very nice.
I would definitely go back :)

Had an excellent dinner there on two days ago. Very friendly staff and the greatest joke is that despite all the 100% Italian logo T shirts they wore, they are all Turkish! Great thin crust pizzas served on wooden boards and you are given your very own rotary pizza cutter much better than struggling with knife and fork. Will definitely go again, if only to have a chat and a laugh with the staff.

My friend and I were highly recommended to eat at ASK by friends who had been to London, so it was one of the restaurants that we absolutely had to visit.
It was a rainy day, so we couldn’t sit outside and enjoy the Thames. However, the interior of the restaurant was classy and neatly arranged, with plenty of space among the tables to prevent any awkward bumps with your neighbors. We were greeted by a man who seemed to be the manager. He was very friendly and had a small chat with us about Canada and California. Apparently, he thought we were Canadians due to supposedly similar accents, hah.
For antipasti, we shared the Mushrooms al Forno: baked mushrooms, stuffed with mozzarella and grana padano cheese, onion, garlic, chopped mushroom and breadcrumbs, and served with a garlic mayo dip. While there were only six stuffed mushrooms, they were extremely tasty and went perfectly with the dip. Probably not the healthiest antipasti, due to the grease, cheese, mayo and more grease, but we really enjoyed it!
Our pastas came about 25 minutes after ordering. Mine was the Linguine Gamberi e Rucola, with king prawns (caper butter, white wine and pomodoro), ruccola, lemon zest and tomatoes. For £10.15, I honestly wish there could have been more linguine. The prawns were fresh and cooked just right, and a small splash of lemon juice made everything go very well together. I enjoyed the pasta, but it didn’t satiate my stomach. However, having already spent about £16 (including a soft drink) as a college student, I decided not to get more food. Perhaps they could have provided some bread like most Italian restaurants do.
Overall, we had a satisfactory meal. The mushrooms were very delicious, but the pasta wasn’t anything extraordinary. Also, the serving sizes definitely could have been bigger, as the entire meal was basically a large appetizer for me. Still, the service was great, and we had fun talking to the waiter/​manager. If you want to eat authentic Italian food in large portions, I am sure you can find better restaurants in London than ASK.

My mother always says ‘if you don’t ask, you don’t get’. Wise words to live by.
In this riverside branch of Ask, you can ask for no ham on your pizza, but you will still get it. You can ask for a large beer but you’ll get a small one. You can ask for mayo and get ketchup. You can also expect to wait almost a half hour to actually get any food at all.
The pizza here is fine, nothing special at all. Their insalata side salad was a lot more exciting with an interesting addition of mushrooms and cucumber.
Great atmosphere sitting on the bankside but they could definitely use work on their customer listening skills.

this is a great restaurant in a great location.
its close to tower bridge and has fantastic views in the evening. its also very close to other bars alongside thames walk, so handy for a night out — you dont have to trundle all over london. the buses and trains arent too far away — including the DLR on the other side of the bridge.
the food is good and the wine also.
the staff are friendly and service is relatively quick — but not so quick that you feel forced out of the place.
they have a good array of dishes, including pasta, risottos, pizzas, hot dishes and salads. their desserts include the most wonderful lemon cheesecake — its divine and i highly recommend it!