ASK Italian Beckenham Review

Reviewed by Emma Rogers

ASK in Beckenham is situated in a listed building, just off the main High Street and opposite the historic St George’s Church.  The large windows at the front of the restaurant, where the bar is, make for a lovely evening view.

We were greeted by the Italian staff, all of whom made us feel very welcome.

It was surprisingly busy for 6pm, even for a Friday, but the tables were well spaced out to allow room even for a buggy.

For starters, we had prosciutto ham with mushroom salad and Butterfly king prawns.  The starters were both tasty, but not as appetising as they might have been.  For main course, I had seafood ravioli and my Mum had penne pasta with chicken.  She said the chicken tasted as if it had been prepared earlier – it was stringy and not as fresh as it could have been.  My ravioli was well cooked, but again, you could tell that the sea food had been prepared earlier.  It’s a fault of a chain restaurant and the way they have to prepare the meals, but each meal was very hot, and the chicken penne was very filling.  I didn’t find the ravioli that filling though, which I normally do with such a heavy pasta dish.

For dessert, we had chocolate pudding with ice cream and tiramisu.  The Tiramisu was just as it should be – with lashings of mascopone and chocolate dusting, soaked layers of sponge, but not so alcohol-laced that you couldn’t eat it.  The chocolate pudding was rich, but off set well with a generous helping of ice cream.  The size of my tiramisu was something to behold as well – it was enormous!

Mum finished with a cappuccino that was freshly made.  Mum was given the choice of various coffees, a cappuccino being her favourite.

The staff were exceptionally good all evening, making sure we were well looked after, and we had the manager coming over to make sure or meals were OK.  We wanted to wait a while for dessert, which they happily allowed us to do even though the restaurant was filling up by this point.

If I have any criticism of the restaurant, it would be of ASK, not the Beckenham branch.  It seemed like all of the meals were disproportionate to what they were – the starters and desserts were enormous, but the main meals were not as filling as they should have been.  I would have been disappointed had I only wanted a main meal; I felt the top and tail courses were a bit too much for what they were.

All in all, it was a very enjoyable experience and the attention of the staff made it all the better.  I would definitely go back there, and tonight’s meal made me more likely to go with a larger party of people knowing they would both look after us and let us be.

For more information or to book a table visit www.askitalian.co.uk