ASK Italian - Chelmsford — Restaurant in Chelmsford

We decided to sit outside as it was a lovely day, Sunday lunchtime, others also chose this option. We sat down and almost straight away were asked for our drink order. Which we gave the, who I assume, shift manager as she wasn't in uniform. We looked at the menu and decided our starters and mains as we were hungry and wanted to save time. About 20 minutes later she came back with our drinks. I assumed it was busy inside as it was a nice day. That's why the drinks took so long. Same woman took our order for both starters and mains and disappeared again. In the meantime, the waitress arrived to see if we'd like any drinks. 🤷🏻‍♀️ As we were waiting for our starters I went inside to use the toilet and realised there were only 6 tables taken up. I walked past the kitchen and food was there ready to be taken to tables. Sadly, when I exited the toilet. The same food was still there waiting. Not a great sign. As I sat down our waitress came back and told us they were out of Kenwee. I stopped for a beat and realised she meant Quinoa. As there wasn't many vegetarian options I suggested maybe New potatoes as a replacement. We waited yet another 20 or so minutes and our starters came. One was dry and stuck to the plate, unsurprisingly. She informed me then that the Chef pulled a face and said "POTATOES!?" It wasn't that strange. All the other elements were salad like. Finally! Our starters. No cutlery. I flagged another waitress down and got some. We pretty much inhaled them as we were starving by this time. I also asked her if I could get a cappuccino. Once cleared, the waitress said she'd now put our mains through. We waited again. 25-30 mins again, not in the best of moods as we couldn't understand what was taking everything so long. They weren't exactly busy. Still no Cappucinno. Then our original waitress came out and said "We're just putting your mains on now!" Huh? Me and my husband were shocked. How were they JUST going on now!? Half an hour after the starters were cleared!? We'd had enough by this point. We were hungry and peeved. It had been a busy morning and we were trying to enjoy a lunch date together. We'd had enough, so my husband went inside to cancel our food. Their only saving grace that day was that they wiped the drinks and starters clear. We then went to Costas where I had a very nice pot of pasta and a CAPPUCINNO! Took about 5mins. We arrived at ASK Italian at 12.45 and left at 2.20. Ridiculous. I've worked in the Hospitality industry for 20 years. I know how to run a restaurant/bar/pub. I don't know what's wrong there, whether it's management or the company. But something is a miss. That's the third and probably the last time we'll go. First time they'd only been open a few weeks. So I put the terrible waiting times down to that. The second time we went, the only saving grace was a lovely waitress, and it was our first time in two years of eating out due to the pandemic. The third time, well. Who knows what the multiple issues were that day. Such a shame. It has a lot of...

Poor service, average food, dissapointing evening!!!

If you going to book a party or group here, its not worth your money. And if your looking for a nice Italian restaurant, you would be better off going to Zizi's instead.

We had a group booking for 35people for my 30th birthday, unfortunately one family couldn't turn up so there were 30 of us who all pre ordered our meals for the night. When we arrived no one checked if we were all here, orders were confused, wrong and some meals even forgotten, including my desert. One waitress asked me to check the orders when we got our starters and I advised them who wasn't here, despite that there orders still came out and she had the audacity to blame me for not checking the orders before the mains which I had already done and returned to them. Some of the meals were of poor quality, cold and not what I would expect from a chain like this. It was a stressful experience, and to top it off they tried charging me a 10℅ service charge because it was a group of 8 or more telling me it was compulsory. For one the service was awful, some of the waiting staff were rude(some were brilliant) I refused to Pay the service change and even then they didn't take my first response, considering the menu does state this servise charge is optional. The difference between my single mixed one starter and the mixed one sharer, was one extra piece of bread, yet the price was a £4 difference and it was served on a board instead of a plate. Nonna(my 85 year old Italian Nan) was very disappointed with both staff and food, stating 'this is not what I would class as standard quality Italian food at all', 'as for the staff there was no passion, they just placed our food in front of us, didn't ask if it was OK or if we needed anything else', they could definately benefit with extra customer service training. Overall instead of experiencing a nice, enjoyable authentic Italian birthday dinner (considering my family are Italians) It was a stressful, irritating and disappointing evening) and we all agreed this is one place we would not be returning to in...

This is our local go-to when we in town and haven't planned where to eat and feel like a pasta/pizza etc. We always seem to find a table at this Ask Italian branch. Great location as well, very close to Bond Street for shopping and John Lewis, as well as the boutique cinema (Everyman).

The only thing I will say is that sometimes the serve can be slow, even when they don't seem that busy...I don't know why. Maybe its because they may also cater for takeaway and deliveries, which has now become the norm for most eateries and restaurants.

Atmosphere was nice, no extra loud music, quiet enough for us to speak and socialise without having to scream above the background noise ((like some other establishments). An ideal spot for me and my family.

Now to the food. Can't fault it. My son always goes for either the plain margherita pizza or spaghetti (tomato) which he never complains about. Good servings and always tasty. My partner usually has a pasta dish, there is quite a range to choose from. With the festive season upon us, they may even have Christmas specials on their menu. I had the lasagne which was absolutely divine. Just had to wait for it to cool down a bit as it was piping hot...you have been warned.

Drinks: family had appletiser with lemon slices and ice, and I went for the specialty ginger beer (The London Essence). It wasn't too bad, but I felt it could have been more punchy/strong in taste. May suit others, but I like my ginger beer drinks to be quite 'gingery'.

For dessert my son had ice cream if I recall, my wife had a cappuccino and I had a very delicious tiramisu with Baileys liqueur on the side. Now that was yummy.

Overall, I would recommend having a meal at this branch. During busy periods, such as lunchtimes, weekends, and now during the festive period, be sure to call in advance or book online, so you are not...