ASK Italian - Colchester — Restaurant in Colchester

I can't say enough lovely things about this restaurant! We stumbled across it after a place we went to said they weren't serving food. I don't know why this place didn't show up in our search. Instantly we were met by a lovely server who asked if we had any allergies. When I said mushrooms he explained in detail that I could find a complete list of ingredients for their most popular dishes by using a bar code or in a notebook he provided to me. He said the kitchen would take my allergy very seriously and was very kind about it - clearly they care about their clientele. We ordered the cheese fondu starter and OH MY GOODNESS was it amazing! The thin, crispy, garlic bread pieces they serve with it were incredible (it turns out it is the same thing they use for pizza crust.) I could have eaten just the fondue and been thrilled. I also got the burrata carbonara and it was to die for! So delicious! My husband got the meat pizza which was spectacular. My 5 year old got the tomato pasta and said "this is the best pasta and tomato sauce I have ever had!" and ate the entire bowl - that literally has NEVER happened at a restaurant her entire life! The server we started with left half way through our meal but our new server was even nicer! Super cheerful, helpful, kind and attentive! He was so sweet to my daughter when she was done her dinner and wanted a dessert. They even made her a free "babycinno" which was frothy milk and chocolate powder - soooooo adorable (I forgot to take a picture which is sad). The little sunday they made for her was so cute. The kids menu is amazing! Super sweet and loads of options. They even have a tiny kids menu with baby portions so you don't have to get the full kid options. I have never seen that before and was so impressed! Clearly the person who owns this place has kids. The restaurant was immaculate! Super clean. Bright, beautifully decorated. It was a perfect lunch and if I lived in the UK/the area, it would be my go to place regularly! You can't go wrong here! They even give you a small taste of their yummy homemade lemonade when you arrive - soooo delicious. I can't recommend this...

We booked ASK for our wedding anniversary meal, a special treat as we really don't go out as a couple.

We arrived for our booking and were seated, and then the waitress disappeared off. We sat for over 20mins before she came back for a drink order. By then we were obviously ready to order everything.

We ordered the food and drink. 10mins after that the drinks arrived and then a short while after that the food. But the reality is that we it took over half an hour from walking in to get a drink.

The food was nice, which was lucky really as we didn't see the waitress again until much later. She eventually reappeared when she must have decided it was time to clear plates. She asked if we wanted desserts, and although we did there wasn't time as we had a cinema booking. We'd arrived for a 6pm booking and it was now 7.35pm and we were only having mains cleared.

We asked for the bill, she disappeared off again, 15mins pass. She eventually came back outside where we were seated and my partner again asked if we could have the bill to which we were told she'd forgotten about that. When she did bring that over we paid cash and then really had to hurry out.

What should have been a nice relaxing meal out, which we had intended to have a few courses and drinks turned into one drink, one course and painfully slow and...

Visited today for an impromptu dinner with my daughter, after an afternoon of wedding dress shopping. We were seated promptly, after being given a choice of seats. The restaurant quickly filled up and it was lovely to see them so busy. The atmosphere was buzzing but not unpleasantly so even for my daughter who gets anxious in crowds. The staff, dispite the heat and work load, remained calm, pleasant and professional. The food was amazing! I had thier new speciality dish of pan fried chicken on a bed of creamy, sundried tomato and spinach orzzotto, and it was so good I didn't even want dessert. There was a small mix up with my starter and not being one to complain I wasn't going to mention anything but the guy serving us (possibly the manager) noticed straight away and checked if I was OK and offered to bring me a new one out. I said I was OK and it was actually really nice - garlic bread with vegan cheese (which i normally hate), when I'd ordered it plain, so my vegan daughter could share with me. Another server still bought me out a replacement dispite how busy they were and I got to take it home with me. Excellent customer service, amazing food and good atmosphere. Would...