ASK Italian - Bluewater — Restaurant in Dartford

After a short queue on a Saturday lunchtime my family and I sat at a nicely placed table opposite the kitchen.

The waitresses were prompt, quick and attentive without being overbearing. The two ladies who served us had a good sense of humour and were extremely friendly. Sadly I didn't catch their names but if you get either of them, you'll be in good hands :)

Olives and mozzarella garlic bread made our starters, which were as expected. The garlic bread did lack some garlic-flavour, although my family didn't complain. Let's put that down to my insensitive palate.

I have the penne arrabbiata con pollo, which was neither spicy with chilli, nor especially tasty. I admit to being a little disappointed. My family ordered calzones (my normal order) and a pizza and seemed much happier. The calzone carne piccante was notably hot with my cohort opting to removing the chillis as a result. Be warned!

I finished with the tiramisù, which was delicious! Ask has never before shown me dishes lacking in flavour as I experienced this time round. Given my family enjoyed their food greatly I'll assume I'm having an off day and give this Ask the benefit of the doubt.

In summary, you'll find great food, a cracking tiramisù (not too much, if any amaretto for your benefit) and friendly staff who made us feel right at home.

It's a card only restaurant.

They made great strives to counter check their foods in light of a nut allergy, which was done humorously and not made to create awkwardness at all. So, you can trust the staff...

am writing this review specifically about a deeply disappointing recent experience at Ask Italian, centered on the Burrata Carbonara. The dish itself was practically inedible. The pasta was significantly overcooked—it was soft, mushy, and lacked any of the essential density or 'bite' (al dente texture) expected from a quality Italian meal. Beyond the texture, the flavor profile was simply unpleasant. When I raised this concern with our waitress, her response was perhaps the most shocking part of the experience. She admitted that the pasta for this dish is pre-cooked and suggested that the soft, almost dissolved texture was "normal" for their preparation method. For an established Italian restaurant, this admission is completely unacceptable. Pre-cooking pasta to the point of being mushy compromises the entire dish and suggests a prioritization of speed over food quality. A truly fresh, well-made Carbonara relies on perfectly cooked pasta, and the idea that customers are expected to tolerate this low standard is baffling. This was a very poor showing for both the kitchen and the staff's approach to customer feedback. I highly recommend that management addresses the quality control and staff training regarding basic cooking principles and customer satisfaction. The bill is £50 and it totally cannot justify...

To whom it may concern Myself and my girlfriend are regular customers to your Bromley ASK branch however last night we made the decision to try your branch in Bluewater. We had previously had bad service here but wanted to give it another go.

We booked a table online for 9.15pm and arrived on time to your Bluewater branch. When we arrived we waited for close to 5 minutes for anyone to acknowledge us. After 5 minutes a waitress approached us and said "sorry guys we're closed". We told the waitress that the opening hours said 11pm and that we had booked a table online for 9.15pm and made a 25 minute journey to specifically come to this branch. After the waitress spoke to manager, after watching the chef's shake their heads after the waitress also had a word with them, we were reluctantly seated. After being given the menu we were told the oven is broken so can we order something small and within the next 15 minutes. IF the ovan was broken, 15 minutes passing would make it unsafe to use and there for potential for FOOD POISONING is greatly increased. I am appalled at this service and this is the second time we have had bad service at this branch, both times not being able to actually order anything. Which left us having to turn around and go back home wasting an hour's...