ASK Italian - Hull — Restaurant in England

I recently had the pleasure of dining at Ask Italia in Hull, and overall, I would rate the experience an 8 out of 10. It was a rather pleasant outing, offering a solid blend of flavors, good service, and a comfortable atmosphere.

Upon arrival, the restaurant exuded a warm, inviting vibe, with a contemporary Italian charm that immediately put us at ease. The staff were friendly and attentive, which contributed to a relaxed and enjoyable dining experience.

For the meal, I decided to try their pasta carbonara and Caesar salad, accompanied by a Gran Riserva Peroni. The Caesar salad was decent—simple yet satisfying. The dressing had a nice tang, though I felt it could have used a little more depth of flavor, and perhaps a bit more seasoning. It wasn’t a standout dish but certainly enjoyable for a light start.

The pasta carbonara, on the other hand, was quite good. The pasta itself was cooked perfectly, with a decent balance of creamy sauce and smoky pancetta. While it wasn’t the most exceptional carbonara I’ve had, it was definitely well-executed, and I found myself content with the dish overall. It was hearty and fulfilling, though I personally would have liked a slightly richer, more indulgent sauce.

As for the drink pairings, I opted for the Gran Riserva Peroni, and I must say, it was fantastic. The beer was refreshing, crisp, and beautifully balanced, making it an absolute highlight of the meal. A 10 out of 10 in my book, it complemented the food perfectly and was easily one of the best elements of the evening.

To round off the experience, I sampled two of Ask Italia’s signature cocktails: Popcorn Royal and Candy Cloud. Of the two, Popcorn Royal was by far the winner. The drink was quirky, creative, and genuinely enjoyable, with an intriguing flavor profile that was both fun and sophisticated. I’d rate this cocktail an 8 out of 10. On the other hand, the Candy Cloud was a bit too sweet for my taste, though still interesting in its own right. It felt a bit more novelty than substance, but that didn’t stop me from enjoying it.

In conclusion, Ask Italia provided a highly enjoyable experience, with a few minor areas for improvement. The food was solid, the beer was outstanding, and the cocktails, while creative, could perhaps benefit from a little fine-tuning. All in all, I left satisfied and would certainly return, particularly for the Gran Riserva Peroni and to try more of their...

Would like to start off by saying the atmosphere and food in this place is lovely, ive been in here before and it was great, they offer free lemonade for all tables and the servers are polite, the only issue was the service we'd just had. I will admit, i do believe we just got quite unlucky this time around as last time it was such a nice experience, we were served quickly and the food was amazing, however this time around it was different, we came in on a table of 2, it was relatively busy but breatheable for a saturday night and the wait time for the food was fine, we were served relatively quickly, we decided not to use the order at the table qr codes, which id recommend for anybody who is open to order that way as thats how we will be ordering if we ever come back, becauss the issue wasnt with the experience with the food, but with how long it had taken for anybody to give us the bill. Im not usually the type of person to complain about this sort of thing as i work in these sorts of environments and understand the stress, but we'd waited around an hour for the bill after one of the servers had taken our plates away, so were assuming nobody was made aware that we needed to pay, my boyfriend went up to ask for it after an hour and we ended up waiting an extra 10-15 minutes ish (which i understand, she seemed busy and i wont complain about that), but we'd ended up being in there for just over 2 hours with half of it waiting to leave, and some people who had come in after us and finished eating after us recieved their bill before we did. As i say, i dont believe this is the service between table to table on a regular basis, but the lack of communication in our case was just a shame, other than...

Meals were okay, but it is clearly a chain restaurant and basically meals come as described with no room for adjustments ( there was also a notice about some items not being available "due to supply chain issues", so another sign of a chain restaurant and not freshly made ) but the worst issue was the "service" and other staff. The person who dealt with us was polite and helpful but right next to us, a couple of women came in who, it turned out, was the manager and a friend. They were annoyingly loud and raucous the entire time we were there and the manager was constantly going on about staff, ordering loads of food and drink that they were never going to manage to eat themselves because "It doesn't matter, I get it half price - order what you want" and then other members of the staff came and sat down and started eating too ! ( One was told to put something over her uniform though so they clearly were supposed to be working- serving customers maybe ? ) Eventually, after being left for some time, we gave up waiting for the bill or any likelihood of the seated staff next door getting it, so we got up went in search of someone to pay and left. I really cannot recommend this...