Restaurant Review - ASK

Ravioli Marittimi

Restaurant name: ASK

Location: Epsom High Street, Surrey

Description: Italian chain that now works with chef Theo Randall to design its menu

Reason for visit: Pre-cinema dinner; we always choose somewhere to eat that isn't far from the cinema and where we know we will be able to have a relatively quick meal.

A lovely glass of chilled rose

I ate: I decided to try a new starter on the menu, panzerottini - baked dough balls flavoured with either cheese and chilli or pancetta or mixed (I tried both), served with oil and balsamic vinegar for dipping (£4.95). For the main course I had ravioli marittimi- ravioli filled with a mixture of crayfish, crab, salmon and ricotta, in a tomato sauce and topped by a king prawn (£11.25). We decided to have dessert as we had some time to kill before our film started; I had the honeycomb cheesecake, a creamy cheesecake with honeycomb pieces on a cookie base (£5.25). I also enjoyed a glass of rose wine that came in an unusual bowl-shaped glass that was just perfect for the sunny evening.

My companion ate: garlic bread (£4.15) followed by what he chooses every single time we go to an Italian restaurant: margherita pizza (£7.25). For dessert he had profiteroles with chocolate sauce (£5.65).

garlic bread (top) and panzerottini (bottom)

The food was: The garlic bread was lovely - I much prefer flat pizza-style garlic bread rather than baguette slices. I was a bit disappointed by the dough balls though; they were a little dry and there wasn't enough distinction between the two flavours. The pizza was very good and my ravioli was delicious - the sauce was really creamy and the combination of crab, salmon, crayfish and prawns were amazing. The desserts were a little disappointing given the price; my boyfriend said the profiteroles came with a cold chocolate sauce and it would have been much better hot.
The atmosphere/service was: Perfectly fine; it's nice that the restaurant has an outside seating area as well.

profiteroles

Price range/value for money: The main courses are well priced but we thought the starters and desserts were too expensive for what they were and given that they weren't all that impressive.
Would I recommend it? Yes, it's a nice restaurant with a good choice of food and we will come here again.

cheesecake