Place: ASK Italian
Location: Ground floor, O2 Peninsula Square
Cuisine: Italian
Meal: Dinner (with wifey, amma, and our lil one)
On: Saturday, 6 August 2022
After watching a movie at the O2 Arena, we decided to try Italian cuisine at one of the many options available and chose ASK Italian. We stepped into the restaurant at about 8:30 PM, but there was no one at the entrance to greet us. We should have taken this as a sign and gone to another restaurant, but for some reason, we decided to linger around and wait. After about five minutes, a staff member finally approached us and seated us at a booth in the middle of the restaurant.
The seat cushions at this booth were ripped, with the foam exposed, so we asked for another table. However, almost all the seats in the restaurant were in a similar condition. This booth, if anything, was better than the rest, so we decided to stay put.
We decided to order the Mushrooms Al Forno starter, Mushroom & Truffle Calzone, and the Spinach & Ricotta Girasole pasta. My wife wanted to have a drink, so we also planned to order a large glass of Merlot. And then the wait began.
Our waiter was nowhere to be seen on the floor, so there was no one to take our order. There were a couple of other waiters around our table, but they wouldn’t attend to us because it wasn’t their table. When we asked them to call our waiter, they turned a deaf ear. Another sign for us to leave, but we still didn’t (particularly because wifey doesn’t like to walk out from a restaurant after we’ve settled in).
Anyway, after about ten minutes, our waiter finally appeared and apologized for the long wait. We placed our order, and again, the wait continued. About twenty minutes went by and there was still no sign of our food or the waiter. I started walking around the place to find him but had no luck. However, I did see our mushrooms on the kitchen counter, ready to be served but already cold.
After about thirty minutes, he finally walked to our table with the wine. I told him off and informed him that the starters had been sitting at the counter for a while and needed to be reheated before being served. He walked to the kitchen, and an argument broke out between him and the chef, who was equally miffed with him. All of this was happening in front of the guests at the restaurant.
Anyhow, the mushrooms were served about an hour after we entered the place. At this point, I asked for the manager, who came over, apologized for the long wait, and said he would waive the dish off our bill.
As for the dish, there were five pieces of mushroom stuffed with mozzarella and breadcrumbs, served with garlic mayonnaise. They were flavorful and tasty. While the quantity wasn’t great, I was happy with the dish.
After another fifteen minutes, a burnt calzone and watery pasta were served. I immediately asked for them to be taken back, but the manager said they would not be able to redo them (it looked like the chef had quit and left). He again offered to exclude them from our bill. It was almost 10:00 PM, we were hungry, and most other places were either closing or already closed, so without any other option, we decided to eat whatever we could.
The burnt calzone was almost inedible, but we somehow managed to pull out some sections without any burn and eat them. While the stuffing was good, you could taste the smoky flavor in every bite. We had to discard about three-fourths of the dish.
As for the pasta, the girasole (ravioli) was undercooked, and the sauce that was supposed to be creamy was watery. It was better than the calzone, but still disappointing.
Overall, it was a terrible experience and meal. The manager again walked up to our table and apologized profusely, but that didn’t help. He charged us only for the wine and asked us to come back for a better experience next time, but I think we’ve had enough of ASK Italian for a lifetime. Forget the food; even the ambiance was poor. Who has almost every seat in the restaurant ripped apart? And the callous attitude of the waiters was pathetic. I don’t think I’ll be visiting any of their outlets even if they offer me free food on every visit.
Food: 4/10 (for the mushrooms)
Service: 3/10
Ambiance: 4/10
Meal for 3: N/A (£7.43 for the Wine)
Verdict: N/A
