My friend and I were highly recommended to eat at ASK by friends who had been to London, so it was one of the restaurants that we absolutely had to visit.
It was a rainy day, so we couldn't sit outside and enjoy the Thames. However, the interior of the restaurant was classy and neatly arranged, with plenty of space among the tables to prevent any awkward bumps with your neighbors. We were greeted by a man who seemed to be the manager. He was very friendly and had a small chat with us about Canada and California. Apparently, he thought we were Canadians due to supposedly similar accents, hah.
For antipasti, we shared the Mushrooms al Forno: baked mushrooms, stuffed with mozzarella and grana padano cheese, onion, garlic, chopped mushroom and breadcrumbs, and served with a garlic mayo dip. While there were only six stuffed mushrooms, they were extremely tasty and went perfectly with the dip. Probably not the healthiest antipasti, due to the grease, cheese, mayo and more grease, but we really enjoyed it!
Our pastas came about 25 minutes after ordering. Mine was the Linguine Gamberi e Rucola, with king prawns (caper butter, white wine and pomodoro), ruccola, lemon zest and tomatoes. For £10.15, I honestly wish there could have been more linguine. The prawns were fresh and cooked just right, and a small splash of lemon juice made everything go very well together. I enjoyed the pasta, but it didn't satiate my stomach. However, having already spent about £16 (including a soft drink) as a college student, I decided not to get more food. Perhaps they could have provided some bread like most Italian restaurants do.
Overall, we had a satisfactory meal. The mushrooms were very delicious, but the pasta wasn't anything extraordinary. Also, the serving sizes definitely could have been bigger, as the entire meal was basically a large appetizer for me. Still, the service was great, and we had fun talking to the waiter/manager. If you want to eat authentic Italian food in large portions, I am sure you can find better restaurants in London than ASK. read more