Askitalian Reviews 

How can Askitalian at Westwood Cross Broadstairs get away with serving smaller and smalller portions of Fruiti Mare Lingini Pasta. On my plate today was a small serving of pasta with dry sauce, 5 extremely small mussels, 3 of the mussel meat inside were 1.5cmx1cm, one shell was empty, and one shut tight.
5 clams with meat .5cm x .5cm and the biggest insult of all were the teaspoon of tiny prawns the size of teeny round soil grubs or even maggots at .5c round each!!!
I asked the nice polite young waiter if this was the correct and usual serving for this dish from now on, because if it was then I would not come again, he said yes, for this dish, with a suggestion to choose another dish.
I did not make a fuss as did not want to spoil the lunch for my husband and 2 adult children who had enjoyed their Calzonies and Pizza. I paid the bill costing £105 for the 4 meals & 2 sides as it was my treat. I couldn't help feeling personally insulted to be served such anawful meal.
I have been disappointment in Ask before but do not complain because I do not want it to close down or stop serving the only meal on the menu that I used to enjoy ...... I just want them to serve me an honest meal as described on their menu!

Went to the Shrewsbury restaurant for our wedding anniversary on the 31st Aug 2026.
Had a cheese mozzarella garlic bread to start, lot of bread not really much cheese topping to speak of, and very bland.
I had the Pollo Milanese as my main, rubbish is my only word for it, the breaded chicken was barely cooked and soggy inside, would imaging it’s a frozen item ready to heat but no taste and not anything special seen as it was on the specials part of the menu.
Wife had ordered lasagna but ended up with the Fungi Della Casa? This was very hot when arriving at the table and was ok but there was nothing to shout about, very bland and not much taste.
We had 3 sides, chips (OK, not really much you can do with a chip) Roast potatoes (had to send them back as there were burnt) and Zucchini Fritti (not a lot of taste but as expected)
The waiting staff were polite and service ok but they looked like they could have done with a good wash, jeans and greasy hair seemed the norm.
Overall a waste of £56 for bland, undercooked food, I would not recommend this place to anyone.

Myself partner and teen son went back to ask Italian aberdeen for a meal as we have done a few times. As usual they were busy one lady present serving several tables. The starter had burnt brucetta with prawns but I just ate it as I didn't want to spoil our visit by moaning. When the main course came out my partner and sons dishes were fine but mine smelt burnt ... seafood linguine. All of the seafood were cooked one side and black burned on the other. The chef must have known it was in that state but served it anyway. After the others finished their meal and the waitress came to clear the table I showed her the plate .. she said oh yeah I saw you picking them out and putting them on the side I asked her to take my dish off the bill she didn't seem surprised and told me they need a new chef ... not happy that I was still charged for my starter as I feel my meal was ruined and should have not been charged in order to apologise which I didn't get. Very surprised at what happened and won't bother going back

Upon arrival we were met by a manager and told to wait. No hello, no how are you, no manners. After waiting we walked through the a restaurant which was in complete disarray. Dirty, with tables full of used crockery. Staffing is limited regardless of your high prices. We were left waiting for over 15 minutes despite being told a waiter will come over in a minute after he refused to take our drinks order. In those minutes we were fortunate enough to witness the friendly hustle and bustle of the king richard directly opposite. We stood up and left and walked past the manager who didn’t even look us in the eye. He was dismissive, full of his own importance and damn right rude. Having read the many 1 star reviews which are only responded to and sadly not acted upon. I will be raising my points to head office as this used to be a respectable chain. Its people like this who are hired yet do not care about their customers or their job. The restaurant was a disgrace like the little man who we had the displeasure of dealing with. It’s sad because you could see how hard working the young team were doing all the hard work as the manager has no direction. The staff here at the king richard are fabulous and so welcoming. A family over heard our conversation about our experience at ask italian and stopped to ask what had happened as they had booked there for later on. They have since chose to go elsewhere. Sadly the manager needs further training

A Lunchtime visit.
Extremely slow service from the kitchen marked our experience.
Our visit took two hours, most of it waiting for food.
The waiting staff were apologetic.
The portions of pasta and sauce are small, although I understand that this is the Italian way. But it does not seem like value for money.

I took my Daughtef, Soninlaw, grandsons 3 & 4, wife and sister for a family meal.
We booked a table for 5pm and arrived on time. It took 2.5 hours to prepare and serve a mains and a desert. At the end of this, I was expected to pay a service charge! What service. You try keeping a 3 and 6 year old entertained for 2.5 hours. The courses were served piece by piece. At the end of this, the card reader machines would not read my debit card even when inserted, or anyone's debit card. The staff new this to be the case. My daughter had to use her phone with Google Pay. Never Again

I visited Lakeside had the pollo Milanese tasted like really cheap chicken and wasn't cooked enough,then friend ordered the lemon dessert and they forgot the mousse layer then wanted hot drinks and the machine was broken, its really gone downhill, and male waiter think manager not very approachable very offish

Went to the one in Scarborough, the staff were lovely and food was really nice

I have just eaten the worst lasagna that I have ever had in 82 years Oversalted. Tough lasagne burnt in parts raw in others. And nearly £20! This used to be a decent chain serving decent food at dent prices. What happened?

Still waiting a reply from Laura Crowe

Service is diabolical

Visiting Ask in Chichester is always a pleasure. The staff are fantastic with welcoming smile and chat
Jack and Jacob are so friendly.
The food is great, the restaurant is clean and there are always good offers to be had.
Why go elsewhere. I would thoroughly recommend it.

I've been to AskItalian twice in my life. Both times the exact same lack of customer service occurred.
For an average of £30 per person, you'd expect the waiters to at least try to come to your table. Fun fact, in the Basingstoke AskItalian, they do not. On my first visit, my main issue was the waiting time for food, along with lack of customer service.

When I initially went last year, I complained about the exact same thing to AskItalian themselves and was given a gift voucher. I thought it must have changed and paid a visit 10 months later.

Upon my most recent visit, we were met with a severe lack in customer service. We made eye contact with someone who was clearly a manager who completely ignored us. We'd call people over, but having two waitresses on the floor with a subpar manager isn't enough to keep an restaurant running. One time I tried to call the waitresses but they were too busy talking.
The food isn't necessarily all that great. You'd be better of going to Tesco ready meals and putting a pizza in the oven. You'd be getting roughly the same experience but a lot cheaper.

I hope they can hire more staff. I don't think there's much point in running a restaurant if you are understaffed, and the manager is seemingly reluctant to even help out.

On a trip to Winchester with my sister and a friend we popped in to the Ask Italian for lunch. There was a fabulous vegetarian range and the food did not disappoint. The server, Sigourney, was really kind and attentive and nothing was too much trouble. She is a real asset to the team

Just ate in Winchester. Lovely service, very friendly but my goodness. The De Mare Seafood pasta was 1/3 the size it used to be. I feel Iike I've had a starter. What happened and who agreed to drastically reduce portions. Won't be returning now they've done that. Sadly.

Josh at the MetroCenrre restaurant was so friendly and helpful and make our visit a lovely experience - and the gorgeous food of course!

We have had many great meals at Ask in Faversham, yesterday (27/05/2026) was not one of them. Over 45 minutes between the nibbles and the delivery of our main courses with customers who ordered after we did served before us. Some of our main courses were only just warm others were burnt. A reduction in the bill was welcome but the whole experience was disappointing.

If there's anything lower than 1 star I'd give that. Ordered Linguine Carbonara from Milton Keynes Central branch, which was meant to be a rich creamy sauce with extra rivera cheese and pancetta. Staying in a hotel locally to them. My food came dry not creamy, very chewy and no disposable cutlery! Very tasteless. I will never try their food again. Just wasted my money. Would've ordered fish and chips elsewhere! Very upset

Ask Italian York What a beautiful building this restaurant is in 👌 big shout out to Anne the floor manger She rocked it 👍 fun friendy efficient with a smile on her face The food was amazing If you cone to York you have to go

The 'Grande Lasagne' was definitely NOT grand! The container was half full, with barely any ragu meat and BURNT lasagne sheets. The side of Bolognese Bites were overfried, overcooked and greasy. Yuk!

Lovely food and amazing staff at Ask Italian, very friendly and engaged with children.