I’ve always thought of ASK Italian as somewhere you would go with a partner, parents or friends- not somewhere you would take your 11- month-old. However, after eating there on Saturday night- I discovered that they are in fact, a very baby friendly place to eat.
NEW Four Cheese Pizza
The restaurant has a ramp that winds its way around the outdoor seating area so it’s fine to bring the pram along with you.
When we arrived, the table was already decked with crayons and an activity sheet with a word search, Sudoku and spot the difference to keep our little one entertained, which, incidentally has the children’s menu on the back. Sadly, our daughter is a little too young to appreciate the activities, but she enjoyed crinkling the paper all the same!
ASK Italian offers vegetable sticks with bread soldiers and dip to start, pizza with various toppings, pasta with three sides or chicken goujons as a main with a choice of four sides and five desserts. There was a lot more variety than I’ve seen on other children’s menus, which included healthier choices as well as the more indulgent options.
The starter was a hit with my daughter as she could feed herself the vegetable sticks and the bread soldiers too. Ideal for weaning babies and the kitchen kindly gave us a few more slices of cucumber she liked it so much!
We ordered her the pasta with Brilliant Bolognese sauce to accompany but sadly she didn’t like this, so we ended up eating it for her. It tasted beautiful however I think her taste buds aren’t accustomed to the more mature flavours used to make the Bolognese.
The Banana Chocolate Brownie is a new addition to the menu, and she enjoyed the strawberries in chocolate sauce. It is made with real banana too- so your little one can have a treat without you having to feel too guilty about it!
Unfortunately, she was ill during the meal and the staff were more than helpful in bringing us paper towels to clean her up.
The summer menu was the draw for the adults in the group. The lighter options are perfect for the hotter months.
The Super Green Soup- a light vegetable broth with peas, courgettes, leeks, baby kale and potatoes topped with pea shoots is a dieter’s dream as it comes in at under 200 calories- perfect for if you are watching your waistline.
The Butterfly King Prawns have been given a light makeover too as they are oven roasted and seasoned with lemon juice, Santos tomatoes, topped with rocket and yellow courgette ribbons- leaving out the Italian bread of it’s more indulgent predecessor.
There’s a new pizza on the block for the dough lovers- Four Cheese Margarita with Marscapone, mozzarella, fontal and riviera cheese on a tomato base. The even better news is you can add more toppings if that’s not enough variety for you which include; chicken, pepperoni, pancetta, king prawns, mushrooms, peppers or olives.
My father-in-law ordered off the menu and the waitress was happy to oblige so if you’ve not tried a calzone with a Bolognese topping- take a leaf from his book- it’s delicious and ASK Italian is where he got the taste for it in the first place!
For those who are trying to lose weight or like nothing more than a salad in the summer- there is the new Chicken Kale Caesar Salad- pan fried chicken breast, tender baby kale, cos lettuce, raddichio in a Caesar dressing topped with ciabatta croutons and riserva cheese. The kitchen staff kindly left off the croutons and the cheese for me and the dressing was served on the side so you can leave it (as I did) to keep it as healthy as possible. The pan-fried chicken offered enough flavour along with the salad leaves that the dressing isn’t a necessity to enjoy the meal.
No meal would be complete without a dessert, so we tried the new additions to the sweet treat offerings.
The Passionfruit and Raspberry Cheesecake- passionfruit and raspberry cheesecake on a biscuit base, drizzled with tangy passionfruit sauce, served with vanilla gelato went down well. I am reliably informed it was light and just enough to bring the meal to a close without being too dense as cheesecake can fall foul of sometimes.
The Warm Pear Tart- poached pear on a base of almond frangipane on shortcrust pastry, served with raspberries and vanilla gelato was my dessert of choice (sans the gelato) and I can heartily recommend this if you’re looking for something sweet but not too heavy on a warm summer’s eve.
Overall, I was really impressed by how accommodating the staff were and how geared up the chain is for children.
Thank you to the staff at ASK Italian Warrington for the moreish food and attentive service.
MORE: Review: Vegan menu at ASK, Warrington