Ask Italian #RespectThePasta

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Ask Italian have launched a new campaign to get people to #RespectThePasta. They feel that pasta is too often taken for granted, undercooked and undervalued. They think Pasta needs love and attention, to be cooked properly to the perfect al dente bite, paired with quality ingredients and enveloped in delicious sauces.

Observe the ingredients. Honour the bite. Respect the pasta.

I’ll be bringing you lots of pasta related blog posts over the next couple of months, starting with a meal out at ASK Italian in Sheffield. Clearly it’s not my local branch but as we were up the Peak District this week with friends we thought we’d head into Sheffield for dinner after we visited the animals at the Butterfly House (oh, and Meadowhall of course!) There is a branch in Brighton though!

When we arrived we were given a choice of table which is always appreciated when you’ve got a baby who is liable to fling her food all over the table/floor/surrounding diners. None of the waiting staff seemed phased that we had a baby with us and they were all considerate about where they  put things on the table so she couldn’t reach things, and the high chair was spotless, which I always appreciate!

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For starters we had the classic antipasto, the Calamari and the Portobello Al Forno.They all arrived swiftly and looked appetising.

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Our Main courses arrived shortly after the starters were cleared, I chose the Carbonara but asked to swap the linguine for penne so I could give some to Athena to eat more easily (also I find it tricky to eat linguine without it sticking to my chin!)  Sam chose the seafood risotto, and we gave some to Athena without the shellfish in. Both pasta dishes were cooked and presented well, their chef obviously does respect the pasta! Amy had a Calzone Cacciatore, it had hunters chicken inside, with a lot of other things and looked amazing! We ordered some chips for Athena to nibble on although most of them ended up under her chair! If she was a little older she could have been entertained by the colouring sheets/menus but Sam kept her fairly well amused!

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Now our pudding order did cause some slight confusion with the waitress, but in her defence we ordered five puddings for a party of 3 and a baby. We ordered one to take away for Kyle who had taken his daughter home as she was sick, one each for us and some profiteroles for the table. My honeycomb cheesecake was so delicious I almost ate the one we were taking home in the car! The profiteroles came with ice cream inside rather than cream which was a new experience to me but still delicious!

Overall we had a lovely meal, and were well looked after in a snazzy environment (think chevrons and muted pastel colours) I think the Sheffield restaurant must’ve been either fairly new or recently refurbished as it was light and airy and had fantastic decor (even the toilets were cool, yellow and grey as a colour scheme is always a plus in my book!)

You can view their full menu online here and can book at any branch here. If you’ve got a spare 17 seconds, do watch this video!

Follow AskItalian on Facebook & Twitter for competitions and updates.

As part of the #RespectThePasta campaign I was given an Ask Italian gift card to enjoy a meal, the restaurant didn’t know I was reviewing them

4 thoughts on “Ask Italian #RespectThePasta

  1. I love pasta! Whenever we eat out we opt for Italian restaurants as we know that both A and T will eat pasta as long as it has a tomato/meaty sauce and Hubby and I can have whatever we fancy too. Haven’t been to Ask before, the food looks amazing! x

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