Have you ever tried to order off the veggie menu whilst one of you is allergic to nuts, pine nuts, lentils, chickpeas, avo and a host of other key ingredients: well when Invited by Ask Italian to come and review their new Leeds, Lands Lane restaurant, that opened only last month, that’s exactly what occurred.
From interior decor and staff, to of course the main attraction: the food - stick around and it’ll be as if you went yourself!
Cutting right to the food, simply because I don’t care how ‘instagrammable’ a restaurant is, if the food isn’t just as satisfying, I won’t be a repeat customer.
So will I be a repeat Ask Italian customer?
Yes. Yes I will.
FOOD
What did we order?
Well I'm a massive pasta over pizza junkie, and like I said I’m a veggie (this includes any meat or fish derivatives), and my guest (also a veggie for a few months after losing a bet to me muahaha) is severely allergic to nuts, pine nuts (therefore pesto) and a host of other delicious ingredients that would make me wanna cry (including my fave: avo) so ordering at any restaurant is kind of like making your way through a meat & allergy mine field, but we found some absolute winners...
Starter
Tomato Bruschetta & Spinach and Ricotta Arancini (aka risotto balls)
Oh and the balls, I hadn't a clue what they were, but boyO'boy these were tasty... they gave me a very typical 'comfort food' vibe, but in cute lil sphere form.
Would I order again/recommend: BIG MASSIVE YES, to both. Ohhhh why can’t I have a personal chef from Ask create this little balls of dreams weekly...one can dream I guess.
Main
Lentil Spaghetti & Mushroom Risotto
Now this is where it got a little less easy, originally we were looking at the normal menu, unaware there was even a separate veggie or vegan menu, later when struggling to order, because out of the 4 veggie pasta dishes on the normal menu, two had pesto and the third was a basic pomodoro, so I went to Instagram to find some inspiration, finding a dish that looked delicious, I asked our fabulous waitress which dish was pictured as it was labelled vegan but I couldn’t find it on the menu. This is when we were told there was actually a separate veggie/vegan/gf menu, if only we'd know this before it would have been a much easier process, most of the dishes were on the 'Normal' menu, but a few weren't, including my chosen main - why they don't add these to the 'normal' menu, in case the diner doesn't know to ask for the separate menu, I don't know - I personally would, instead of having guests potentially leaving unknowingly thinking the choice was more limited for us veggies/vegans. It isn't, you just need the right menu haha!
Would I order again/recommend: Most definitely, it was so tasty and also really filling from the spaghetti and lentils, I also added grated cheese on top (non vegan) for the perfect finish (Veggies just make sure to ask for anything but parmesan as it's a calf rennet product).
Due to my guest being allergic to basically everything on the veggie menu, we asked if the Mushroom & Chicken Risotto (Risotto con pollo e funghi) could be made without the chicken, which yay it could haha. I love it when restaurants can make changes for you, one: it probably means it's made fresh, secondly: it's just so much more accommodating and nice to know you're valued enough that they'll try and help you. Although unfortunately when served it did have chicken in it, so we did have to get it changed, but the wait wasn't too long and the team were apologetic. I think this mix up was simply because it was SO busy, which can only mean everyone's loving it right?! However, when it comes to ingredients being removed I think it's quite important to ensure it's done right for the consumers ethical beliefs/allergies that they may have.
Dessert
Rum Doughnuts & Honey Comb Cheesecake
Would I order again/recommend: The cheesecake was how all good cheesecakes should be...delicious! I'd definitely order again. The doughnuts were yummy, but I couldn't actually taste the rum and I'm glad we had the ice-cream with the cheesecake as I much preferred the doughnuts with the ice cream instead of the cherry sauce it came with, it just added a bit of freshness - but I'm almost certain that if you asked for this swap when ordering they'd accommodate it with ease.
DECOR
I managed to get a few sneaky snaps, in between table sittings, but I'm going to insert one of H&N Magazine's photos here simply because the restaurant was PACKED and flashing my camera in customer's faces to get those shots of the wall neons, floral displays and funky furniture probably wouldn't be very kind, nor welcomed by other guests haha...imagine "Sorry can you just hold that position whilst I get a pic for the Gram?" ahah!
I'll insert my sneaky few now: from my booth and when I took a trip to the Ladies, don't worry, there aren't any toilet selfies coming up hahaa...
How pretty!
Ps. I've just realised there are plugs, probably for Ask's benefit with perhaps cleaning equipment or something, but how handy is that for chargers! Just don't forget to take it with you when finished haha!
THE TEAM
Last, but definitely not least, I met both the manager (who was a very hands on part of the team from what I could tell, helping run around in the madness of a packed new restaurant), and our waitress, who sadly I cannot remember her name (bad of me I know), but she was fabulous, even telling us about her mum's cheesecake and how all these years she didn't know it was a yoghurt panna cotta (we were talking through the dessert menu at the time, it made contextual sense I promise haha), and honestly I don't think I've ever met someone so genuinely bubbly and smiley!
THE DOWNFALLS
Although we had an amazing meal in a gorgeous restaurant, you could tell that they hadn't quite found their step yet, maybe they weren't aware of how popular this opening period would be, there wasn't an empty table in the house, testament to the great food, but this meant timing was a little slow. I think it took half an hour for our drinks to arrive, however you never saw any of the team standing still or looking like they had a spare moment so this is an easy solve: increase waiting staff, spread the load.
MY OVERALL RATINGS
Food: 8.5/10
Adored the starter, devoured the main, enjoyed the dessert, however the new doughnuts were just a tad too heavy/sweet if we hadn't of had the ice cream. Overall delicious - I'm definitely returning!
Decor: 10/10
I adore it, it's fresh with greenery and florals, funky and cool with neon wall art and full wall displays, comfy seating and good sized tables
Cleanliness: 10/10
All fab! Not one problem from the seating area, to common bar area and the utensils etc...
Service: 6.5/10
Simply because of the delays, unknown menus, chicken hiccup. However the actual friendliness and willingness to help was 10/10 (checking for allergies/dish info/alterations)
Atmosphere: 9/10
We were situated in the middle of it all, so it was definitely buzzing, but not so loud that you couldn't hold a conversation. We were sat v near the till so I did notice the team were very busy hence the 9 and not the 10, as it did distract compared to if sat away from it in our own little bubble.
Price: 8/10
All items seemed to be reasonably priced, similar to many other chain Italian restaurant pricing points.
Booking:
You can book online now, or browse the menu for yourself here.
So let me know if you've been and what your fave dish was/thoughts, or if you're planning a trip now you've seen this...
Lots of love Keira xoxo
& that's it....Cheers ...
Disclaimer: I was invited to review the restaurant by Ask Italian, however all views are my own genuine thoughts as always.
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