ASK - Canterbury

Mr Harris (2 February 2009)

We used to travel from Maidstone to use ASK in Canterbury and had booked our staff party in December. Everyone was looking forward to going out to eat. The evening started okay although the room available was tight for a table of 12 and set diagonally it was difficult to all join in. The room remained cool all evening despite the fire being on and the wall heater turned up high. When the food came I was shocked and more than slightly disappointed - a very dry carbonara with a little ham on top like an afterthought. The mussels didn’t steam and looked reheated. The meat ball dish was overcooked and dry with the pasta blackened round the edges and the baby king prawn pasta was almost cold. The pizzas were okay but how can you mess up a dish designed to make the best of leftovers. The service too was okay but at times we were left too long for such a large group. My partner decided to have a dessert which, was okay but was enticed with a dessert it turned out they didn’t have. All in all a very disappointing evening when I would have thought that near on £400.00 should have provided better. A discussion with the manager the day after, we commented but didn’t complain as we did not wish to spoil the staff time together, was a bit of a waste of time as he concluded that the food served was good. He did at least apologise. Sadly for us both, he has lost a good customer.

Kay Prout (23 September 2008)

On Saturday, following a mix-up over a restaurant booking, there were fourteen of us wandering around Canterbury searching for somewhere to eat that could accommodate us all at short notice. We stumbled upon ASK, which welcomed us in and led us to a great cellar room with lots of space and atmosphere, complete with ancient water pump, obsolete coal-shute and a close-up view of the river. The food was delicious and the young woman who served us did a truly magnificent job with skill, grace and good humour. This was a special night for us as we were celebrating 30 years since we had been students together, and the restaurant and the waitress from Madeira made our evening a complete delight.