Ask, Guildford (Italian) *Tastecard*

Total food bill £18.90 (using Tastecard and excluding service charge)

2eat4under20 rating: 2.0 out of 3 stars
Mr Frenchy's rating: 2.0 out of 3 stars

What we ate:
Starters Butterfly King Prawns and Sicilian Arancini
Mains Salsiccia Prima Pizza and Calzone Cacciatore

What we drank:
A carafe of Garganega - Moncaro, Marche (£11.50) and tap water

Rainy Sunday evening in Guildford. Mr French and I decided to grab some dinner before heading off to watch the Wolf of Wall Street at the local Odeon. We had been very good all week with eating healthy and exercising - me especially with 5 attendances at my ludicrously expensive new gym in one week (yes, it is my first week at the gym in over one year!). My arms and legs were "satisfyingly" aching from a body pump class a couple of nights before, and I felt a deep urge to treat myself to some pizza - of course for under twenty pounds :)

I have been a member of Tastecard for around 4 years now. And I have definitely made some great savings on eating out with the little black and green card over the years. Sunday is usually a great time to look for a Tastecard restaurant, as most participating restaurants accept the card from Sundays to Thursdays.

We had visited Ask once before using Tastecard, and enjoyed it very much - I had a lovely pork belly dish and Mr Frenchy had the Pollo Milanese (which was also delicious but was disappointingly not served with pasta in tomato sauce). It was going to be our first time trying their pizza menu - so our expectations were high and tummies rumbling as usual. Ask is obviously a restaurant chain (which some people prefer to avoid) but Mr Frenchy and I are rather partial to great value restaurant chains that serve up delicious food, especially with a Tastecard to make the wallet feel less empty after the meal.

As we had not made a reservation, we simply walked in and asked the waitress if it would be okay to use our Tastecard. She quickly replied 'yes, of course!' and sat us down at a table of our choice. We ordered our carafe of wine and jug of tap water, and soon later our attentive waitress brought us the drinks and took our food order.

Our starters took a good 20 mins to arrive after ordering, but we didn't mind as we enjoyed our refreshing glass of Garganega (very light and fruity white wine) over a good chit-chat.

My Butterfly King Prawns were served in a red-hot skillet, sizzling with garlic, olive oil, parsley and a wedge of lemon. The prawns smelled and tasted great, but I wasn't too sure about the piece of toasted bread underneath the prawns - they had absorbed all the oil and become little pieces of soggy fried bread, which was less enjoyable than the juicy, perfectly cooked king prawns.

 

Mr Frenchy's Sicilian Arancinis were smaller than I thought they'd be, but they turned out to be "little balls of heaven" in Mr Frenchy's own words :) The spicy tomato dip served on the side was the perfect tangy accompaniment to the goat cheese filled Arancinis.

 

Now for the pizzas. I ordered the Salsiccia Pizza on a gluten-free base (I had been wondering what gluten-free pizza bases taste like for a while...). The menu described this pizza as 'A meaty, spicy pizza... with fiery Clabrian n'duja sausage meat', so I was looking forward to tucking in to some chunky pieces of spicy sausage, with added chillies for the extra kick. But to my disappointment, the pizza that arrived included the extra chillies but no chunky pieces of sausage :( It turns out that the Clabrian n'duja sausage meat is like a salami puree, which looked more like little blotches of red pesto on my pizza, and tasted pretty un-meaty too. Overall, the gluten-free pizza base was crispy and light and the toppings were delicious and complimentary - but a meaty pizza, it was not.

 

On the other hand, Mr Frenchy's Calzone Cacciatore was packed full of chicken, pancetta, mushrooms and peppers - smothered in a delicious tomato sauce and baked to a golden crust. It was also served with a nice little green salad on the side. I think Mr Frenchy did better than me in ordering this time! :P

We were almost tempted to treat ourselves to a dessert (which is rare as we both prefer savoury over sweet) when we saw the Almond, Plum and Pistachio Tart on the dessert menu, however we had to dash to the cinema to catch our film. Will definitely be back to try that one day though :) Mr Frenchy does love a good tart!

Overall, we had a very nice meal at Ask Italian, served by a lovely waitress who was attentive and friendly. The Tastecard offers a fantastic value and we will most probably return to enjoy the savings again - and of course the Butterfly King Prawns and Arancinis!

Ask Italian

16 Chapel Street,
Guildford, GU1 3UL

01483 577 027

http://www.askitalian.co.uk/restaurants/guildford

 

 

Caprini Restaurant, Waterloo (Italian)

Total food bill £19.00 (including £1.10 service charge)

2eat4under20 rating: 1.5 out of 3 stars
Mr Frenchy's rating: 1.5 out of 3 stars

What we ate:
2eat4under2o Spaghetti Carbonara
Mr Frenchy Fettucine Romano

What we drank:
Water (Mr Frenchy was still recovering from the rather heavy night out in Paris!) :)

 

Having spent a lovely weekend in Paris celebrating a dear friend's 30th, Mr Frenchy and I arrived back in London around 8.30pm. Although we had been served some food on the Eurostar, the tiddly portions and the absence of hot food made us feel rather under-fulfilled. So we decided to grab a quick bite before heading back to our countryside pad from Waterloo.

 

After a quick search on the mobile on places close to Waterloo Station, I came across Caprini. Conveniently located just opposite Waterloo station on Waterloo Road , we did not have to drag our suitcases and tired-selves too far to arrive there.

 

On entering the restaurant, there was a slight hesitation in my mind - as it seemed to be very empty (my mother once told me, never eat in an empty restaurant - queue if you have to!). There was only one customer in the restaurant, an old gentleman dining by the window, who looked as comfortable as if he was dining in his own front room with his paper and a plate full of pasta. He must have been a regular, maybe he has been taking his sunday dinner here for as long as the restuarnant has been open.... and so my imagination ran away with itself. On another table directly in front of the entrance, there was a waitress having her dinner - a large plate full of pasta and veggies which looked freshly cooked and delicious. And with that, my hesitation quickly disappeared and we took a table in the corner by the staircase.

 

Our waiter came over as soon as we sat down to provide us with the menu and advise on the Weekend set menu (3 course available for c.£15 per head, I think?). We had a quick glance at the set menu but decided that a hearty bowl of pasta each would be just the thing we needed to refuel us before heading home after a long weekend away.

 

I chose the Spaghetti Carbonara as I craved its creamy silky comfort. Mr Frenchy was also feeling partial to some comfy creamy bowl of pasta, so chose the Fettucine Romano which has ham (insead of bacon in my carbonara) and did not include the egg which gives Carbonara its extra think texture.

 

The food arrived very promptely upon ordering - it can't have been more than 10mins, as we ordered and chatted for a few mins then I popped to the ladies (on the second floor which was a bit of a climb!), and by the time I returned, my food was ready waiting for me on the table. A welcome promptness for us, as we were keen to eat and get the train back home.

 

My Spaghetti Carbonara was just what I needed. Creamy, tasty, comforting, and filling. It was not the best I have tasted (Mr Frenchy's homemade Carbonara is the one to beat!) but I was very happy with my dish. Carbonara can be tricky to get right, with many being too salty or too bland. But this one was seasoned just right. Mr Frenchy's Fettucine Romano also got the thumbs up. It had plenty of ham and just enough cream to cover the pasta but not drown it. With plenty of black pepper and parmasan cheese grated on top, we both finished the plates clean in no time.

 

Overall, it is a good little place for a quick bite before catching a train from Waterloo. No fuss, good tasty pasta, in and out in no time. Maybe we will pop back in another time to try other menu items - we do like a good Pollo Milanese.

 

Good: if you are looking for a hearty bowl of italian goodness, and  only have half an hour before your train from Waterloo.

Bad: if you are looking for somewhere with an atmosphere (there was no music when we were there, and no other customers!)

Things to remember: the ladies toilets are on the 2nd floor!! (It's one too many flight of stairs of me....)

 

Caprini Restaurant

77 Waterloo Road
London, SE1 8UD

020 7928 6645

http://www.caprinilondon.co.uk