A CLASSY interior with modern looking dcor was exactly what my friend Sarah and I were looking for when we decided to go out for a girly meal and wine on a Friday evening.

ASK in Marlborough, which is right on the High Street, provided not only classy surroundings in a beautiful town but top notch service and food too.

It is part of a national chain, founded in 1993 by Adam and Samuel Kaye, who opened the first one in Belsize Park in North London.

Today there are 180 ASK pizza and pasta restaurants all over the United Kingdom.

The chain aims to give each one a unique design to suit the character of the building it is housed in.

ASK came to Marlborough about eight years ago and is housed in the old Post Office, which gives it plenty of character.

As it was a hot summer's evening, the huge windows at the front of the restaurant were open on to the street which gave the whole dining experience a Mediterranean feel.

Dressed up to have a Sex And The City style gossip we were impressed with the huge airy dining space lined with huge mirrors, perfect for checking makeup and hair every now and then throughout the evening, as well as looking modern and clean.

After ordering some drinks, we pondered over the Italian- style menu of pizzas, pastas and salads.

To start with, Sarah had a mushroom dish called mushroom al forno, which were whole mushrooms fried in herbs and were delicious.

I had a Caesar salad, not because I'm watching my weight or because there wasn't a huge range to choose from, but more because I wanted to leave room for the delicious sounding desserts.

The waitress service was impeccable and someone was always around to check we had enough to drink.

Even after sneaking out on to their delightful patio for a cigarette the staff came and got us to make sure our food wasn't sitting at the table getting cold.

For our main courses, we decided to have two completely different things and share them.

Sarah had a huge four cheese pizza topped with parma ham and I had a spaghetti dish served with spicy meatballs called spaghetti e polpette.

Both were really good, and even though we were very full after the large portion sizes, we were enjoying ourselves so much that we managed to eat the lot.

Despite this, we knew we had to have something from their dessert menu and once again decided to have two separate things to split between the two of us.

The chocolate cake was a must and our second choice, which was the bannoffi pie sounded equally as tempting.

I must spend a bit of time describing the cake as we both agreed it was one of the most gorgeous things we had ever tasted.

Covered in thick icing with chocolate chips mixed into the sponge, it was served with vanilla ice cream and a light chocolate powder scattered on top.

The bannoffi pie was equally delicious with a biscuit base and a creamy toffee mixture coating it.

After a thoroughly enjoyable evening and lots of gossiping we headed home. I'm sure we will definitely both however make ASK a first choice for an evening out in future.

By Katie Adams.

ASK

101 High Street,

Marlborough

SN8 1HD

(01672) 515797

  • Wheel chair access
  • Vegetarian options available
  • Ample parking in Marlborough High Street
  • Patio seating outside
  • Specials menu also available