Lovely warming winter food if you ASK me!...

Now being a local blogger I do go out of my way to stay as independent as possible in the face of quite a few attempts for me to become, let's say, a bit more commercial in my approach. A fair few restaurants and hotel groups in particular have offered me weekends for two and meals as their guest. For the most part I say "no thanks" but last night I'm afraid I succumbed to temptation after a particularly nice invitation to eat out at ASK in Tonbridge High Street. I've mentioned before that the new manager there, Eric, seems to be a very likeable chap and, perhaps it's his half Brazilian, half Italian charm which makes him bubble over with enthusiasm. I rather like ASK anyway and Eric has introduced a few changes to the menu and talks about supporting the Cottage hospital and other local charities, so how could there be any harm in accepting his invitation?! But do you know what the real driving force for me going along last night was? Nothing to do with food at all. Previously I may have mentioned that the boiler at home has conked out on me completely and we are waiting for a replacement one; so the thought of a Friday night huddled around a small electric heater wasn't all that great versus an evening eating lovely hot food in a WARM restaurant!
My girlfriend and I arrived at around 8pm and we were greeted by the assistant manager; alas Eric had had to go home early so wasn't around for our usual chat. I wouldn't say we were treated like royalty but I sensed that we were getting a little bit of extra special attention. I'd love to be in Michael Winner's position (with his food critic hat on that is as opposed to his Death Wish one!) and be able to go to any restaurant where he is always paying the bill, that way he can say whatever he likes good or bad. But, being honest, based on last night's meal there really isn't much bad that I could say about the whole experience. Our waitress, a lovely polite girl from the Czech Republic was very attentive even before she knew we were the manager's guests. She was always willing to stand and talk about various menu options, she seemed to have tried most of the food herself and therefore was able to make informed recommendations. Similarly the assistant manager helped me choose when I started being indecisive about which main course to plump for. Of course we had to have a an aperitif didn't we and some olives and garlic bread as nibbles (well I don't get out much these days!) For starters my guest went for the Prawns al Piccante and I opted for the Mushrooms al Forno which, as the names suggest, one was spicy hot and the other was just piping hot. The piccante was absolutely superb, judging from the tiny taste I had, but a little too piccante for my taste buds so it took me several mouthfuls of the mushrooms to really appreciate the flavours. When they did finally come through they were a wonderful mixture of different Italian cheeses, garlic and pesto (in fact my mouth is watering at the mere thought of it!) Nice bottle of Moltipulciano D'Abruzzo which was not at all cold, which you do sometimes get with reds this time of year, so more points scored there; although, if I'm honest it was only the house wine and maybe I should have been slightly more daring and gone for a Chianto Classico or something. I do like to drink Italian wine with an Italian meal but maybe that's just me. My girlfriend had already chosen her main course the Rissotto Frutti Di Mare which I didn't get to taste so I'm guessing it was very good! I was torn between the Terrina Mediterranea or the Polpette al Forno and, on the manager's recommendation, went for the first choice. Again nice prompt service, not too rushed but not leaving us hungry inbetween courses. By now my feet were nice and warm for the first time all day and the wine and the beer were taking effect and the conversation was starting to flow. It was turning out to be a really nice evening. It got even nicer when I took my first taste of the Terrina Mediterranea. I'm so glad that I decided not to have the usual safe bet of a pasta or pizza dish which I often tend to go for in this type of restaurant. It sounded good and it tasted even better. What a superb fusion of flavours there was with tender chicken, king prawns, tomatoes, olives, white wine, butter beans and garlic; it was just divine. Heaven in a casserole dish! and just the right choice on such a cold night. Desserts were Tiramisu for my guest and Apple Rustica, a sort of apple crumble Italian style, for myself. A was able to get a little taste of the Tiramisu which was lovely although just a tad rich for my liking so I was glad and felt a bit smug that I'd made the right choice again. Although, I must say that the Chocolate Nemesis did sound awfully tempting! I rounded off the meal with a filter coffee which, to be truthful, was a little weak for my liking (but I said nothing in true English style! and frankly, if that was the only negative thing I could say about the whole meal, then I'll settle for that) and a small but fortifying grappa to warm me up for that long walk home back to my freezing cold house. We stopped off at the P&J on the way for a quick half pint of Hobgobblin beer and a malt whiskey chaser, which was very welcome, but I'll save that for another time....