Ask, Headingley
Last Thursday, I went to Ask whilst visiting my sister Jasmine in Leeds. We had been given £30 in vouchers by our mum to spend there, which rather than meaning we got a free meal, just meant that we both splashed out with 3 courses and paid what we would have done for 1!
We ordered a bottle of the house white wine between us (my last drink for a month!) and got two starters to share - the new pepperoni filled Panzerottini (dough balls) with olive oil and balsamic for dipping, and battered calamari, a family fave. Both were piping hot, really good sized portions and perfect for sharing.
We both opted for seafood pasta for main; mine was one of the specials - angel hair pasta with king prawns topped with crispy ham in a light lemon, garlic, chilli and tomato dressing, and Jasmine had the ravioli stuffed with crayfish, crab, salmon and ricotta in a creamy tomato sauce. Mine was nice, but I prefer sauces that are a bit more substancial and the dressing made the meal feel more like a warm pasta salad. I loved that it was with angel hair pasta though, as it is one of my favourite varieties. Trying Jasmine's I understood why she has gets it every time she comes to Ask, as it was amazing, stuffed full of seafood and the sauce was deliciously creamy and indulgent.
We both still had room for dessert (just!), so I got an almond, plum and pistachio tart with vanilla ice cream, which was sort of an Italian twist on a traditional English bakewell, and Jasmine went with simple lemon tart with creme fraiche, a great palate cleanser with a bit of zing.
The bill altogether with a tip came to £65 - a bit pricey for a high street chain Italian in my opinion, but the food and service were very good, and we did both have a lot to eat! At least we had our Tesco vouchers to knock half off.
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Food, Food & More Food!
This week was half term, so I've had a busy one filled with fun activities and lots of yummy food! Monday was a restful one as Aum had a busy weekend, we just chilled out at home and didn't do very much. On Tuesday we took two of his friends to the Trafford Centre to play Laser Quest and for some lunch. We bumped into two more of his classmates whilst we were there so all went to Zizzi together, which was lovely. I had the Calzone Pollo Spinaci, which was filled with chicken, spinach, mushroom, thyme and bacon in a mozzarella and bechamel sauce topped with ham, it was worth the 1500 calories!!
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We still ate at the country club in the evening, but as I had such a mammoth lunch I opted for a small plate - deep fried duck egg with cauliflower mousseline, caviar and micro herbs. It was a really good combo - the egg was gorgeous and runny and the cauliflower mousseline had a surprisingly strong flavour which went well with the caviar. On Wednesday we ate at Cafe Gourmand before travelling to Pontefract where Aum was staying with his grandparents for a couple of days. I had simple scrambled eggs on a wholemeal bagel, followed with an amazing honeycomb cheesecake, it had lumps of Crunchie, Malteasers and Daim in it. In the evening I was pretty tired from my drive, so watched the Brits and made some white chocolate 'cookies' that turned out like rock cakes!
On Thursday I had a lie in before doing a gym class, and then I travelled to Leeds to see Jasmine to break up my trip to collect Aum the following day. We went out for dinner at Ask (see next week's post) thanks to Mum as she gave us some vouchers, and then watched the first Hunger Games as I'd never seen it before. I picked up Aum on Friday at 2pm, and finished as soon as I'd dropped him at home.
That evening I popped to see Mum and then went for dinner at the country club with Tasha, Emily and Smeed. Em and I got two lots of sushi - the dragon roll which I have had before, and the Country Club Roll which is 'Hot black sesame reverse roll with tuna, barbecue unagi, baked scallop and prawn delight'. We got the broccoli and asparagus as a side, and I was stuffed afterwards!
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Yesterday I did an awesome yoga class and then went to Ikea with Mum in the afternoon, and in the evening a few of us went to James and Kelly's for drinks and nibbles. I have given up alcohol for a month, so was very good and stuck to soft drinks - and still made it to 1.30am!
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Today I had a surprise treat from Mo, so we got ready and set off at 3pm. Turned out we were going for afternoon tea at Harvey Nichols which was very nice! We had finger sandwiches on the bottom layer (cucumber and cream cheese, salmon, prawn mayonnaise, ham and mustard, and beef and horseradish) big raisin scones with jam and clotted cream in the middle, and then a selection of mini pastries on the top. It varies from day to day, but we got pear and apple crumble, a belgian vanilla slice, a purple macaroon and a chocolate truffle. There was so much we had to take a goody bag home with us, and finished it this evening after a yummy roast pork joint. Such a calorific week!
