Forn

In the little shop on East Preston Street where Cafe Valencia traded very briefly, another Spanish place has taken over, in the shape of Forn. On a wild and windy Saturday, I stopped in for a visit.

The interior has had a little redesign with the counter moved out of the corner. This makes for a much brighter and relaxed set-up. Things still have a little settling in to do, but that’s only natural given that my visit was on only their second day of business.

The menu focusses on a simple selection of lovingly sourced Catalan products, with pa amb tomaquet (toasted bread with tomato) served with a range of cured meats and cheeses. I opted for a selection of these and an espresso.

The espresso, El Zenit from Cafespont, was again sourced from Catalonia (roasted in the owner’s home neighbourhood of Sabadell) and was not one I’d tried before. It was quite a dark roast which worked nicely with the selection of toasts, which were soon with me after having been freshly prepared.

The very neatly presented plate looked really enticing. Each of them proved to be of excellent quality. There were three cured meat varieties, with tasty chorizo, fuet and llonganissa, then impressively good manchego cheese and well-crafted tortilla. They all made me very happy indeed.

So overall, it was great to discover this burgeoning little gem. Forn packs great quality into its focussed range of dishes. I think it has a prime opportunity to carve out a niche for itself, so look forward to many future visits. Highly recommended.

Scores
Blythe scores Forn
4/5 for food
4/5 for presentation
3.5/5 for setting
4/5 for service
giving an overall 15.5/20

I ate: pa amb tomaquet with selection of meats and cheese (chorizo, fuet, llonganissa, manchego)

I drank: water, espresso

I wore: blue

Total bill: £6