The three stars are for the excellent food taste but the portions are small. I ate here last week and got the aubergine and harissa with yogurt and Caerphilly cheese and sliced green apple as a starter. I was impressed with the taste of both: the tender, grilled aubergine and spices and whipped yogurt blended well and the cheese and apple had a nice sweet and savoury contrast. But the portions except for the cheese are small!! The aubergine looked deflated. I've bought bigger pieces at Asda. And there could have been many more apple slices to pair with the good rectangle of cheese. So left still feeling hungry. read more

Forge & Co - Aubergine - British Near Me - London, XGL

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The waitress was telling us that the kitchen closed just before we arrived, which seemed odd because I would think 5-6 PM would be a proper time to begin serving dinner. Even more odd was that food was still coming out of the kitchen for other people. I think those other people were employees, but it was unclear. Well anyway, whatever they were eating,, it looked good! Seating was comfortable and we were lounging with some wine while deciding where we could get something to eat!! There was a table at the entrance with informational pamphlets about local activities. So, it was good to get some ideas here for things to do. I would recommend calling ahead if you actually want to eat. read more

Now, I feel a lot of people will go argue against me for this 3 star review but I will explain why... This is a great space: clean, open, welcoming, plenty of seating and perfect for working, lunching and relaxing - these are my positives and these are my three stars! My negatives: The service is non exsistent. I ordered a hot chocolate 3 times before I received it, 3, from 3 different waiters. We were never asked once how we were doing or if we wanted anything else. Sure if you're hear looking to work and not be bothered it's perfect and I would HIGHLY recommend this place but if you do want an ounce of attention, I wouldn't recommend it here. The hot chocolate: for me it was too sharp and not sweet enough. I had to add a cube of sugar but this is only a personal thing and I know people who like the sharper darker chocolate taste would enjoy this. -- We asked for the menu (twice) and when it arrived we realised that the prices were rather pricey. A great place to take a client if you're looking to impress as the menu looks and sounds great but for a casual lunch you're looking at £15+ I realise this is a review filled with positives and negatives and for some, this place is perfect: those looking to organise meetings and work and not be bothered - perfect! And in honesty I will probably do just that here again BUT overall I'm afraid the service does need some work. read more

Forge & Co - Hot chocolate - British Near Me - London, XGL

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An unanticipated bottomless glass of champagne on a sunny Sunday afternoon? Well done Forge & Co, well done. My tax preparer and I (kidding, my husband) popped in for a late lunch on Sunday afternoon. I'd walked by the day before and was intrigued, making a note to return. Nearly 24 hours later I found myself situated at a 2-top, perusing a menu and drinking lovely champagne. I have my priorities. We were celebrating finally filing our US taxes, after all! The space is new and bright, having been open for just about 2 months. It's a beautifully restored art deco building perched on a small corner on Shoreditch High Street just across from uber trendy Ace Hotel. They aren't messing around, they know their demographic and are well placed to snatch them up! My husband enjoyed a dark London Fields Brewery beer (and remarked that their beer selection is quite good), and we looked over the menu. Though a bit abbreviated on a Sunday I was very happy with my brunch order (Scrambled eggs, Scottish salmon and rye toasts) and starter (Smoked chicken and hazelnut with rocket salad). My date had the half lobster with chips and green salad. Very fresh all around. The roasts didn't appeal to us on this sultry day (something about a full roast when its quite hot out doesn't really work for me...) but the offerings looked nice, the table near us had the whole chicken and not a piece remained! As for the bottomless bubbly -- it was a complete surprise. I had ordered the first glass of course, but then the young men just kept coming 'round every so often and refilling with prosecco to the brim. What started out as a quick treat (away from the baby) became a Sunday funday quite quickly. I wouldn't expect it to happen again, but it was a nice little bonus indeed! The atmosphere is bright and comfortable with long communal tables, several seating areas with sofas and low chairs, etc. Tons of natural light streams through and despite being new the service seemed on point. Of note: *Allpress coffee drinks served. *They also offer co-working space upstairs, which I did check out. Very nice. The memberships are a bit pricey for the occasional user but for someone needing dedication space these digs are plush and you couldn't beg for a better location. read more

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I had the Ox Tail Burger, the best burger I've had in a while. Cool vibe, great service. And they take their drinks seriously. I had a host of fancy cocktails there, the highlights were these Chartreuse concoctions the bartender sold me on. Also a crazy strong Sazerac made with Sazerac Rye. The only place in Europe that has Chartreuse on tap (so I'm told). read more

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Forge & Co operates a membership policy, according to their website, but it's a little perplexing - it can be arranged on your first visit, and is free and available to all. We arrived for 7pm, and there were plenty of tables available in the canteen section, though the bar/lounge area was beginning to fill up considerably. The clientele was varied - the usual artsy media types you tend to find around Shoreditch were laughing and drinking away, while on the next table a rather grumpy looking student on her fourth latte seemed increasingly agitated by the growing noise around her. The atmosphere at Forge & Co is relaxed, and they seem to be getting it pretty spot on in terms of creating a social space for those to work, bring their laptops and plug in, while still being an open environment great for a light dinner or brunch. I trusted our friendly and attentive waiter with the wine choice for the evening, and he chose well - I really enjoyed the Australian Malbec (The Listening Station, 2010). So far, so good - we enjoyed the wine as we turned our attentions to the most important part of the evening - the menu. The All-Day Menu at Forge & Co is short, sweet and simple, serving locally-sourced produce where possible. It's an eclectic mix of usual British fare - steaks, rump of lamb, chicken, as well as several dishes where they've taken a more exotic or unusual twist on the classics, like their signature ox heart burger, or tandoori tofu salad. Forge & Co would be a great place to go with a mixed group, as there's something to please almost everyone - the safe, staple choices for those who are particular about food, while some of the more eccentric dishes are sure to please adventurous foodies. For my starter, I went for the Dublin Bay prawns with caper butter. I absolutely adore capers, and I've never thought of having them with prawns - I usually throw them in with salads, or as part of a puttanesca sauce. My boyfriend went for the roasted beetroot, walnut and Ragstone goats cheese salad. I thoroughly enjoyed my starter, although not for the reasons I'd originally expected. As informed by my waiter as I ordered, the Dubliners arrived with heads and shells intact, beautifully arranged on sea of sauteed spinach, purple sprouting broccoli and delicately placed avocado slivers which were carefully fanned out on my plate. The Dublin Bay prawns were somewhat stringy, and not big enough to make it worth fiddling around with the crab cracker for the amount of flesh I was able to retrieve using the utensils I had. This might be because I've been completely spoiled from my recent trip to the crab markets in Kep, and I couldn't help but wish that they'd substituted the prawns for a larger variety. The caper butter, however, was devastatingly good. The salty tartness of the caper butter, combined with the buttery texture of the avocado and the flavour of the garlic used to saute the greens completely saved the dish for me. I would eat the greens with the caper butter as a starter alone, it was that good - and completely made up for any disappointment I'd felt after grappling with the prawns. The roasted beetroot and goats cheese salad was visually stunning - the warm golden beetroot was served with toasted walnuts and drizzled with a balsamic reduction. The heat from the roasted beetroot warmed the goats cheese through, making this a perfect winter starter ideal for recreating at home. For my main course I opted for one of the more unusual dishes on the menu - the seared tuna with charred rocket and okra, served with a ponzu sauce. Ponzu is one of my favourite condiments - a Japanese combination of soy sauce and citrus juice, such as lemon or yuzu which is perfect with meat, fish and tofu. Still riding high on my New Years Resolution (to eat more vegetables), I ordered the main with a side of brussels sprouts with Camarthen lardons. After our delicious meal we made a beeline for the bar - an aesthetically pleasing and gorgeously lit set with copper accents. The Clover Club cocktail, a delicious blend of tart raspberry with Tanqueray, lemon and made foamy and almost creamy by the addition of egg white was the perfect ending to a pleasing sensory dining experience on so many levels - both visually and orally. The Forge & Co exceeded all my expectations, and is a wonderful space for dining, working, socialising and relaxing in general. I thoroughly enjoyed my meal, and will definitely be popping down with my laptop in the future. They also have the most beautiful bathroom sinks I've ever seen - not one for taking bathroom pictures, I had to make an exception in this case! read more

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This was the worst service I have ever had! If i could give 0 stars i would. I'm beyond annoyed. I came and was seated and sat there for about 15 mins without service. Mind you it was extremely slow, there were about 4 tables there. I would see the servers just talking to each other and conversing with other tables. I used to be a server, that is ridiculous!!! I got annoyed with waiting and just got up to tell them I was ready to order. No one came to ask if I needed anything else after my coffee was delivered. I was ready to leave and AGAIN I had to stare someone down to get their attention. read more

Sometimes you look outside and it's a beautiful spring day. You think to yourself, "The best way to start off this weekend would be with a friendly brunch!" This was one of those days. Also we were hungover and needed some help to get going. I booked at Forge & Co and then realised we were running late. The guy on the phone was wonderful and understanding. So then we arrived, and by arrived I mean crawled through the door (did I mention that we were hungover?). Nice decor - crisp and modern. So we first of all asked for water, for the dehydration. I enjoyed the tap water they brought, but my friends had more than a couple of things to say about it, since they tried to make it fancy by putting cucumber in it. For the record I don't have a problem with it. Anyway I ordered scrambled eggs, smoked salmon on sourdough bread. Creamy eggs, smoked salmon could have done with a pinch of lemon. The bread was a bit hard and not that warm, I really like when the butter melts straight away, it's always a bit disappointing when it doesn't. My friends had eggs florentine (eggs well poached, nice sheen on the hollandaise) and the full English - I stole her black pudding and it was pretty good too, rich and meaty. Prices were about £8-11 so decent for Shoreditch! The big draw here was the rather lovely hair of the dog deal - Prosecco at £10 with free refills throughout the meal. So of course to take full advantage of this we had dessert to make sure that the meal was longer! I had chocolate fondant, so gooey and rich in the middle mmmm. All in all, how can I hate a good brunch for £25 like this. More please! read more

The first time I ventured into this place was when I wanted to meet a friend round Shoreditch and was much too early. Through the big front windows you can see from the outside that there's lots of room to sit. I planted myself on one of the couches and read my book to pass the time. After a while I was brought the lunch menu. What they offered looked surprisingly interesting but unfortunately couldn't stay that long. I only had a cup of tea and enjoyed the comfortable sofa and the cool, modern interior. A few weeks later I made a dinner reservation with a friend. At the door they said something about it being a members-only club but they let us in anyway. Not sure what that is about. We ordered 500ml of Merlot (13.50), a Fish Board to share (20.00), and the Roast Sqash (14.00) as a main. I was delighted by the presentation and also happy with the quality of the food. read more

It is like my second living room. I am fortunately enough to live nearby and as soon as it opened, I went in to check it out. I love the over sized couches that form several comfortable hanging out areas. There is a long communal table where you can work on your computer and eat. The services here are quite friendly and they will leave you to it. I love coming here with my laptop and working away for a whole afternoon. I also spent one afternoon planning vacation with a friend just ordering two cups of tea. The server didn't pressure us to order anything more. The food here is British and I can't say I am a big fan, but it is decent and the price is very reasonable. Overall, this is a great gathering place. read more

I wanted to love Forge & Co., as it has a fantastic atmosphere and friendly staff, but unfortunately, the food didn't live up to expectations during our visit (though staff were absolutely fantastic in rectifying this, which goes to show that customer service is everything). Our prawns were served undercooked ... i.e. nearly raw. We had to send them back (which was embarrassing, as I hate making a fuss!), but they were great about this, and offered us something else off the menu, though we declined. The steak was quite flavorless and overcooked ... my salsa verde sauce was bitter and nothing to write home about, while my husband's hollandaise sauce tasted a bit off (which staff also quickly replaced). I'd be willing to give Forge & Co. another try - maybe for drinks, or for breakfast, as it's got a lovely bar area and looks like it would be fun to take a large group of friends. But I'd probably pass for dinner. read more

The Forge in Shoreditch is an interesting space. It is part of a setup which offers short/long term desk rental, meeting rooms for hire and social spaces. It is great for freelancers or sole workers who just don't have the capacity to have a full-on office space, but need an affordable professional base for a dedicated mail address, meeting facilities etc. Rental is via a monthly membership which gives you a desk, WiFi, discounts on meeting rooms and more. Call it a business centre if you will, but certainly with a much more funky and modern approach to it. Their casual dining space is open to residents and outsiders alike. Even better, as a Tastecard holder, you can enjoy 50% off food all day, every day (a rarity for member restaurants). The Forge is light and airy, with restaurant tables dedicated to the left and a sprawling lounge space to right. My favourite spot is on the large sofas next to the floor to wall windows where you can people watch whilst sipping on a chilled chardonnay. They have a small wine list and a solid cocktail offering. In the restaurant, the food is not cheap, so this little Tastecard offer makes some really good food affordable. The menu is simple with dishes categorized by sharing, salads, meat, fish and "others". This makes it simple to get to the nitty gritty of what you want to eat. Recently for lunch, we opted to try out the 8oz Rump Steak served with grilled mushroom, tomato, watercress and chips. Whilst the welcome was warm, the service was a little bit slow. We went there on a Monday, so it wasn't very busy - but the space is warm and welcoming enough and with the right company you can overlook this. When the food arrived, the steak was cooked to perfection. I do like medium rare (more on the rare side). This is a steak-eaters steak, as it is full of flavour. Being from the backside, it is quite firm, but they managed to flash fry it to ensure the texture was not too tough. I had béarnaise sauce with mine, whilst my dining companion had peppercorn. The fries were crispy and a good portion size. We opted for a glass of Borsao, a dry Spanish Grenache blend red. It was a good dining experience and the discount made it even better. What I also liked is that with the current controversy surrounding industry service charge and its lack of distribution to staff, the bill clearly stated exactly where your money goes. So there were two good things about the bill. The Forge, has recently welcomed a sister at Heal's on Tottenham Court Road, no restaurant just yet, but hopefully another of these grills will pop up in the near future. read more

Excellent food, service and decor The only bad point was the music, way too agressive and loud on a Sunday evening. read more

I have mixed feelings about my experience, hence my three stars up here (let me just say that food, music and general atmosphere were wonderful, I was just disappointed by other things :)). Firstly, I placed my booking via Yelp and they didn't have any record of it, even though I also received another confirmation this morning before going. In the end, there was enough space for my group of six on the loveliest table by the window so we were lucky, but still, it's scary to think about it cause I sometimes book brunches for 20+ people and we really don't want to end up not having space. I also think that the prices on the menu are not clear. They say you can have unlimited sparkling and still water for £1 but actually it's £1 per bottle. Also, if you look at the dessert part of the menu, it mentions a cheese platter with 4 kinds of cheeses saying "£3 each"; my friend was interested in trying just a couple of cheeses but the waitress said you can only have all of them together (why? If you put a price per piece I understand I can choose what I want to have. You should just write "Selection of cheeses: £12). Another thing I have to point out about this is that we tried to ask to the waitress if some cheeses were from goat of cow milk and she had no idea. I know this may sound like a very picky thing to say but when you have such a limited menu I expect you to know it or at leas just go and ask the chef? :) There was a DJ putting very nice music on and as I stated above, the atmosphere was lovely overall. I had the Ox heart burger, meat was perfectly cooked and it was absolutely delicious. Because I really wanted to have a nice burger I went for the extra toppings: bacon, egg and avo - which made it taste even better, probably the best burger I've ever had BUT...each topping is £1,50! Which sounds so ridiculous to me. It was just two slices of bacon, half avocado and one egg. I mean...this brought the price of my burger up to £17 which is really, really too much in my opinion. This is written on the menu so it was my fault, but then I thought about it and hum, I felt it was too much. My friend ordered some prawns, asking if she could also have some toasted bread on the side and the answer was just "no" (again: why?!? She would of course have payed for it). After insisting a bit the waitress said yes but she forgot about it so in the end...no bread. Another thing that I really didn't like is that two of my friends went for the pork belly roast, and in the menu it states (read it and you will find it) that it comes with apple sauce. The waitress didn't bring it. So we asked for it a couple of times and in the end they brought it but it was like they were doing something extra for us...when again, the menu does say that pork belly roast comes with apple sauce. Food was really, really good but after all this place is not cheap so I would expect good attention from the staff and to get what I see on the menu at least. I hope this can be useful for future customers! read more

Really great atmosphere, nice food too. I had the vegeterian fry-up and would definitely recommend it. The bottomless prosecco was also great, although I do think they should re-word it as bottomless may be a little mis-leading. You may only order re-fills during your meal so as soon as you finish eating, that's it! And I don't know if it was just me but I swear they sure did take their time bringing each re-fill over!! But all in all a good experience. read more

Came for a Sunday brunch. No line which was great, menu was small but there were at least two items I was considering. I ended up ordering the eggs and avocado. Very nice, but nothing too crazy. Just two eggs and some avodaco on toast. It was a pretty small portion so I'm glad I ordered a side. I ordered the fruit salad and asked what was in it, and they listed off a long list of fruit, including melon (I mentioned that I don't like melon very much, and I didn't want to order it if it was half melon). However when they brought it to the table it had kiwi in it, not one of the fruits mentioned, and the only fruit I am allergic to. Quel domage! I told them, and said that since it was all mixed in I would just cancel my order. They went back to the kitchen and someone from the kitchen came out and checked with me what fruits I can eat (anything but kiwi!) and they made me a separate plate of fruit with no kiwi OR melon, since the fruit salad was all pre-made and mixed and kiwi-ified. SO NICE. They definitely didn't have to do that, but it was so thoughtful. Thanks for the extra effort! read more

Decoration, food, staff, drinks, atmosphere, music ... everything in this place is amazing! read more

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Food and hot drinks are okay, would not recommend too much! Wifi is great, super fast! My friend and me stayed there working with our laptops from 2pm today, we were asked to leave at around 6pm! But we did order lunch and cake and coffee for afternoon tea. Saying things like " we are quite busing during dinner time....." read more

Forge & Co - British Near Me - London, XGL

The food, atmosphere and drink at Forge & Co are great. Both times I've come to there has been a great atmosphere, great mix of people and fantastic service. The food is delicious and great value for money especially with the all you can drink Prosecco served with your brunch! I had stumbled upon it on a Buzzfeed list of brunch places to check out in London and am so glad that I did! I would highly recommend it if you have small groups, or are even looking to go by yourself to get out of the house. You can make a reservation but unless there are a bunch of you, it's kind of unnecessary. Location wise it is pretty perfect for an after-brunch stroll through Brick Lane or along the high street. read more

I loved been there in two occasions and loved mix calm and vibrant atmosphere, the wine recommend by a friendly member of staff was top class and nothing to complain about the food, I would definitely go back again in fact I've just booked a reservation for tonight read more

Forge & Co - Relaxing - British Near Me - London, XGL

I came here for a friends birthday recently on a saturday for the bottomless brunch. We were a fairly large group - about 12 of us I think, the food was good and all came out around the same time (always a plus when theres more of you). As there was so many of us they just ended up leaving a couple of bottles of prosecco on a table at a time which suited us because it meant we could all top ourselves up! The only reason I am giving this 4 stars is due to the overpriced bar. Me and my other half arrived a little early and decided to have a drink at the bar but felt it was a overpriced for what it was. Otherwise, we had a great time and I'd definitely go back. read more

Had a really delicious slice of cake here with a latte. The place is open, stylish & comfy. But when paying, my bill said one amount including service, but when the little payment machine came, my server had added another £2.00. He didn't want to give me a receipt right away but when I insisted that I'd like to get one, that's when I saw the added amount. Didn't like that at all so just be careful! :-( read more

This place was really great. The only reason we went in was because we seen the bartenders dancing from the window and knew they were having a great time. The vibe inside was real chill and the DJ was playing very good music. read more

I often come here for business meetings, it's chilled enough for a relaxing environment but not too loud where you can have a good conversation. The wifi here is great, not many plugs if you want to charge your phone or laptop, but the chilled out cafe/lounge vibe works well for this place. I will often hangout and catchup on emails here after my business meetings. I've had afternoon meetings here where we have coffee and tea, and then I've had nice evening business meeting drinks here too. Nice selection of all drinks hot and cold. I've had the fries here and they were good but otherwise I can't comment on the food. read more

When I come back to London, this is the first place I want to have a meal. I didn't have any reviews and insight about this venue before I wondered in after a day of exploration. I was on holiday/ vacation this past June and became hungry. After tons of walking and shopping, I ventured into Forge & Co. I loved the atmosphere and vibe. It was very posh and mod. Janos was my waiter, he was great. Make sure you try the Bass and Spring Green with the Strawberry and Lemon Eton Mess for dessert. read more

I've passed Forge and Co numerous times but never had the desire to pop in until recently for a business meeting. We came in here for lunch and I found the inside to be much more charming that I had anticipated. The open layout had both a chic and cozy feel and seemed to be a place that would be nice to work out of for a few hours. We decided to share a few plates among us - everything we had from the sharing menu was quite tasty though nothing about this place completely blew my socks off. For the price I'm glad I wasn't the one paying, as a small brunch could really start to add up between a few people. I'll definitely be back to take advantage of the co-working space and try out the coffee and salad, which appeared to be a better value. read more

Lovely bar in Shoreditch. Really good service, great drinks and great food. A little overpriced but had no real issues at all. The atmosphere is very chilled and comfortable and the decor makes it a very inviting place for a couple of drinks read more

We came along to the forge for a few cocktails on Friday evening before dinner. The area is comfortable with dining and drinking areas separate. There is a good selection of drinks available from classic cocktails, beers, and wines. Pleasant and non invasive background music. Service was both friendly and attentive. The cocktails were tasty enough and well made. What let the experience down and my only gripe would be that while watching the bar tender make our drinks the spirits stated on the menu were not the same as what was poured. Where stated Johnny Walker Black label, standard Red label was used. Same with the vodka - a standard house vodka was used. At £9 a pop I think it only fair that top shelf be used as advertised. read more

Great service and drinks. Good for after work drinks or diner in a relaxed environment. The staff was really friendly and the place despite being busy, wasn't packed to the extent that you could not move around. We only came for drinks so cannot comment on the food quality. read more

Went for a catch up dinner with a friend. She's a vegetative and really enjoyed her course as it was something a bit different for a veggie. I enjoyed the fish sharing platter it was great. Nice dinner but nothing wow but heard great things with their brunch. read more

Amazing for brunch!! Really lovely staff who made my birthday fantastic! Highly recommend if you are planning something fun- the staff are willing to get involved and play along! Take advantage of the bottomless prosecco, with food made from quality ingredients and if you're not a fan of prosecco a delicious Bloody Mary will fight off your hangover! read more

I have mixed feelings about this place. I came late afternoon to meet my partner who had been there a while already. The first waitress seemed really nice, took my order with a smile and was polite. I started with one of their signature cocktails which was nice. I also got some nibbles, chips etc. The chips were crispy on the outside with the skins left on which I like, but was still hard and undercooked in the middle. We then decided to leave and asked for the bill, well tried. The first waitress wasn't around anymore and we tried to get the attention of someone else. The second waitress ignored us to start even though we were practically shouting and when she did come over was very rude and cold. Only when we finished paying she said thanks in an obviously sarcastic way before rushing off. (Visit - 16/04/2015 Late Lunch) read more

I came for brunch on a Sunday after having passed it the night before. I ordered a full English. Generally such a common breakfast takes 10-15 minutes...I waited 50 minutes. When it finally did arrive, I was disappointed to see a smaller-than-usual portion of lukewarm food. The food was fine and it was generally filling but it was absolutely unexceptional for a breakfast I waited nearly an hour for and paid £11 for. The space was pretty but because my party of four had no reservation, we were made to sit on these uncomfortable worn-out couches on which the cushions dropped down. The people I sat with ordered equally easy-to-make items (scrambled eggs, another English breakfast and porridge) and we all waited for nearly an hour. We were obviously not the only ones displeased with our experience because on our way out, some clearly dissatisfied customers wrote "s*** service" in lipstick on the blackboard in front of the restaurant. While my experience did not suscite such a visceral reaction, I can't imagine coming back to Forge and Co for anything else than a drink. read more

enter in the heart of eclectic shoreditch and find yourself transported to Scandinavia. homey and very welcoming, you're first greeted by attentive staff and then delicious plates of fresh, seasonal food. the smoothies are a specialty and the craft brews are the icing on the cake. great place for breakfast, lunch, or brunch! read more