You sly dog. You grabbed my taste buds and peppered them with glory. La Forchetta, you won. La Forchetta has the second best calzone I've had in London. The best, unfortunately for La Forchetta, is just down the road at "Made In Italy." HOWEVER, "Made In Italy" is only open for dinner while La Forchetta welcomes you for lunch. And that's a SLAM DUNK (basketball reference). Ahhhh the calzone here is so beautiful. So puffy and enticing. You just wanna eat it with one bite (doesn't work). I got mine sans mushroom and ham and they didn't mind my modification. However I wish I had requested extra pepperoni and ricotta cheese, because the calzone did feel slightly light on stuffing. The real heart of the calzone is where I truly fell in love. Imagine Stewie from Family Guy's head being a calzone and his ears are the sides. The side's of Stewie's head were more bread than brawn, but this is the case with all calzones. The space in between his eyes and ears could have been more juiced with mozzarella and pepperonis. However, his nose, ears, and mouth; the overall center of his head, was absolutely to live for. I melted with the cheese. I dunked it in my extra sauce I ordered on the side and let that thing swab my mouth as I held the bliss for as long as I could. However I ate the thing in minutes, despite its large size. The pizza is edible by a single individual and most are hovering at around eight pounds. If you are here around dinner time, I'd suggest the "Made In Italy" pizza as it seems more authentic and with fresher ingredients. It's a better pizza, but again the place is closed during lunch so La Forchetta is your best bet otherwise. The prices here are not going to wow anyone, but it is a nice restaurant with outdoor seating if it tickles your fancy. There is no wifi here. A boy can dream. The staff is fantastic, that's for sure. We dig the outdoor tables, and the staff wanders over to the window constantly to check that we are set. This is really refreshing, because I've had some shoddy service in this area. The staff, as some people have noted, are very attentive so that's a big plus! La Forchetta. Eat the calzone. Remember why you're alive. read more

La Forchetta - SSOOOO DELICIOUSSSS - Italian Near Me - London, XGL

I'm not sure how I originally ended up here, as to look at it really doesn't look anything special and the bright neon sign screams cheap take away or sex shop, enough to put me completely off. If I'm sober that is. But, after an evening of cocktails at 'OQO' across the road we piled into La Forchetta hoping for a quick pizza. As it happens, we ended up siting down and having a three course meal as the food looked so appetising! All I remember about the food was the amazing pizza, very authentic, with a thin, crispy base and so large that the sides were balancing off the plate. I've eaten some really great pizza (and some really terrible ones) over here, but this one was one of the better. Quite reminiscent of nights out in Trastevere, Rome. Delicious pizza and the waiters were charming Italians too. Nothing like a bit of authenticity. What a good find. read more

Not sure how I've passed in front of this restaurant without ever seating there... Great location, in front of Islington Green. Service is very friendly yet professional and prompt to help. The red wine Montepulciano wine was a bit too warm to my taste, yet it was drinkable... But forget about the con, let's look at the pros : the calamari starters were deliciously crispy, not oily at all, and married perfectly with the lemon juice and tartare sauce. My pappardelle with wild boar sauce were very well cooked, and with enough sauce to stick to the pasta, while not let it drown in gravy. (another little con: we had to ask for parmesan, they didn't put ask us in the first place != The seafood linguine my friend had were also good, albeit a bit dry to my taste. Anyway, a very pleasant lunch, on the terrace, for a total bill that is definitely affordable. Buon apetito ! read more

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I come here whenever I'm in Islington. I love to eat in this place. The Pizza here is enormous and very tasty. They also do really good salads and decent pasta. I know one of the servers, a young Italian guy who always teases me about being out of things and I look horrified and then he tells me it's just a joke. I can't have anything wreck my pizza experience. The furnishings in there are basic but your date won't be insulted. It's just great pizza, at a great price with good service and they have never been out of anything! Don't listen to him...he's pulling your leg! read more

La Forchetta - Excellent Value, Excellent Pies - Italian Near Me - London, XGL

This place is the Bees Knees, I rate it 10/10. I used to come here all the time, with a good friend, because you can get a bowl of pasta or a Pizza for £4.95 and a bottle of house wine for about £12. I always order the Napoletone, which has always been delicious. The food is great, the wine is lovely and it's very pretty in the evening with candles. It is an excellent choice if you're going to meet an old friend, for a jolly night out without breaking the Bank. read more

La Forchetta - Italian Near Me - London, XGL

Quick service, tasty food and reasonable prices are my prerequisites for a good restaurant unless someone else is footing the bill. La Forchetta falls into this category and its one of my favourites because I love Italian food. I also love Italian waiters and they love me (if you happen to be a girl and flirt shamelessly they start dishing out the shots of limoncello). They do a fantastic melanzane alla parmigiana (aubergine, tomato sauce and parmasan darlings). I can barely pronounce it but I'm really good at eating it, I also love their carbonara and the pizzas are huge, thin base and delicious. After telling my flatmate and her boyfriend to go to this place she came home outraged and said the food and service was awful, so we had a massive fight and we don't talk anymore. Not really, but strong words were exchanged and the rest of my flatmates and I concluded that she probably got confused and went to the wrong restaurant. read more

La Forchetta - Italian Near Me - London, XGL

I chanced upon La Forchetta on my way back to Angel Tube station from the Linzi's leaving do. Despite it being the wintertime and almost 9.30pm, the gelateria was still open to tempt me with its wares. I had caught the gelato bug on my visit to Italy with my parents and sister last year. They do take their ice cream seriously and La Forchetta had the usual flavours I had become familiar with from my trip. I like their fruit flavours best as they tend to pack them with concentrated flavour. So I opted for strawberry and mango. The creamy fruit flavours brought a smile to my face and happy memories of the Italian trip. The gelato must have been good for me to be enjoying it in mid-winter! read more

No-one likes a bully. Least of all me. Least of all when I am eating. But that's what you'll find at La Forcetta. A relative newcomer to the Upper Street scene, I'd never been in as it just looks like yet another pizzeria, but we decided to give it a try. On walking in, the manager/owner went to seat us, stopped and left us standing in the middle of restaurant to point at and berate one of the waitresses. 'No, it's fine, really, we'll just wait till you are done'. The waitress was a little strange but friendly. We spent the next hour watching the nasty little manager/owner man shout at her and berate her loudly in the middle of the restaurant. He never did it to the male waiters, even when one dropped a tray of drinks. But every time we looked round, he was over, in her face, gesticulating and shouting. There seemed to be lots of over-bearing Italian men storming around the restaurant, glaring at the female staff. It was awful. It was mortifying. That poor girl. Get another job, honey. The food was average. Bad calamari, average pasta. She accidentally rang in the wrong order for my companion and nasty man came over apologising and bitching about her, saying you couldn't get good staff. Uh, yeah, like you? We would have gotten over a wrong order, but I don't come out to dinner to experience this sort of behaviour. It's unprofessional and utterly unpleasant to watch, deal with your drama elsewhere. No, I'd never go back. read more

The girlfriend likes to get pizza here on the special with garlic and chili oil. I come and eat a nice large green salad that is quite tasty for a 3 pound price tag. I nick some pizza crusts at times at they are crispy and not too thick. I want to warn you. The girlfriend and I came once on a Sat night and the service was not as good as usual and I waited a long time for someone to come around and grind my pepper. It is important! In the end, the waiter just handed me the canister. It was like being at home. Well, save for the fact that I do nothing domestic whatsoever unless REALLY PUSHED. Come here when it isn't busy and service is much better. read more

Brava La Forchetta! Delicioso! I stayed in this part of town for 2 nights and both nights, I had La Forchetta for dinner! Actually, the first night, I'd just landed after travelling all day from NYC and La Forchetta was the only restaurant willing to serve (well, take away)....it was a Bank Holiday. Well, how lucky I was! A very friendly staff took my order and chatted with me as I awaited the feast they prepared! Pizza Napoletana: Extra sauce, light cheese as that's how I love it and my, oh, my, was it good! As I said, good enough to bring me back a full 24 hours later! Gnocchi Marinara: Tender gnocchi smothered in a wonderful sauce---perfect! And I've had gnocchi from NY to New Orleans to Australia, and La Forchetta, you got it sooooo right! Mint parfait: Pretty sure this was gelato with a hint of chocolate syrup which was a nice way to end a meal! Very satisfying! As it was take away, La Forchetta provided me with plates, napkins, forks, spoons as well as a few cans of Diet Coke. If I'm ever back in your neighborhood, La Forchetta, I'll be sure to stop by and say hi! Restroom is downstairs, ie, non accessible. read more

La Forchetta has some great pizza, and this is from someone currently living in the NYC metro area. Inexpensive, an extremely pleasant and attentive staff, and a comfortable dining room in which you are not seated cheek-to-jowl with your fellow diners. A note of warning - the "personal" size pizzas are large enough for two to easily share, so come with an appetite! But if you do end up with leftovers, there is no issue with them wrapping it up for you, as they do a great take-out business too. We have it on good authority that the gelato is also well worth having, but we were too full to try it this time out. read more

A nice pizza and pasta restaurant with good pizza, pasta and nice deserts. Rge service is good abd the decor is nice. The pasta dish servings are a bit too small, but otherwise good. read more

I went here to experience some of their Italian style pizza. And I am so overwhelmed. It's so delicious and worth the money that you pay. Thecomponents are all fresh, all the staffs and even the owner are all friendly and alert and they moved quickly. The pizza has more options on toppings and they served special combinations to choose daily. The place is slightbusy, but it's all worth it once you taste their pizza. And if you are crazy for pizza, it is the best place for you! read more

I have never felt the need to write a bad review - until today. We were in the park for a picnic and decided to get some pizza from the closest Italian, which was unfortunately La Forchetta. The initial ordering process was fine, and the attending waitress was friendly. It was however, when we left the restaurant to eat in the park. We found not one, but two hairs in both pizzas we ordered, which is totally unacceptable. We returned the pizza to the restaurant, and the response we were met with was a blank face and constant shrugging. The man we faced had the worst possible attitude dealing with the situation, saying it was our responsibility to check the food before it left their premises. He had nothing to say about the subpar quality of their food, and just giving attitude to everything we said. He even implied that we planted the hair ourselves! I've never dealt with someone so uninterested in what the customer is saying, and having worked in the service industry myself, I know the difference between good and just plain ignorant servers. I would never go back there, unless I spoke to the manager myself, who was conveniently unavailable and they didn't know when he would be in. This grey-haired man obviously wouldn't know what good service is, even if it slapped him in the face. The food wasn't even worth the hassle of the conversation with this man. And needless to say, no compensation was offered as an apology. In fact, not even a verbal apology was offered. Never again. read more

Came in here on a whim because of a deal they were advertising- appetiser, pasta/pizza, and glass of Prosecco for £16. Very happy with it and would certainly return. Got an order of penne primavera and fully expected to take some home because it was a ton of food, but ended up eating the whole thing. Super good! read more

The Margerita pizza and two scoops of gelato I had here could have come straight from a Venetian restaurant. With one crucial difference: none of the rather dodgy 'cover charges', 'taxes' and 'service' that suddenly bump up your meal to £40 a head. The pizza was thin, with just the right amount of cheese and perfectly cooked in a wood-fired oven. The gelato was creamy and delicious. And it only came to £12.50 in total: Perfecto. read more

La Forchetta is a surprisingly rather good spot for authentic Italian food and tasty thin crust pizzas on Upper Street in Islington. Staff is all Italian. The decor is rather basic---fancy La Forchetta is not. However, if you are in the mood for solid well-priced Italian food in Islington, La Forchetta is worth a visit. read more

There are much better Italian places to go in Upper Street or nearby (for example there's a great Italian restaurant on Theberton street). This place seemed pretty average, was quite expensive for what we had, and the waiter seemed to have an odd attitude too. I wouldn't rush back. read more

Mmmm pizza! Really thin and crispy, mozzarella, tomatoes, yum! I really like this place. It's a great value pizza and pasta restaurant right on Upper Street, a stone's throw from Islington Green. They really do have some bargains check out the special's board for a selection of pizzas and pastas at £4-ish each! Team that with a nice wine we decided to get back to the 90s and try a chilled, red Lambrusco OK don't laugh, it was actually really light and delicious, the perfect lunch time drink. For some reason I've never seen this place very busy though. A cheap and cheerful gem. read more

This place is all right, you can enjoy a nice pasta or pizza for a decent prize. Wine is also cheap, Staff is quick and sociable, you can have fun on a night out with friends, celebrating a party or flirting with the very attractive italian waitresses. read more

Terrible service, and even worse food...and I have low standards for both. How is this restaurant in existence? They must prey on tourists who unfortunately don't know any better. I ordered a quattro stagioni pizza. The crust was thin and quite good, but the sauce was both tasteless and used sparingly. The ham consisted of cheap cold cuts, and the olives were clearly canned/tasteless. I love pizza, and can enjoy even terrible pizza, but this pizza made me question my commitment. The waiters were rude and didn't bring me water, even though I had asked twice, and there was literally only one other couple seated at the restaurant. I will never go back to this restaurant, and I can totally see Linzi's comments below being played out in this place. read more

Big pizza for 8 pounds. The pizza was very good, and so was the home-made dessert. The only negative thing was that the prizes in their Webpage did not match the ones in the menu, so the result was a bit more expensive. read more

After 20 minutes of sitting in a bar down the road trying to think of somewhere to get a cheap feed we then spent 10 minutes arguing about where La Frochetta was, only my friend who made the suggestion was calling it La Porchetta which we all know is up by Almeida Street not on Islington Green which is what I was saying but then when we got to La Forchetta on Islington Green where she had meant all along she realised her mistake of calling it La Porchetta not La Forchetta and we laughed about the crossed wires and went in to get a table. We ordered a bottle of house white which was a nice but I guess it really wouldn't have mattered what it was, I was already a little drunk. I spilled water on my menu which I rather cleverly directed onto the floor but then I was sitting in a puddle so it looked liked I'd wet myself. Anyway, we finally got around to ordering, I ordered the special, the Parma ham tortellini in a tomato cream sauce. We had garlic pizza bread with mozzarella and aubergine parmigiana to start, the parmigiana was best, the bread nice for mopping up the tomato sauce. Then our mains came and well, this is when I stopped enjoying the meal. I'd ordered the special right, so you'd think it would be a bit special. The presentation sucked and so too did the pasta. Anaemic tomato sauce that was too tart and solid little tortellini that could've done with another few minutes cooking. I've had al dente but this was taking it a little too far. Oh and my friend asked for pepper that the waitress brought, ground over her food then plonked down unceremoniously in front of my plate. I'll help myself shall I? I think they were all in a bad temper but still, I like to get what I pay for and I would've preferred to go to the Tesco over the road to buy and cook my own. We live and learn. read more

Delicious Pizza and yummy pasta. Great food at average price.

great italian restaurant! they do a lovely cheap breakfast menu and a great lunch deal, £6.90 for a pizza or pasta and a drink, and the portion sizes are generous. they've just re-vamped the inside and have fridges with grogeous desserts on display, traditional cannoli and yummy gelato :) the staff cant do enough for you in here, we were here today and a friend had a bad headache so the waitress asked if we would like the music turned down. very attentive! we are in here at least once a week for lunch and we love it. the food is gorgeous! read more

Worst restaurant ever. The waiter got the entire order wrong. The soup never turned up, wine was not given to our table either, yet it was added to our bill. I sent back my pizza twice as they kept getting it wrong and in the end I cancelled it completely. The waiter tried to pass off a coke as a diet coke. The restaurant was not busy. There was only one other table of 6, they decided to leave after waiting 30 mins for their drinks. Very wise of them ! Overall service was less than useless and I would advise everyone to keep on walking past this restaurant. read more

Came across this spot on Upper Street on a sunny Sunday and decided to have lunch on the patio. We began with the Calamari with tarter sauce for a starter. Anemic amount of squid served on carrots and a large wedge of iceberg lettuce with no sauce. Had to get up and ask for the tarter sauce, was told there was none and was given plain mayonnaise. Staff stood around doing barley anything but talking at the bar inside with only 3 tables with a total of 5 covers. Waited another 40 minutes for our mains while watching the kitchen staff leave for breaks. We went in again to ask what the issue was and magically the food appeared. Im guessing it was sitting on the pass for a while. When mains finally arrived and my chicken salad was missing the parmesan shavings and the lemon but had random potatoes added. The saving grace was that my partner's meal came as expected. This place has promise but falls down on execution. I wouldn't recommend this place to friends without serious improvement for the price point and Im actually quite shocked by the amount of positive reviews. Perhaps we came on an off day but I suspect there is a fair amount of slacking that goes on when they aren't full. read more

When I see all the hipsters on Upper Street with their 21st century interpretation of 80's fashion I often wonder if this could be translated into other aspects of day to day life in the modern world. After all we are in a massive recession and languishing under a Tory government so there is definitely an air of the 80's all around. Well amazingly La Forchetta has nailed it, short of the basket clad Chianti bottles and red check table clothes this place has managed to encompass everything that was so abysmal about Italian restaurants in this country 30 years ago. Prawns and avacado starter, no honestly, with the cheapest Iceland mini shrimp available, ahhh delectable. A steak that was tougher than the sole of my shoe and dribbling blood. Which when challenged that it should have been rested to stem the flow of claret spewing from it, I was told if it's rare, it's 'supposed' to be bloody, oh really? I must get on to the Michelin guide and give them the heads up at how wrong they obviously are with their assesments. Panna cotta like concrete and a tiramisu so bland as to be a revelation, I didnt think it was possible to so spectacularly mess up such a simple dessert. Well done La Forchetta you are a time capsule in the heart of N1. Unless you find yourself inclined to relive a dark period in British culinary history or so hungry you could eat your own fist I would set your sights on other Islington eateries, 1 star is generous but unfortunately the lowest rating available. read more

I went here last Saturday evening and in my experience it was the worst service I have experienced in London. It took 45 minutes to bring out our salad and pasta dish, and when I asked them politely to check on how long the food would be they brought me the bill and had put the main courses on it! I tried to explain that we hadn't actually got the food yet, and after the first two waiting staff who barely spoke any English, couldn't understand what I was asking, I had to speak to the manager. He apologised and got the kitchen to do it in 5 minutes and offered a glass of wine as an apology. The food came, was ok, but very average. No sign of the wine, but we asked for the bill as we now had to leave to be somewhere. He stops us and realises he's forgotten the wine. Eventually we manage to get the bill (with service charge automatically added on!) Needless to say I would not recommend this place or go back there again. read more