Tipped

Parenthetically recommended

February 02, 2009

Forbury’s is one of those restaurants where you walk in off the cold street (after being royally ripped off by a minicab company who show up 45 minute late, charge more than a black cab and are completely unapologetic about the proceedings, but that’s a rant for a different review altogether), feel the blast of heat, the smell of freshly cooked food, be guided directly to the bar for a delicious cocktail, and feel as if you’ve just come home.

Situated in the lovely-looking Forbury Square in Reading, Forbury's offers ‘European cuisine with a French twist’ – and does it very well indeed. Especially exciting is the £19 three-course ‘market menu’, which uses (mostly) locally sourced produce to wizard up an inventive, tasty menu for the discerning food-hound. And let’s be honest - £19 for three courses of food which is not too far off Michellin-star quality is an absolute scrape-the-barrel bargain. Add a £20 bottle of wine, and you’re set for a fantastic culinary bargain indeed.

The restaurant is a lively place, the food is inventive, and the wait-staff is attentive (even though being attended to by 7 different waiters / sommeliers / bread delivery knaves / wine-glass attendants / table-cleaners / ‘is everything all right’ askers / are you SURE you don’t want the cheese trolley inquirers is a bit much on a 2-hour restaurant visit) enough to ensure that we’ll definitely be back for seconds. And thirds. And, even though the 4-month sentence of banishment from my beloved London to the snow-and-rain laden Reading is already half-served, I may still make it back for a fourth time, too.

So without further ado (or parenthetical asides), I warmly recommend the Forbury to anyone who likes food. Or tasty cocktails.

Tags: cuisine: european, cozy, friendly, good food

Eat! Drink! And be merry!

February 01, 2009

Based on the recommendation in the Michelin guide, my adoring boyfriend took me to Forbury's, for a rather successful surprise. The ambiance was pleasantly lively and comfortable, the waitstaff attentive and stiff in ways that seemed charmingly old fashioned, and the food not just reasonably priced, but delicious. There was a selection of vegetarian options, and we had a delightful evening of being nauseausly, gooily in love at each other...much to the waitstaff's amusement, I suspect.

Features we especially liked: the wine recommended by the maitre d' (a fascinating Sancerre Croix de Roi); the truffle oil on the Jerusalem artichoke velouté; good crunchy seeded bread; the fact that the seared sea scallop came on a skewer of woody licorice root (which then soaked into the scallop); rather astonishing celeriac puree; the fact that the venison main dish consisted of venison meat balls; the look of the cheese cart (we couldn't, we'd had too much); and very successful pear tart tatin with roquefort ice cream (our compromise with the cheese cart.) The tart tatin, decorated with whole star anise, and gorgeously caramelized around the edges, smelled exactly, and most inexplicably, like 'pepernoten', a type of Dutch spice cookie. Yumminess all around.

Other observations: the wine was about half our bill, which we didn't check when the maitre d' suggested it; the bread only came by once; the decor was a bit off the rack; and the average age of the patrons was about 47...we were visibly the youngest, and I suspect, the people who had the most fun over dinner.

But, dear readers, definitely definitely go! We'll certainly be going back.

Tags: attentive staff, ambiance, cuisine: french, vegetarian, carnivorous, local food