RESTAURANT REVIEW: Forge and Co.

I'm always keeping an eye on Time Out for good deals and when I spotted a voucher for Forge and Co. I bought a couple straight away. I'd walked past the restaurant a few times and has been meaning to pop so I thought this would be the perfect opportunity.

I don't think I'm a fussy person, in fact I'm pretty laid back and easily pleased but as soon as I sat down I knew this wasn't the place for me. It felt like we were sat in a bar that had a section serving food than an actual restaurant. It wasn't necessarily the décor I didn't like as I thought the unfussy interiors were quite contemporary, it was more the fact I could hear rowdy, boozed up people in the bar area that was off putting. Anyway, you shouldn't judge a book by its cover so I eagerly waited to see how our food would pan out.

Aside from the prosecco included in our voucher we also ordered a couple of cocktails; a delicious vodka and raspberry cocktail for me and a Moscow Mule for Steve. Nice!

The menu is quite small which I personally think is a good thing, better to focus your attention on a few excellent dishes than stretch it out to many mediocre plates. I ordered the Dublin Bay prawns and caper butter. I didn't realise I was going to have to deshell the prawns myself, not that I have a huge problem with this but frankly a lot of the time I think it's more effort than it's worth. Whilst the prawn meat tasted lovely and fresh all the hassle involved with peeling them for only a little meat didn't quite make it worth while. That being said the salad leaves and caper butter was delicious.

Steve went for the duck rillettes and cornichons. I didn't even realise this was going to be pate which is no surprise as I'm not a fan. He said it was ok but not a stand out starter.

I went for the 10oz ribeye steak with chips and bernaise sauce. The steak was cooked perfectly rare so I was happy and the bernaise was heavenly, definitely my favourite sauce to have with steak.

Steve went for the whole seabass, crushed potatoes and caper butter. The fish was delicious, it was extremely fresh and cooked to perfection, it easily fell away from the bones. Ordering a whole fish may not be to everyone taste as it can be a little hassle avoiding the tiny bones but in this instance it was completely worth it.

The chips were average, I don't have any lasting memories of them but the side order of winter greens did stand out for their pleasant buttery taste.

I have mixed feelings about Forge and Co., it had elements of a great meal but was let down by too many other factors so much in fact that I wouldn't bother returning.

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