A friend (hey Peter!) and I dropped by the Forge & Co canteen in Shoreditch last night to give its new Speyside Beef and Ox Heart Burger a try … and were pleased to have done so. Cooked in a Josper Grill and served on a demi brioche, it proved a mightily meaty meal well worth recommending. Plenty of topping and condiment options were available, but I reckon it needed none such was it so full of flavour.
A pre-burger charcuterie board (£13) and a somewhat gratuitous (but undeniably yummy) chocolate fondant (£6.50) dessert, and an excellently pulled after dinner espresso all helped set the right tone for heading home in satisfaction. Service was friendly, the dining area was relaxed, spacious and comfy.
A great time for you to go for this majorly delicious and super tender burger might be on Tuesday night, like Peter and I did. That’s Burger Night for the Forge & Co folk when from 6pm the burger with chips and pint of Meantime beer can be had for £10. Bargain! The chips are more than decent and Meantime’s London Pale Ale as fine as any drink to have alongside any burger and chips combo.
Forge ain’t just about the food and drink though. Indeed, it’s worth pointing out that there’s a members club element to the venue. Anybody can visit the attractive mid century modernist lounge and canteen during most of the day (seven days a week), but from 8pm it’s members only. As we found out last night though, membership is free, and it’s painless to sign up and comes with a range of benefits.
There’s a basement gallery there too as well as (and perhaps most notably) flexible work spaces on the upper floors with fully serviced coworking offices plus individual desks, hotdesking, studios, galleries, meeting rooms, and event spaces. Peter and I took a prowl around after we ate. The facilities seemed better than similar I’ve seen in the recent past and in an especially convenient spot too.
Forge & Co is located at 154-158 Shoreditch High Street, E1 6HU. Find out more at forgeandco.co.uk.
I love how they make it exclusive but without charging you, it looks absolutely delicious too- it’s national burger day today!! (although others are saying national dog day too….) xx