Forza Win

Camberwell, London

CONTINUE READING

Already a member? Log in here

Subscribe to our newsletter to gain access to limited free articles, reviews, news and our weekly newsletter.

* indicates required

The Good Food Guide Membership: Save £100s at Britain's best restaurants - try for free for 30 days

Try for free

 

Back to life after its previous iteration (in a Peckham warehouse) was cancelled by the first lockdown, Forza Win (without an 'e') is an utterly comfortable and welcoming spirit-reviver in its own right. If you don't feel good about focused Italian flavours, Sicilian wine on tap or cool-but-kindly service, better check your pulse. Behind peachy arches overlooking Camberwell Church Street, the kitchen wears its technique with ease; for every serving of breezy spaghetti with clams and mussels, there's a bowl of fluffy Florentine topini with the intensity of mushroom stock and morels, or a masterfully breaded and fried lamb cutlet draped with anchovy fillets and served with chunky salsa verde. The selection of four secondi might range from a summery green vignarola (Roman vegetable stew) to a piece of pork belly sliding gently into its accompanying chickpeas with San Marzano tomatoes and capers. Such a satisfyingly compact menu will always be seasonal, although the house 'custardo' is non-negotiable – an affogato made with custard rather than ice cream. For more heft, the chocolate and apricot cake (shades of Sachertorte) or a blowsy take on tiramisu both deliver.