Forza Win

A well executed, comforting, flavoursome meal with a glass of wine or beer in London for a tenner? Stop it. Named Awesome Sauce, that’s exactly what you get at Forza Win. Wednesdays are crowded in this converted cash and carry space in a car park in Peckham, and understandably. The menu is simple: a different pasta dish every week, vegetarian or meat, with a glass of wine or a cold Birra Moretti. If you feel like you want to throw some extra pounds at your evening, there’s always a side on offer and the non negotiable addition of truly excellent garlic sourdough bread – the kind where you’re wiping butter dribbling from your lips with every bite.

For such a bargain, the quality is high, but then that comes when you concentrate on a couple of dishes – you can do them well. I’ve been twice now, inevitably starting out the evening at one of my favourite bars in London, Bar Story, for their excellent happy hour. The cocktails at Bar Story are VERY good, and with a 2 for 1 happy hour every day between 6 and 7pm, a dangerous start to any evening. Good job Forza Win is a 5 minute meander away to mop up the damage with some well earned carbs. Although if you need gluten free, or if you’re just on a health kick , you can swap out your pasta for courgetti for a mere quid.

My first visit served up a delicious beef shin ragu, and my last was pork and lemon ragu, which I would never have thought to put together, but was well balanced and moreish as usual. They also serve up a sweet, often tiramisu (around £4), and it’s easy to see why people lazily hang around for a while over a couple of more drinks; the prices are good, the atmosphere buzzing and importantly, the staff are so very friendly and always seem to be having a good time.

The rest of the time, Forza Win runs a kind of supper club on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, the first sitting at 7pm followed by a second at 9.30pm. The menu is seasonal, with the Spring edition featuring a minestrone to start, a primo course of pasta – linguine alla vongola this month, followed by lemon sole with blackened leeks, pecorino and olive oil for main and culminating in a blood orange and chocolate semifredo to finish. All this for £25, plus a well stocked bar available on the night featuring good Italian wines, beer and strong cocktails to boot. Sounds like one to add to The List if you ask me.

4.1, 133 Copeland Rd, London SE15 3SN
+4420 7732 9012