⚠️ Unfortunately lunch has stopped, at least for now.  The best way to find out if this changes again is to follow the restaurant on Instagram.

Forno

⭐⭐⭐

🥩  Steak / 📍 Nishi-Azabu

📓 Visits: 2

Forno has been open for a couple of years and specializes in wood-fired steaks.  The restaurant is overseen by the owner/chef of Tacubo (review here) where this restaurant's chef previously worked.  Since August 2020 they've been serving lunch.  There are two options: hamburg or menchi katsu curry, both priced at JPY 1,890 inclusive.  The content of each meal is actually quite similar, the difference being the size of the components.

I would have liked more seasoning in the hamburg and the pomme puree was butterless and a bit glutinous.  The element I enjoyed the most in the hamburg set was the fried egg - just look at that golden yolk.  Eggs are supplied by Tanaka Farm, supplier for the eggs used in the tamago-yaki at Higashiazabu Amamoto.

Almost everyone chooses hamburg but I actually recommend menchi katsu curry.  It's a bit hard to see in the picture but there really is a small burger behind that mound of curry rice and menchi katsu.  The menchi katsu and curry is delicious and has more flavour than the hamburg and more fresh vegetables are included so that's why I'd recommend this plate.

All meals include miso soup, dessert and after-meal drink.  Miso soup is rich, full of vegetables and tofu and very tasty.  Dessert is yoghurt gelato with raspberry compote.  I chose herb tea for my after-meal drink.  It's a small thing but I can't think of anywhere else where herb tea is included in lunch for under JPY 2,000.

It's about a 20 minute wait for your food to be served.  Chef produces the plates in batches of up to 4.  The kitchen is behind glass so, unlike at Tacubo, if you go for dinner there should be no need to worry about your garms smelling of smoke when you come out - perfect for rolling into one of Nishi-Azabu's clubs (ahem).  Along with the main chef there was one other person working in the restaurant assisting the chef with the food and attending to guests.  As there are so few staff and the kitchen is not open there's not much opportunity for conversation with staff.  The staff are young, there is a relaxed atmosphere and the frisson of dining in Nishi-Azabu.

When you consider that this is just 390 yen more than a meal at Hikiniku to Come, just 20 minutes away, or just 100-200 yen more than just the basic burger at Aldebaran not far up the road and includes dessert and after-meal drink you could consider this a bargain for a lunch of this quality.

This is a model of how to offer lunch at a restaurant: just a couple of options, a high-quality and excellent value one-plate lunch that gives you a hint at what dinner might offer but doesn't devalue it so people want to go back.

📌 https://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1307/A130703/13220897/

❓ My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐ 3.9

📱 Booking: 🟩 Easy.  Either book via Tabelog, phone or just walk in.  The restaurant was not particularly busy on both my visits.

📍 Location: 

2F Modern Form Nishiazabu, 4-11-25 Nishi-Azabu.  Nishi-Azabu crossing.  3F multi-tenant building.  Don't be afraid to open the big black metal door to let yourself in.  Directly above Towa.

Map data ©2021 Google

📅 Visit May 2021

💴 Damage: 1,890
⏱️ Time taken: 40m

📅 Visit April 2021

💴 Damage: 1,890
⏱️ Time taken: 40m