King West is filled with Indie and Specialty Restaurants and so it's always difficult to make a decision on what to hit up for lunch. I've walked past this place in a basement side under Wvurst. It looks interesting and packed. I've meant to check it out. I usually rely on Yelp for photos and then let my stomach and eyes decide on what to have. Today I bought my sandwich at Porches and Co. but they're pastries look awesome so I decided to treat myself to dessert. It is payday after all!
I really wanted to like you forno. Your stuff look pretty but in this case the price and the looks didn't quite translate to the taste. I frequent Italian bakeries and even drive far for them so I'd like to say I pretty versed with my Italian pastries. I bought this sfogliatella for a whopping $5 which is quite ridiculous considering my porches take sandwich costed less than double of that. Generally, I'm willing to pay for high cost food but I have a higher expectation when that price is basically double than everywhere else. This is one of those days.
Food: The sfogliatella looked good and fresh. Honestly, I was actually looking forward to it. Then I took a bite. OK it's crispy just like a good pastry. I'll give it that. Then I got to the filling. Sfogliatella mostly has pretty much the same filling as a cannoli ricotta with some lemon flavour. It has a richness to it. This one basically tastes like it had whipped cream with some odd lemon hint that is so subtle that you have to wonder what that flavour actually is. It was just straight up bland. No sweetness, richness or even flavour.
Now I spent $4.50 for a cookie from Portland Variety just a week prior. That price was already high for a simple chocolate chip cookie but hey that was one of the best cookies I've ever had. I wanted the same experience from Forno Cultura as well but was terribly disappointed.
Service: I thought it was kinda cold and abrupt.
Honestly, I don't get it. This place was packed and I really do wonder. Is my pallette just more discriminating? Or are people just so caught up in trendy spots that they are willing to pay ridiculous prices for sub par products. I will not be back. I am however glad I tried coz now I know that even with a large crowd that I wasn't really missing anything.