Restaurant review: The Forum Bar and Kitchen, 41 King St, Whalley, Clitheroe BB7 9SP

Whalley is blessed with a fine selection of eateries and drinkeries (is that a word?) and King Street in particular is the heart of that choice.

A child-free night meant my partner and I could let our hair down a little and enjoy a drink or two, and so we opted for The Forum, a bar and restaurant as its full title alludes to.

A busy Saturday evening saw us seated upstairs with several other diners, while the ground floor remained bustling with drinkers.

As such, the experience was what you might expect from a busy city restaurant, a lively buzzing atmosphere, rather than an intimate quiet affair.

The decor throughout was stylish and the service was impeccable as we were shown to our table and received our menus, drinks and then food in good time.

The Forum’s website declares its offering is “globally inspired dishes made with quality, local ingredients”. It is a boast which lives up to what it says.

For starters, always my favourite part of a meal, I chose king prawns, prepared with garlic, fresh chilli and grilled bread. They arrived steaming hot and bursting with flavour.

My partner Andrea also chose from the sea – Thai fish cakes, made with cod, ginger and lime with sweet chilli and coriander. I’m not a fan of fish cakes and so Andrea was safe to eat them without my usual pestering “for a bite” and she assured me they were excellent.

A perusal of the main courses proved the boast of global dishes with choices ranging from Malaysian beef curry with spring onions, ginger, chilli, lemongrass, cinnamon, coriander, coconut milk, rice; Hoisin duck pancakes, cucumber, spring onions, prawn crackers; Vietnamese rice noodles, peppers, spring onions, ginger, lemongrass, chilli, lime, coriander, peanuts; Chicken and chorizo penne, roasted red peppers, rich tomato sauce, parmesan; Chicken fajitas, mixed peppers, onions, sour cream, guacamole, cheese, flour tortillas; Chicken fajitas, mixed peppers, onions, sour cream, guacamole, cheese, flour tortillas

So that’s food from the Far East, Mexico, Italy to name but a few.

All that being said, ridiculously, I ordered a burger. And a Lancastrian burger obviously. That arrived smothered in red onion, chilli jam, tomato and of course Lancashire cheese. It was reyt good.

Andrea chose a more exotic dish, meanwhile, Moroccan skewers – marinated chargrilled chicken, peppers, red onion and spiced yoghurt. This, I did request “a bite of” and it was excellent. However, a word of warning, it was very spicy.

I suppose the upside to a spicy dish is that it does make you very thirsty and I was pleased to see that refreshing Japanese beer asahi on draught.

For those diners and drinkers living towards the west of the county, The Forum also has a venue in Preston, at Winckley Street.

So if you like to enjoy a bite to eat, with choices from around the world, or simply a good old Lancastrian burger with a Japanese pint, get yourself to The Forum.