Fornos of Spain - Review

Intro
Fornos of Spain - Recommended
47 Ferry Street, Newark, NJ 07105
Phone: 973-589-4767

The parents took me and the wife out for dinner and I was craving Spanish food, so the parents recommended Fornos of Spain in Newark. I've been there about 6-7 years back and I remembered it being solid. Still was, but not necessarily the authentic Spanish food experience I was looking for. Felt more like how Italian American food isn't necessarily food you get in Italy. But, I was still happy. Overall, I give the restaurant an 83/100.

My Menu
1) Gambas al Ajillo **
2) Paella Marinera *
3) Changurro **
4) Pargo al Horno **
5) Leche Frita
6) Flan Caramelo

Rating System
--- What the F - in a bad way * Good ** Great *** What the F – in a good way

Dish Comments
1) Crispy, sweet, juicy, perfectly cooked fresh tiny shrimp. I believed it was floured since it had a nice crispiness to it. Doused in loads of garlic, chili flake and oil - dipping the great bread they give you was killer
2) If you don't think of this as a paella, it's a good dish. Really more a soupy rice dish - most great paellas I've had are not soupy at all. Rice was cooked well, but just swimming in broth...good flavor though. This thing was packed with lots of mussels, clams, squid, and even a piece of lobster tail. Shellfish was slightly overcooked and it was missing the socarrat (crice) that is so key in a good paella.
3) Basically breaded and broiled crab meat and scallops topped with cheese. Flavor bomb. Not what I was thinking since I was expecting larger scallops, but I believed these were packed with the tiny bay scallops though. Not refined cooking, but just tasty stuff.
4) Perfectly broiled sweet snapper. Nothing snazzy, just tasting the uber fresh fish.
5) A fried milk dish which is popular in Spain I guess. The dish was just OK. Kinda like firmer sweetened flan (firm tofu like texture), breaded and fried. A little too thick and dull tasting for me.
6) I love flan and this one wasn't so great. I'm usually anti-uber sweet desserts, but this one could definitely be sweeter and needed more caramel.

Overall Restaurant Experience (83/100)

• Food 8.0/10 – I find the food here similar to qualities you find at a steakhouse. Not refined cooking, but just basic cooking techniques done well enough to make it tasty. I'm assuming if I go to Spain the food there has similar qualities, but done quite differently.
  
• Service 7.5/10 – Food comes out quick, but the waiter had a bit of an attitude. All the waiters are men which felt kinda like steakhouse.
  
• Atmosphere 7.5/10 – White table cloths and looks like a restaurant straight out of The Godfather. Kinda cheezy columns around the place, but eh...whatever. This place was packed with very large groups. And what was ridiculous was there were 6 birthday parties there. We know because all the waiters in the restaurant (like 20) surround the table and sing happy birthday very loudly in a deep baritone unison. Good times. We got there at 6pm on a Sunday with no reservations and were seated immediately. We were lucky since the place was packed.
  
• Price 8.5/10 – While the food wasn't mindblowing, the portions were. Free dishes included olives (average), garlic bread (decent), salad (decent), another bread (great), spanish rice (decent), vegetables (very good) and potato chips (soggy). Dish prices are expensive, but you don't need to order many apps - we only ordered one and were stuffed. I'll be eating leftovers for the next 3 days. Oh...and btw - you get a choice of a free digestif at the end of the meal.
  

Closing Comments
While not the best Spanish food in the world, it's solid food that makes you happy. Like a steakhouse, this would be a great place to go with a lot of people. Bonus is there's a large parking lot available, so no need to park on the streets of Newark. Not sure I would necessarily go back with just me and the wife, but if we were entertaining and to lazy to venture in the city - this place would be an option.