L’Antic Forn (the old bakery)

l’antic forn

I went to meet Oli and Fran for lunch at L’Antic Forn – somewhere I’ve been before, but not for a couple of years. This restaurant is situated opposite Flor de Maig, where I had lunch a few days ago.

vermut de la casa

I arrived early and grabbed a table outside – there are only two outside, whereas, there’s seating for at least 30 people indoors. I ordered a vermut de las casa, while I waited and read the menú del dia. It’s worth noting that they do a calçotada lunch menu here for €30, when they are in season.

menú del dia

Anyway, I didn’t have to wait long – Oli is usually on time.

ensalada

At L’Antic Forn, included in the menú del dia, there’s a help yourself salad bar, with quite an array of choices. I helped myself to the above.

arròs risotto

The Arròs risotto amb bolets i parmesà (mushroom risotto with Parmesan) proved to be a popular starter which didn’t disappoint.

braó de porc

Oli had the Braó de porc rosti al forn (pork knuckle roasted in the oven) for his main course – this came in a creamy sauce with thinly sliced fried potato (think potato crisps/chips). I tried the crispy potato slices, they were very good and definitely produced in house.

filet de bacallà frecs

Both Fran and I had Filet de bacallà frecs planxa amb samfaina – fresh cod fillet (as opposed to the usual salt cod), cooked on a griddle with samfaina (the Catalan equivalent of ratatouille). I can assure you it tasted as good as it looks – both plates were clean when our waiter took them away!

vi rosat

We drank the usual vi rosat, which came in a porrón, though they did provide glasses, so we weren’t taking it in turns to drizzle the wine into our mouths. It’s reasonably easy to master drinking from a porrón, but it’s best to experiment with white wine and a large napkin first!

flan de mató

Oli had a flan de mató for pudding – it’s like a regular flan, but made with mató (fresh whey cheese) instead of egg custard.

crema catalana

I had my favourite pudding, crema catalana, made with cinnamon, lemon and orange peel and the sugar is burnt on top with a hot iron (I sat at the counter, for supper, in Romesco a few nights ago and took great delight in watching them brand the crema catalanas). The above may look like it just has two blobs of caramelised sugar, but in fact the entire surface had quite a thick layer of caramel. The first written recipe for crema catalana appears in the Llibre de Sent Sovi, a 14th Century Catalan recipe book, which predates French recipes for Crème Brûlée by several hundred years!

carajillo

I finished with a carajillo de cognac – I needed a pick up to get me out of the chair in order to go shopping at the Boqueria!

The menú del dia at L’Antic Forn includes a buffet salad, first and second courses, bread, a drink (wine, beer or soft drink), pudding or coffee for €13.50. We had a very charming and attentive Pakistani waiter, who’d previously worked in Bushey (Outer London). He’s become a great friend of Oli’s – I think they discuss the cricket.

L’Antic Forn is at: C/ Pintor Fortuny 28, 08001 Barcelona