L'Antic Forn — Restaurant in Barcelona

I visited L'antic Forn on a rainy day. The reason for my visit was to try Calçotada, a dish only available in winter. It's located about 300 meters inside from the main street of La Rambla. Weekday evenings start at 7:30 PM. The restaurant was clean and many guests were already dining. I ordered Calçotada and steak. Calçotada tastes like grilled Korean green onions, with the sweetness and texture of onions being exceptional. It's served with Romesco sauce, which enhances the sweetness. Paired with a red wine recommended by the staff, the wine was also excellent and I was able to finish dinner successfully. I will definitely visit again on my next trip...

I have no idea how this place has such good reviews because it was simply bad. I had the calamari with side dish (as mentioned in the menu "with garnish") and I did not receive the side dish. My girlfriend's risotto with prawns had no prawns but had mushrooms and it wasn't properly cleaned as it tasted Sandy. The paella did not taste good, it wasn't properly cooked. The shrimp in the paella were too dry and not edible and it had some weird stuff, like just the claw of a crab. Last thing, the salmon, even though it was a salmon steak it wasn't properly deboned so it was full of bones.

Honestly, I do...

I really wanted to try calcotada after seeing Anthony Bourdain talking about it in one of his shows, so when I was doing research this was the one place serving it in Barcelona. Came during lunch hour without a reservation and they were super accommodating even though they were full so we were able to sit and order the famous calcotada, which is in every way delicious and worth coming to try it. The service here was obviously fantastic. I wish I had more time to come back and actually try the food because it look really good. Will def come back next time I am...