L'Antic Bocoi del Gotic

I’m not sure if we didn’t spend more time looking for ‘L’Antic Bocoi del Gotic’ than we actually spent eating there. Not because the food was terrible and we walked out before finishing our meal, rather that I still haven’t completely got my head round the narrow, winding streets of the barri Gotic. After asking several disgruntled bartenders and a hotel receptionist we finally stumbled upon this delightful restaurant on Baixada de Viladecols.

The stone walls and beamed ceiling interior are especially inviting and I suspect that some of the large stone slabs in the wall at the rear of the restaurant may be from the Roman city of Barcino which pop up in and around various shops and buildings in this part of the city.

The restaurant specialises in coca, a yeast dough base topped with vegetables, meat, fish and is sometimes referred to as ‘Catalan (or Spanish if you are elsewhere on the peninsula) pizza’.

And they didn’t disappoint, even for the two incredibly fussy eaters I had accompanying me. I chose the salt cod and roasted peppers which was wonderful, more so because this was my first experience of salt cod which was moist and juicy and perfectly complimented by the peppers.

Salt cod and roasted peppers coca

The least fussy guest, adventurously for him, chose the duck ham topping and the other incredibly fussy and non-meating one, who I will not honour with the title vegetarian as most vegetarians plump for more than a few vegetables, chips and chocolate in various forms,  played safe with mushrooms and courgette, which they both chomped down without a single complaint, a huge result.

Duck ham coca

Mushroom and courgette coca

Alongside these we shared a spinach, mushrooms and walnut salad topped with slices of duck ham, which were duly picked out by fussy quasi veggie, which was very good, if a little overdressed.

Spinach, mushroom and walnut salad

The only real letdown to the meal was the choice of starters. Fussy eater number one sampled fuet for the first time which was good quality and again went down without any complaints, but the limited choice and fussy eater number two meant we plumped for nachos and guacomole, which was completely out of keeping with the rest of the menu, had a disproportionate amount of guacomole to the number of nachos, i.e. too much of the former and not enough of the latter, and had come straight out of the fridge so was teeth wincingly cold.

Only one of us could squeeze in a dessert and the small square of moist, chocolate brownie style dessert had the two of saying we didn’t want dessert asking for extra spoons.

Chocolate brownie dessert

Overall there is little to complain about here, the setting, food and price (a coca will typically set you back about €8.50) are all more than agreeable and I look forward to returning, I just hope I spend a little less time tracking it down next time.

L’Antic Bocoi del Gotic, Baixada de Viladecols, 3 Gotic

Non-smoking

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