Phenomenal Italian Cuisine at Antico Forno
| New safety measures for COVID-19: Number of tables reduced, temperature scans at door (customers with temperature with 37.5°C or above will be asked to leave), and alcohol spray provided to customers. |
| Delivery information: Order their food on UberEats |
Great Italian food is not hard to come by in Taipei if you know where to go. We’ve already written about Bencotto and Fo.Co.So, two really awesome restaurants that serve some truly fantastic food, and now we’re adding another to the list: Antico Forno. Located right by Da’an Park, this cosy restaurant used to be a favourite of ours for their monthly aperitivo event, but we had never had the opportunity to visit for a sit-down meal. It had always been in the back of our minds to visit again, but it was only after multiple people urged us to go, independently of each other, that we finally caved and checked out their lunch menu.
We started with a basket of complimentary bread, dipped in olive oil and balsamic vinegar. There were three kinds of bread, and each as delicious as the next, and the olive oil was beautifully fresh.
The first thing we got was the burrata con caponatina di verdure miste ($520), which was burrata cheese accompanied by Sicilian eggplant salad. This was a nice dish to share between the three of us, and ended up being one of our favourites of the night. The burrata was soft and creamy and felt indulgent without being too heavy on our stomachs. The eggplant salad was sensational: a slightly sweet, slightly sour mix of eggplant, tomatoes, onions, and capers that had us scraping the plate. It was nice and fresh despite being cooked, and we would order it again in a heartbeat.
Next, we ordered the parmigiana di melanzane rivisitata ($280), which is described as a revisited eggplant lasagna. We weren’t sure what to expect from when we ordered it, but it was very much like lasagna in terms of taste and texture, though layers of cheese and ragù were sandwiched between soft eggplant, rather than lasagna sheets. Honestly, after trying it with eggplant, we might prefer it this way — it didn’t feel quite as heavy as a classic lasagne but was just as delicious, if not more. This was a rather small dish but made up for its size ten times over with its incredible flavour. It was easily our favourite dish of the night, and we highly recommend giving it a try.
Since we were there for lunch, we decided to take advantage of Antico Forno’s casual weekday set menu for $480/$580, which includes a starter, entree, and dessert. For our starter, we chose the caprese con bocconcini di bufala, a Caprese salad with buffalo mozzarella. This was simple and fresh, with the flavours of the high-quality mozzarella and ripe tomatoes complementing each other well, highlighted by the balsamic glaze drizzled on top.
The set menu is $580 if you choose to have a pasta dish, which is what appealed to us the most. Of three available options, we chose the casarecce al pasta siciliano con gamberetti, a Sicilian, tomato-based pasta with shrimp. This dish was another winner. We loved the al dente pasta and simple tomato sauce, though we would caution that the flavour of shrimp was quite strong, making it less appealing to those who are sensitive to fishy flavours. Still, we enjoyed it immensely.
For dessert, we chose the tenerina ferrarese con crema al mascarpone, a chocolate cake with a delicious raspberry coulis, nuts, candied orange, and mascarpone cream. This was an incredible end to a perfect meal. The cake was small — tiny, even — but was so rich and creamy and sweet that it was the perfect amount.
Check out their full menu down below:
Overall, we cannot recommend Antico Forno enough. It’s extremely authentic, out-of-this-world delicious Italian food at a reasonable price, in a nice setting, with attentive service. We’ve loved every aperitivo event that we’ve attended, and now that we’ve had the chance to finally go there for a sit-down meal, we have an even higher opinion of Antico Forno than we already did. We’re already counting down the days until we can go back! (Yes, really.)
What’s the vibe?
Bright Italian restaurant with incredible food. Customers are both local and foreign.
Worth it?
Yes, no question.
Would you go back?
To be completely honest, we made plans to go back while we were still eating lunch at the restaurant. Yes.
Last updated March 2020
| Antico Forno |
| Hours: Lunch: 12pm – 3pm Dinner: 6pm – 7:50pm, 8pm – 10pm |
| Phone: 02 2706 3322 |
| English Address: No. 141, Rui'an Street, Da’an District, Taipei City |
| Chinese Address: 台北市大安區瑞安街141號 |
