I had a meal here recently that was just short of disastrous. After looking forward to trying it for so long, we were seriously dissapointed by the comedy of errors that clouded nearly every aspect of our meal and I cannot imagine ever returning. From service, to food, to the space itself, our visit was plagued by amateurism and missteps of various shapes and sizes.
Service was excruciatingly slow. It was nearly 45 minutes from when we ordered until the first food arrived at our table. We even gave the kitchen an easy lay-up by ordering House Cured Beef Jerky & Roasted Tavern Nuts (both make-in-advance items) but not even those showed up before 3/4 of an hour had passed. Food was repeatedly served before beverages and silverware were brought to the table. Some items we ordered were completely forgotten and never served. Others were cleared while we were still eating them. We never even got to try any of the beers (the beer list looked good) or wines because when it came time for us to order them, our server was nowhere to be found. When he finally did resurface, we figured that we'd be waiting until long after the appropriate courses to receive them, so we decided not to bother.
The best of the food was just ok. We received 15 of the 17 items we ordered. Of those, Tavern Cut Fries, Beer Battered Wisconsin Cheese Curds and Baby Beet Salad were the tastiest. The main issue with the food was the intense overuse of salt. Nearly everything was oversalted, some dishes so much that they couldn't be finished. From soup to main courses, the problem appeared consistently throughout our meal. Had our server ever asked why we weren't finishing plates, we would have told him. He never bothered. Desserts were pretty darned bad with ice creams that were extremely gritty in texture. They were so wrong that if I'd made these at home, I would have thrown them away. But here at Farmhouse, they were being served and charged for.
We sat in the upstairs dining room and it was
hot. I typically run hot but even some others in our group who are almost always cold were shedding layers of clothing during our meal. Even our server commented on it. Bummer that an acknowledged problem of such severity could not be dealt with.
The single highlight: the ciders. Given the local/regional focus, this is a tough needle to thread. A lot of domestic ciders are not worth the apples that were picked to make them. So, curating a meaningful list of U.S.-made ciders is not easy. Will, the gentleman who helped us, seemed to know his stuff. I'm not sure if he curated the list but it was a thoughtful one and he certainly knew it well. We started with a Basque (not local but clearly the superior choice on the list) and also had a Crabapple cider out of Oregon. It had a little bit of funk but what it lacked in that department, it made up for in acidity and complex flavor.
Throughout our time at Farmhouse, I got the sense that the local focus was more of a business strategy than a function of any individual's or group's actual passion. At least that's how it played out at our table. It never felt sincere or anything but glommed on. Style over substance is the phrase that kept coming to mind.
I'd suggest stopping in for nothing more than a quick beer or cider at the bar and then going somewhere else to eat. Or if you like domestic whiskeys that are made in places other than Kentucky, there's a wide assortment of those, too.
=R=
Same planet, different world