The Farm

This place is quite a hidden gem just off Fulham Broadway busy stretch. Came here the set menu dinner. The ambience is nice, with a nice deco. The atmosphere is intimate, nice for a romantic dinner. The food is surprisingly good, infact impressive. Staffs are friendly and attentive. Good wine list.

My plucky travelling companion and I were wending our way home from a gastro-​pub not too far away the night before we dined here — and chose to take side streets and see where we ended up. What luck — we literally happened upon The Farm by chance, attracted by the vibe as we sauntered by. I was in London on biz, and was staying in a rather mediocre hotel on the other side of the Fulham Broadway tube stop. The night we dined at The Farm was a splendid surprise. This place was just minutes away from our temporary abode. Although we were expecting gastro-​pub food at best, this was several cuts above and beyond. Cozy fireplaces in the bar and one of the dining rooms lent a warm, romantic glow. Aside from the fact that everything they serve is locally sourced and responsibly produced, the food was quite delicious. The celeriac-​apple soup was among the best we’ve ever tasted. My very fresh bass was very likely caught within the past several hours, deftly prepared and served on delicate, buttery leeks. The menu details how they only deal with individual purveyors — no factory farming here. I wish we had room for the desserts! You can either stop by for a quick cocktail and snacks or go the full route. A definite diamond in the rough, off the beaten path. Refined but not stuffy.

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with the Farm. I’ve had a really solid dinner here before, and also come just for drinks. It’s definitely gastropubby, but there’s no way you wouldn’t know what you were getting yourself into when you arrived. It’s tucked in a quiet side street around the corner from the Fulham Broadway tube station, and seems to attract mostly locals. The food is well-​cooked and good quality. I had a particularly yummy risotto. But it’s nothing extraordinary, and it certainly doesn’t make you sit up and pay attention. It’s a bit pricey, but not overly so for the area.

For Valentines Day I requested dinner out, but since neither of us made an actual reservation, we were left hunting for a place who would take us at the last minute. My ideal place was somewhere nice enough that I could wear my pink marc jacobs dress but not so pretentious that there were tablecloths. We ended up with The Farm because they had an 8:30 cancellation and we weren’t disappointed. It was lit with candles for a «romantic» effect and since we had a dinner reservation we got a free glass of champagne at the bar before we went to our table. The menu was a pre fixe (which we weren’t warned about but no matter) plus you were able to pick extra sides (which we did, of course!). We started with oysters as the amuse bouche which I loved. Then for the starter I chose the skate and my dining companion chose the asparagus. My skate was served with a picalilli sauce (note: picalilli only exists in England as far as I can tell) and although it was tasty, I couldn’t help but think I could get a similar effect with canned tuna and picalilli from tesco for a nice sandwich. The asparagus was served in undercooked filo (weird) with pomegranate and onion salsa (I thought it was waaay too much onion but he though I was being too picky and quite liked it). That out of the way, we moved on to mains. I had lobster (hurray!) which was really good and served with a crab corn cake thing. Only problem was that they didn’t give me a tiny fork to dig out all the meat and our waiter didn’t notice me during that time so I ended up poking it out with my fingers (thank goodness this was not a first date!) I don’t know if the place actually even has tiny forks because a guy at the next table seemed to be struggling too. My dining companion loved his veal and I tried it but I think I just don’t really like veal, so don’t take my word for it. I think it came with green onions. We also got the thrice baked chips (Americans read: fries) which were topped with cheese and were fantastic, a tomato and basil salad, delicious, and a frisee salad that I mainly ignored (frisee is annoying). Our puddings were a pastry shaped like a swan and filled with white chocolate crème (think fancy profiterol) and a passion fruit mouse served in the passion fruit with a scoop of sorbet. They were both tasty enough but I did slightly resent not having a chocolate option on the menu (it was valentines day!!) and probably wouldn’t have picked either choice given the full menu. All in all it was a nice spot for a date night (we actually spent three hours there without really realising it) and although we spent a bit more than we probably would have if not for the pre fixe, we were very happy with the food (all plates cleaned!) Only real complaint: it was VERY cold for those of us trying to get a wear out of our sleeveless cocktail dresses and about ¾ of the way through I just gave up and took my dining companion’s jacket.

This is a good place. I wouldn’t go all the time but it’s a good place. The interior has been carefully considered — it’s got a touch of classic bar atmosphere with leather and wood and a roaring fire as well as nods to the minimal, gastro and IKEA traditions of chrome, glass and the occasional, solitary, living room style ornament.
They do some good standard bar snacks for an any time of the day stomach filler and the menu is heavy on good quality grills, mostly steak with a few very good risottos and chicken dishes thrown in. I’d say it’s quite French influenced but they also do a nice Sunday Roast and that’s pretty British and all. Sometimes these sorts of places miss the mark on a few things and only get either the food OR the drink OR the atmosphere right but The Farm spreads itself out quite nicely and doesn’t really miss the mark on anything.