Chris L.
Yelp
Farmer's Daughter is located within the Normandy Farm Hotel, a popular wedding venue. We decided to go for an anniversary dinner; something nice and somewhere we hadn't previously tried. This place is pretty neat!
So first, we started at the bar for drinks. They weren't bad, though it was a weird ambiance. Like, sports bar crossed with wedding venue reception. Kind of weird, but staff was pleasant, and ample air conditioning, if that's your thing.
Dinner was in the dining room, which was a cute area with plenty of space, despite all the tables, and a nice, calm ambiance. Staff was very friendly, and our waitress was quite attentive and incredibly helpful. As we generally do, we ordered more than we should have since we hadn't previously been, so don't judge us. The provided appetizer rolls were delicious, with varied types of bread and delicious EVOO for dipping. We also got the goat cheese cigars and a wedge salad, blue cheese crumbles on the side. Both were amazing! The goat cheese cigars were creamy with a brilliant flavor and just the right temperature. The wedge was delicious as well, and having the blue cheese crumbles on the side worked out perfectly. Solid salad. The dinner involved the pistachio crusted lamb loin and the tomahawk ribeye. The lamb loin was tremendous, with great flavor and perfectly cooked. The tomahawk was, sadly, a bit underwhelming. Now, i will say, I'm not a fan of cooked spinach (i like it uncooked), but the waitress helped us out and the kitchen gave us sautéed mushrooms instead, which was great. The leeks were also delicious. The steak had moments of greatness, but honestly, it really needed to be trimmed down a bit, or a better cut used. I'm certainly one who will eat the fat off a steak at times, but it needs to taste good, and this just didn't. There were also several areas of inedible silver skin. It was well cooked though, in fairness, and the sauce was quite good. Now, this honestly might just be how tomahawks are, and full disclosure, this was my only experience with one, so I'm not holding that against them. But like with all steaks from any restaurant, it didn't live up to my expectation (seriously, why are all restaurant steaks, even from the best steakhouses, only okay?). Anyway, no regrets, it was fun to try (and yes, finish).
Dessert was a complimentary anniversary cake, which was great! the cake was light and fluffy, and quite tasty. Next was the pavlova, literally only because we like Bluey and we never had pavlova before. I didn't know what to expect, but it was quite good! Cooked, light meringue, delicious sauce, solid ice cream, and edible flowers. Great!
Overall, it wasn't a bad night, and we really enjoyed the dinner! I do get the impression that your overall impression will probably be influenced by the staff, but everyone we spoke with was incredibly pleasant, and that made it a fun night with good food. Hard to go wrong!