Farmhouse Tavern, oh where do we begin? We almost couldn’t find you! Our GPS was partly to blame, and the narrow twisted roads the other, but once we arrived there was hardly any parking at all! We could tell this place was a favourite among locals, and I wish we had ordered the steak and burgers as they did, but we felt downright adventurous after our 1.5 hour drive and wanted to try the special dishes…
Although very clear now, Farmhouse Tavern is easy to miss if you’re not familiar with this part of town. Remember this intersection!
The decor is very rustic and cozy; no two cups are the same. There is an adorable old stove on display, and other relics. Very barnyard chic and homey.
Their menu is uniquely written on the blackboard walls so you definitely need to move in a little closer. However, we think this is a great idea up until the restaurant gets packed. Due to the small nature of the room, it can be difficult to see above the other diners.
The freshly squeezed orange juice was refreshing, as was the wine.
Okay, so this is where it began and pretty much ended: the delicious ceviche ($12). Tasted as good as it looks. Very fresh and a wonderful medley of flavours (the licorice flavour of the fennel paired with the sweetness of the blueberries). We wanted seconds!
However our next two dishes weren’t what we expected. This was the Ploughman’s Platter ($24) and maybe we were just really hungry, but there wasn’t enough food on this spread. There were two different kinds of cheeses, bread that was toasted with too much oil, a soft boiled egg, sweetbreads, prosciutto wrap, and not much meat.
I love pasta and was looking forward to the Farmhouse Fusilli ($18), however the vinaigrette was too tart and the fusilli itself was too thick and didn’t absorb many flavours. It was, fortunately, cooked al dente.
Overall we’re glad we had this experience to try something new (sweetbreads!) in a different part of Toronto. We liked that the restaurant sourced everything locally and would create their menu based on what was in season. However, we felt that the menu should provide a description of each dish in order to highlight the ingredients, and also for the diners to know what to expect ahead of time. We thought that the prices were too high and didn’t necessarily reflect each dish accurately. Sorry Farmhouse Tavern, but we’ll be sticking to the steaks and burgers next time.
Farmhouse Tavern
1627 Dupont St
Toronto, ON M6P 3S8
416-561-9114
