Sunday, September 25, 2011

Brunch at Farmshop (Brentwood/Santa Monica)

The Farmshop is one place I've been hearing a lot about from the new-ish Brentwood Country Mart (other than the Sweet Rose Creamery, of course). From what I've heard, the Farmshop was expensive but have great food. The former made me a bit reluctant but one day I decided to give it a try.

As with most brunch places in this city, there was a wait for a table (about 15-20 minutes) and we walked around the Country Mart to kill time.

Corn and Avocado Salad with herbed quinoa ($14)

Corn Avocado Salad

Yes, the prices here are pretty high but the ingredients they use are absolutely amazing. This may be the creamiest avocado I've had lately, perfectly ripe, making a healthy yet satisfying dish. The tomatoes were sweet and bursts in your mouth. We loved this dish and I'm saddened to think the peak avocado season is over.

Next was the Shirred Eggs with fra’mani chorizo, wild greens, chickpeas, yogurt and sourdough toast ($16)
Shirred Eggs

This was another hit and one dish that I kept thinking about for a few days after. I loved eating the runny yolk with the earthy kale and chickpeas. There was just the right amount of yogurt to bring the flavors together. Scoop them all up on the sourdough toast.


I also ordered the Pastrami and Eggs with heirloom cauliflower, pole beans, wild mushrooms, green tomato ketchup, sunny-side-up eggs ($17).
Pastrami and Eggs

The pastrami was good though I preferred Langer's Deli. This was a simple yet good dish, but overshadowed by the shirred eggs.

I went back with LA OC Foodie a few weeks after. Since the menu was pretty much the same, I got the shirred eggs again. This time, we also shared a Pastry Basket, where you can choose three pastries for $12, served with "seasonal preserves" and spring hill butter.
We chose the herb goat cheese scone, lemon yogurt and preserve muffin, and a huckleberry pear danish.
Pastry
Overall the pastries were pretty good but nothing stood out much. I liked the lemon yogurt and preserve muffin the best as it actually had a yogurt flavor. The scone didn't have the dense, crumbly texture that I look for and the goat cheese flavor wasn't as strong as LA OC Foodie wanted. The apricot preserves were actually the star of the plate. We spread that on everything from our toast to our muffin! Too bad they didn't seem to sell them by the jar.
IMG_3172


So, Farmshop. Expensive, yes. Worth it? Yes. Sometimes you don't mind paying extra for superior ingredients, though yes I do think there's an upcharge due to the location.

Farmshop
225 26th St #25
Santa Monica, CA 90402
(310) 566-2400
www.farmshopla.com
Farmshop on Urbanspoon

1 comments:

Kung Food Panda

I love Farmshop. I want to try their fried chicken dinners!

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