Farmer's Daughters

9/10 on Wednesday May 26 2021. 

THE SCENE

The Walrus:  In the new(ish) 80 Collins Street precinct, spread over 3 floors (Deli, Restaurant and Outdoor Bar, Farmers Daughters is very well laid out and welcoming. We had reserved a table in the restaurant on the first floor. 9/10

The Carpenter: Another new entry to the rebuilt CBD skyline Farmer’s Daughters is tucked under the wing of the new Macquarie Bank Building on Collins Street, The restaurant is the second floor - more like a cafe style on the ground floor, and then an outdoor “rooftop” bar that sits under the eave of the skyscraper above. All very cool and interesting. The theme is Gippsland - everything from Gippsland. As a Gippsland native I found it hard to find the defining characteristic - I mean, Gippsland is just a big farming area serving Melbourne since it existed, so it feels a bit gimisky. In any case, a great location. BTW don’t go to the Collins St address - the restaurant is around the corner! 9/10

POTATIONS

W: Opened with a Dirtroad martini with an Olive Leaf Four Pillars Gin which goes extremely well in the mix and sits perfectly with the olive brine in the “Dirty” version of the classic . 9.5/10

C: A dirtroad martini made with Four Pillars olive leaf. House special. Fantastic. Might actually be enough to get me back onto four pillars. 9.5/10

ENTREE

W: We opted for the larger of the two set menus. The Wagyu rib dish was very tasty. 7/10.

C:  A few Gippsland treats: Lakes Entrance Crudo - fish. Not too fishy. Nothing outstanding. Chargrilled O’conner ribs. Wagyu apparently. The taste was fantastic. The rib was pretty chewy. Loved the flavour though. Rib meat that falls off the bone and still tastes amazing is a clear winner. No winning here. A little trio of vegies - pickled colly, smoked colly. and a blanched broc. Standout of these three. Not seeingh a distinctive Gippsland theme though. 7/10

MAIN

W: Continuing the set menu, the fish dish was delicious and quite memorable (the broth its in is very tasty). . A few dishes showing off various skill at pickling and preparing various veg was next but was mostly lost on me. The John Dory dish was very clean and clear in its taste. The venison was cooked to perfection. Not gamey at all and as soft as butter. Fermented blueberries and parsnip puree were fantastic accompaniments. 8/10

C: . We ordered the set menu - Gippsland Getaway, so there were a few mains to roll through. First off, a lovely malt sweetened pumpernickel style bread with cultured cream which was fantastic. then a baked trout with pepper cream and trout caviar that was extremely tasty.

Then a plate with a wedge of cabbage with clam butter and seagrass from the bottom of the hydro plant at the Snowy River hydro station - an interesting fact to highlight. It was tasty.

Then a john Dory with pine nuts. very tasty.

And then the standout - a perfectly cooked piece of venison served with parsnip puree and fermented blueberry. No gamey flavour. Really soft delicious meat. with a couple of throwaway crunchy kale bits. 9/10

DESSERT

W: The apple and raisin crumble (very much like a pavlova) was delicious. 9/10

C:  The apple pavlova type dessert described as apple and golden raisin crumble with tea cream was outstanding. 9/10

STICKY

W: We had an iced Riesling with desert which was a good substitute when a botrytis wine isn’t available. 8.5/10

C:. Paired with a Bass River Iced Riesling - not our usual but an exceptional little drop.. 9.5/10

SERVICE

W: Good service. We were well looked after during the meal.   9/10

C: Excellent service. 9.5/10

OVERALL

W: Good dishes. A few were lost on me, but that is all part of the navigation of a degustation menu. A great setting though. 9/10

C: Some really great dishes - a few you could lose from the set menu, and a great environment. 9.0/10

THE CAP

W: We went to the open air bar on the second floor for a Cap. The fact that they only stock Aussie spirits is limiting coupled with the bravado they can recreate classics with Aussie based produce…..which after a number of tries, we concluded that they in fact…cant. 3/10

C: Here’s where it all fell apart - under the theme of Gip-psland only the roof top bar only has Aus made spirits. Which is fine. So long as you don’t let the mixologist get too creative. We had a great G&T with the Four Pillars Olive Leaf. Yum. then we made the mistake of believing the mixo that she could make a Boulevadier - what came out was undrinkable. So we cleansed the taste with a dry&dry equivalent. They said they had a local dry ginger ale - but did they? More like a ginger beer, although they said ale. Semantics probably. Not bad, but an expensive taste experiment that failed. And when the Boulevadier was garbage, not free replacement…. 3/10