Farmer's Table (Bay Park)

**** This location of Farmer's Table has closed

I know; the Farmer's Table has been open in my 'hood for almost a year now and I'm finally doing a post? Well, you can kinda figure why it took me so long to do a couple of visits.

The Farmer's Table opening in our neighborhood sure did create a buzz; it seems that the changes and gentrification of Bay Park is moving along. Farmer's Table claims to serve "Farm to Fork"; which I think is great, though the Missus took a look at the menu and wasn't particularly inspired.

Still, I thought the space was nicely put together. Kind of a rustic-chic look.

Still, like I said, the Missus wasn't really motivated. So one morning while She was working I decided to drop by for the "Brunch" which is served from 8am to 3pm Daily. My Server was really cheerful and friendly. After perusing the menu; I went for the Heirloom Tomato Frittata ($15) with Black Beans and Sourdough Bread.

This was a very nice, albeit somewhat "corporate" looking dish. It should do good here not scaring off the long time locals, while seeming to be interesting enough for the rest of us. Sadly, the black beans were hardly seasoned and quite bland.

The eggs were fine, decently seasoned, but the "heirloom tomatoes" weren't ripe enough and was really weak in either the acidity or sweetness department. It wasn't terrible, just sort of uninspiring and bland. Basically, "food not to offend".

Still, I needed at least another visit under my belt before doing a post. So, I relentlessly badgered the Missus; until She finally agreed to go the Farmer's Table for dinner. And why wouldn't She? The place is but a few blocks away from our house. Just think I told Her, "can you imagine if Farmer's Table is good....it's so close."

So, we went for a fairly early dinner. The service was good, until the place started filling up.

We started with the Duck Liver Pate ($12) which was served with nicely charred ciabatta. Now, we weren't expecting anything near the quality of, say Arnaud Nicolas, but while be nice and smooth, the pate was really salty, which really overshadowed the usual gamey-offal-earthiness of a good duck or chicken liver pate.

We also got the Bison Tartare ($17).

You might want to just skip this if you've read yesterday's post on Senia. The bison was chopped too large for our tastes, thus making the already lean Bison even more tough. The meat also had a slight metallic tinge to it. I love the mellow beefy and slightly sweet flavor of Bison; remember the Bison Nahm Tok I made? But this just didn't seem to do the meat justice. It was more than half avocado; which was perfectly ripe and creamy, though the Quail Egg was overdone and wasn't runny enough to help out the dish.

We also got the Stuffed Portobello ($15). The menu read, "heirloom tomato, artichoke, bell pepper chutney + caramelized onion + manchego". 

We couldn't find any tomato; though there was chopped bell pepper and onion. The artichokes were really sour as was the pool of liquid this overcooked, rubbery mushroom was floating in. The cheese had been melted in glops instead of being a nice layer of cheese. The dish was just strangely sour.

The Missus gave me a look......I didn't need the gift of telepathy to know exactly what our next move was. It was time to cut our losses and head home.

And so, I had enough for a post....but really felt bad about these meals. I mean, were these just off days? Several folks in the neighborhood mentioned how bad the service at Farmer's Table had been; but I had never experienced that.

So, when the Missus was working one weekend I returned. And got the Corn Beef Skillet ($14); with potatoes and focaccia.

The highlight of my meal was the focaccia; which while being on the salty side is crisp around the edges with some decent yeastiness. I ordered my eggs over easy; but they came out over-cooked. The potatoes were nicely fried; well seasoned. The skillet was just that....it looked like everything was just thrown into a skillet. The bell peppers were hard, there wasn't any caramelization on the food and it wasn't heated enough.

Over the three visits; it seems to me that Farmer's Table seems closer to being a "fast casual, somewhat corporate, chain" than what the menu says, "A Neighborhood Eatery". Perhaps the other locations are better? I know that Lynn really enjoyed her visit. I mean, I love the Farm to Fork credo, but I still gotta enjoy the food. Sad, because I was somewhat excited about having a place like this in our neighborhood.

Farmer's Table (Bay Park)
3055 Clairemont Dr
San Diego, CA 92117
Hours:
Sun - Thur 8am - 9pm
Fri - Sat  8am - 10pm

Comments

[Elle]

Haha, I experienced lackluster service there. Food was pretty average with a long wait during brunch last year.

[caninecologne]

:(

[Derek]

Meh. We have a $50 gift card we haven't used & 12ish family members who have tried didn't care for it. Felt it was over priced for what you get.

[Derek R]

Also, how was the actual corn beef?

[Kirk]

I just wasn't impressed at all Elle.

I know CC...bummer.....

Hi Derek - The corn beef; what there was of it, was chopped into smallish chunks and was quite bland.

[kat]

:(

[Junichi]

Hopefully the revamped Bay Hill Tavern across the street is better.

[Kirk]

I was very disappointed Kat.

Hi Junichi - BHT was super packed when I drove by yesterday. So, we'll see how the food is.

[James]

We've been to the one in La Mesa three times and each time the service was great but the food was meh. I don't know what the issue is with that place, but it appears it's a systematic problem.

[Kirk]

That's a bummer James......though it's interesting that a lot of folks commenting kinda have the same opinion. I guess it's not just me.

[Christina C]

I've tried the La Mesa location a couple of times. Just kinda blah, lots of better places and at a better price point. Overall my rating is Meh.

[Kirk]

That kind of seems to be consensus here Christina.

[jack]

I went to the one in Little Italy for brunch recently and saw that they use a bottled Tabasco brand bloody mary mix for their hyped bloody marys. For me, that spoke volumes.

[Kirk]

Lol Jack....that sure does!

[Fat Killer]

Brohan - I see you never tried the flat breads. That’s what to get here

[Kirk]

OK FK....perhaps a revisit is due.

[Fat Killer]

Brohan - I’m here tonight you will totally drool over the truffle pizza