09/22/08

Not Recommended - Average Food Outrageously Priced - Tourist Dining

by Todd990

My wife and I recently visited Seattle for our 25 Anniversary. After some research we decided to spend an evening at the Herb Farm. This was a major disappointment in nearly all respects. If it had not been such an important evening and so rediculously priced it would have been worthy of a "Stienfeld" espisode. The wines selected for the evening where below average, the presentation at the beginning of the dinner of each individual staff's resume was over the top and foolish, the attitude was poor. There was a sense that we should truely be honored to be in their presence. Very odd. The ingrediants were okay, presentation fair, overall dinner a major disappointment. I would agree with an earlier writer that this is not a European three star or one star experience. And yes, as stated in another review, dessert was ... wow - nonexistent. In the end we faced the same hidden charges - corkage eventhough we did not bring our own wine, mandatory gratuity, service charges etc. I cannot in good conscience ever recommed this restaurant.

• Cons: Average meal, extremely expensive

09/20/08

not worthy of their attitude

by kstandog

The Herbfarm has a quite high opinion of itself, and unfortunately, it is not deserved. The food did not live up to expectations, or price. The food was mediocre- only the mussels were well prepared. In fact, soem dishes were inedible- main course of very bland lamb, "smoked" salmon, desserts were awful...They were not gracious about our desire to buy wine off the wine list- in fact charged us a $20 fee to open the bottle, which they sold us!! When questioned, about this "service charge" which was added to the bill- they said that "it was state law". All in all, very disappointing and we felt we could have spent our money more wisely elsewhere

• Pros: good ingredients
• Cons: attitude, bland uninteresting food

09/18/08

Disneyland Dining - Major Disappointment - Diner Beware!

by ChasPDX

Earlier this week we had the opportunity to celebrate a friend's 50th birthday at the Herbfarm. The four of us have travelled throuhout the United States and Europe and enjou dining in great restaurants. We anticipated that the Herbfarm would live up to our expectations. It decidedly fell short. The dinner included nine courses - only two were of note. The roasted lamb was the equivalent of boiled beef. The dessert consisted of smoked ice cream which was truely awful, an apple cobbler that was the equivalent of a Marie Calendar pie, and a peach belini that was simply colored ice. The other courses were all not up to the standards I would expect from a gourmet restaurant. What really did us in at the end was the poor attitude of the staff and a series of rediculous "service charges". We were well aware of the high price - $198 per person - not out of line for truely superb restaurants. What the do not tell you is the "service charge" to open wine purchased at the restaurant. In this case $20 for the honor to open a $120 bottle of wine from the restaurant's wine cellar. An additional $10 per person was charged for a flight of champagne ($65 per person). And so it goes - nickled and dimed. A

The Herbfarm advertises "Magical Memories". At best this was an overpriced Disneyland gourmet dinner - with attitude and served in a dining hall. Disneyland Gourmet at its best! Diner beware - this is a rip off.

If you have travelled through Europe and are looking for a Michelin Three Star Restaurant - or one star for that matter - this is definitely not the place.