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.

07/28/08

Banquet hall approach to fine dining

by CCSeaCity

The format of the Herbfarm is hotel banquet, not restaurant. Everyone is seated at the same time. Then for each course waiters bring out hundreds of identical plates from the kitchen simultaneously. (!) Entrees are lukewarm or room temperature by the time you see the plate. Some preparation techniques (searing, broiling, sauteeing) are impossible for a banquet kitchen like this, so you can expect your dishes to be limited to whatever can be poached, braised, stewed or roasted. Personally, I find that banquet-style mass production is incompatible with the standards of a top kitchen.

The Herbfarm is definitely a restaurant with "attitude." Part of the price of admission is listening to a 30 minute introduction of the kitchen staff. (I'm not kidding; I was looking at my watch.)

The pairing of wines to food chosen by the restaurant is one of the better aspects. However, the whole experience sometimes can feel more like a wine party than a dinner. The ratio of wine to food is out of balance.

Three of the nine courses are desserts. (?!?)

The Herbfarm serves after-dinner tea. A basic mistake like this makes you wonder what else is wrong behind the scenes.

Overall, I would say that you have to be in just the right mood to put up with the Herbfarm's conceits. The cuisine itself can be flavorful and inventive. I have no doubt about the skills of the people involved in the kitchen. However, the banquet-oriented concept and dinner-show atmosphere are big drawbacks for me. Oh, and it costs more than $500 per couple.

• Pros: wine/food pairings, inventive menu
• Cons: banquet approach (cold food), lots of attitude

07/20/08

exepnsive, but not your everyday menu

by gakester8

I had heard lots of good things about this restaurant, so when it came time for our wedding anniversary I made reservations. We attended the Herbal Atelier on a Sunday, early evening., and sat at a table for 2. During the garden tour, one of the owners passed around many flower blooms, herbs, etc... to smell/eat. The also give you a pig visit kit so that you can go out and feed/watch the pigs (they eat the leftovers) in between courses. My favorite items of our meal were the papalo-scented crab fritter, chilled tomato and roasted pepper soup and the cinnamon basil ice cream. Their service was the best that I have had anywhere in the greater Seattle area! I agree w/other reviewers that I could do without the individual bios of every single kitchen staff person, it got a little long. To contradict other reviewers, we had plenty of wine (never empty glasses), left completely full (we had barely eaten earlier that day), and felt like we had plenty of privacy for a romantic night. I would suggest it for anybody who wants to celebrate a special occasion or has $550 to use more often. We will definitely go back to try other themes.

• Pros: interesting, innovative, local food, great service
• Cons: price, hard to get in and out of the booth seats

06/16/08

Wonderful experience

by randy2300

I was dismayed when I saw all the one-star reviews on this site. After the experience I felt compelled to set the record straight. First, the room is simply spectacular. We didn't even have a great table (the first table nearest the entrance) and still it felt like no other place I've even been to. We sat at a communal table and fortunately, the other couples were interesting and fun. While not every bit was "knock your sock off" incredible, there were several dishes that were so unique and delicious to be memorable for a lifetime. The service was simply perfection.

That being said, here's a few suggestions: if the owner and chef are going to speak, they need to learn HOW to speak. They both seemed uncomfortable in the role and much of what they said simply could not be heard where we were seated. My biggest complaint is portion size. Some of the portions gave you nothing more than a mere droplet -- not even a full bite. There were times when it felt like I was in a movie parody of what "fancy" restaurants are like. When I got home, I was still hungry.

However, the main course was plentiful and spectacular and overall the food was amazing. I would go back in a heartbeat.

• Pros: beautiful ambiance, incredible service, wonderful food
• Cons: small portions

06/14/08

Worth Every Penny

by nonameneeded24

My experience at The Herbfarm was wonderful. I would say that you need to be prepared for the evening to enjoy it. Here are some suggestions: 1. Bring good company. It's going to be a long night. Dinner will last 5 hours. Save some good stories from the week to keep you going between courses.2. Be cool to the service staff and you will be rewarded. They deal with snobs expectant attitudes every night. Don't be that person and the wine will pour more freely than other tables. 3. Skip the garden tour and head to the Cook's Library. The view from the top will allow you to separate from the crowd. 4. If dining as a couple, insist on a table for two when making your reservation. If they can't make that work, find another night. 5. Arrange for transportation. From Seattle a town car will run $65-$80 each way depending on your corporate discounts. That will make the night equally fun for everyone. You?re spending $500 for dinner anyway, so you can obviously afford the additional for the car.

The owner is a little out there and the mass introduction is a bit self-indulgent, but isn't an over the top experience what you are paying for?

The portions were appropriate, the herb butter should be sold by the ton, the service was as visible as you needed it to be, and the experience worthy of a return. Some items were unbelievable. Others, not so much. But, there?s no way even the most accomplished home cook, or many of Seattle?s best could even come close to the delicate touch or skill exemplified here.

• Pros: Staff, Pace, Imaginative Cusine
• Cons: Location (Woodinville is the middle of nowhere)

05/08/08

Good service, good atmosphere, very nice, but for the money... poor food

by dionito

When you spend over $250 per person for dinner, you expect not only a very good service (which Herb Farm has), great atmosphere (it has it too), and the best set of glasses for your wines (they have them too, if not the best, close enough). When you, or at least I, pay $250 for dinner, I expect to eat something that when I put it in my mouth makes me feel like I'm in heaven, something I cannot taste like that anywhere else, something I cannot even start imagining how to cook myself. And this, the most important part in my opinion, is what Herb Farm lacked of badly on April 5th, 2008, when we went there for dinner.

The ingredients were good, not exceptional, though, but good. Their preparation, bland and at best average. Something I would expect in a $60 per person restaurant. I could have prepared myself (and I'm not a chef, just a cook aficionado) most of the dishes we ate, and I'm sure they wouldn't have been much worse than what we ate. The only exception for this was the dessert, which although not at the level of a $250 menu was brighter than the rest.

The wine selection was decent, but not to justify the price either. I've had both better wine and food through larger testing menus for less money. If they want to keep charging this ammount of money for their pre-set menus, they better hire a chef who stands up to the challenge of preparing the ingredients in a worth to pay way.

• Cons: The chef should be up to the challenge for this kind of money

04/10/08

Complete Let Down

by waylovefood

My sister, who is a Foody like me, came to visit me here in Seattle. We talked about going here to the Herb Farm, primarily because of the outstanding rating it had. Were we EVER let down. The herbs were not exactly abundantly dispersed at all. The waitress picked off a tiny piece of a leaf for our champagne. What a scrimp. I mean, we are paying over 190 dollars for each meal here, give me a whole leaf for petes sake! Some of the plates brought around were luke warm. YUK. Each plate had three to five examples of culinary depiction. I would say one out of five were ok, not outstanding. When you are paying gold for food, it ought to taste like nothing else you've ever tasted!, it ought to wow your palette. Not at all. Not one thing wowed me. No wonder they bring yuo wine at each skimpy course, they need to get you liquored up to pay! Then the worse offense, they served duck liver, with lentils that were HARD people, HARD ! I was not ok with eating Fois Gras at all either. Apologies if I mis spelled it, but will someone please apologize for the rating they gave this place. It is way over marketed.

• Pros: They got the decor right
• Cons: Food is only average, or worse. Not worth the price at all.

04/02/08

MAJOR DISAPPOINTMENT-Will Not Return

by TravelPro787

We waited for over 4 months to get a reservation, had to pay for one of our party that had to cancel, even though we called and notified the restaurant 3 days in advance.

We enjoyed the garden tour prior to being seated, but it went downhill from there. We were excited to learn that it was Copper River Salmon night as any Northwest chef worth their salt should know how to create masterpiece courses with this amazing local favorite. At these prices and their reputation we expected nothing but heaven on a plate, several times over.

To be fair, two of the courses were exceptional. The others however were nothing special.

The issue for all four of us at our table was that we left hungry. The Herbfarm certainly falls into that somewhat disturbing catagory of self-indulgent restaurant philosophy that less is more. In this case a lot less is more. Don't misunderstand, we understood that we were not going out to a diner, and certainly didn't expect the plates to be overflowing. We just didn't expect there to be so little food for so MUCH money.

I have gladly paid this and more in the past, but can't remember ever being so underwhelmed.

• Pros: Service
• Cons: Small portions-value