Farmhouse, Canberra: restaurant review

The ingredients are terrific, and the chef knows his stuff. But this Canberra diner needs to stop trying so hard.

TWAM-20160416 EMBARGO FOR TWAM 16 April 2016 NO REUSE WITHOUT PERMISSION , Farmhouse restaurant, Canberra - rhubarb starter pic : Stefan Postles

The Farmhouse. It sets up expectations of rustic, rough-hewn, down-to-earth, paddock to plate.

Wild rabbit, goat, terrine of locally raised pork; maybe some rough ’n’ ready cider from their own orchard. That kind of farmhouse; an idealised, city bloke’s farmhouse.

The Farmhouse, a restaurant at Pialligo Estate, on Canberra’s outskirts, is a misnomer. Sure, the tablecloths are gone, the beams are exposed, the views bucolic, but the other trappings of fine dining are enshrined like red carpet at the Oscars. Occasion dining. The Farmhouse is all about pretty, multi-element, composed dishes that are to this century what filleting or the flambe a table were to the last. The “we can, you can’t” statement.

Throw into the mix the well-intentioned, professional but almost smothering service that occasionally happens when a critic is clocked and The Farmhouse is, for me, pretty much nothing like a farmhouse at all. Effort is manifest; crockery, furniture, staff numbers, a menu printed daily, waiters who take you through the various bits on the plate you’d never figure out otherwise. I’m a bit over that, actually.

But there is still a substantial audience for the kind of food that overwhelms with overt complexity and technique. In the ACT, this place has that audience by the goolies. At Friday lunch, the tables in a gallery-like dining room are packed with seemingly affluent locals enjoying a treat. Indeed, the location is pleasant and incredibly close to central Canberra; given the kind of “yo dude” service you get in a lot of ACT eateries, I can see why a more mature audience prefers the customer-first approach here.

Still, I’d like to see a simpler approach to The Farmhouse dishes, fewer elements, more emphasis on a hero ingredient, because there is no doubt the chef has acquired excellent skills and purchases terrific produce.

Take the starter “Holmbrae quail” (Holmbrae is a brand); along with pieces of perfectly roasted breast, you’ll get barbecued corn kernels, roasted shallots, pieces of cooked blood plum, garlic cream, wafers of crisp cured pork (pancetta?) and other cooked and raw shoots and leaves. It’s all good; it’s just all too much. And that pretty much sums up the approach. It needs editing. The desire to make an impression overwhelms the eating experience.

It’s in stark contrast to superb, thick-cut, house-smoked salmon served with excellent sourdough alongside house-made butter balls “popped” from their individual muslin sacks. Their oysters are good, but a mirin/wakame dressing is too sweet. Somewhere, the middle ground beckons.

Cubes of superb raw yellowfin tuna get radish wafers, a delicious avocado puree, various succulents and some puffed rice-like nuggets for crunch. I don’t quite know why (delicious) small sautéed prawns are added; more is not always more.

Same goes for a main course of superb roasted lamb rump and a light jus with braised farro, chestnuts and about a thousand variations on the carrot theme. It doesn’t add, only distracts. The saving grace is tortellini with a parsnip cream filling, a walnut and nasturtium “pesto”, chestnut mushrooms, various bits of fried parsnip and a goat’s curd froth. The brakes are applied in time to achieve harmony.

Rhubarb with panna cotta and an intriguing cucumber sorbet. Picture: Stefan Postles

There’s even more going on with desserts, which have visual impact with their dollops and quenelles and crumbles and moulds. But I find it hard to take away any sense of direction from dishes with at least 12 elements (rhubarb with all sorts of stuff including panna cotta and an intriguing cucumber sorbet, pictured). Another labour-intensive, multi-element dessert has as its centrepiece an overly sweet parfait, ice cream, caramel, nuts and sponge, but not enough of the advertised fig to anchor the whole.

While bits and pieces are individually delicious, I think this almost-tortured composition cooking is a bit passé. Time to head back to the farmhouse, perhaps?

Address: Pialligo Estate, 18 Kallaroo Rd, Pialligo ACT | Phone: [phone] | Web: thepialligoestate.com.au | Hours: Lunch Thu-Sun; dinner Wed-Sat | Typical prices: Two courses $65; three $85; tasting menu $120 | Summary: Great skills and technique; a more relaxed approach wouldn’t hurt | Like this? Try … Aria, Sydney; Hentley Farm, Barossa Valley | Stars: 3.5 out of five