Farmer’s Daughters

95 Exhibition St
Melbourne, VIC 3000
https://www.farmersdaughters.com.au/

Eating at Farmer’s Daughters feels sort of like a dinner party at the family farm of a rich friend, who also happens to have a grade-A chef on hand to make the region’s produce shine. A bit of a fanciful comparison maybe, but it’s not really all that far off the mark. The objective of Farmer’s Daughters is to showcase the finest Gippsland has to offer, and they do so stunningly with their seasonal menus and cozy, bucolic ambience. I decided to go all-out with their 5-course Gippsland Getaway Menu ($135pp), but the la carte options in their downstairs deli is just as tempting. Farmer’s Daughters is a perfect example of refined farm-to-table cooking, utilising techniques seen in fine-dining which nevertheless still places the produce firmly at the forefront. It really does give you a greater appreciation of the bounty that Australia has to offer to the culinary world.

Rating: 15.5/20 – fancy farm to table.
1000^th review!!! Can you believe this is the 1000^th post on my website??? What a hot minute it’s been! And I’m happy that this honour goes to Farmer’s Daughters – it’s well worthy.

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Update (28/08/24): I’ve gone back to try their downstairs deli offerings, and the experience continues to be utterly charming. I had the bread (of course), fancy rosti, lamb, potato and leek pie, and pumpkin and carrot pudding. All of it tasted as if you were at a dinner party hosted by one of your fancy chef friends – simple, but the quality and flavours are off the charts.

It was a freezing night, but as our waiter so rightly mentioned, a perk of winter was Truffle Season. And for $29pp, we could get some of the good stuff shaved over our first two courses – an absolute no-brainer. The first course of Preserved Pine Mushroom, Celeriac, Hazelnut, Stracciatella Broth was an instant showstopper. Served tartare-style, this was a phenomenal mix of seasonal ingredients, the earthy, slightly tangy marinated fungi balanced out by the warm crunch of hazelnut and celeriac, all on a soothing milky base.

The Baked Noojee Alpine Trout is a signature dish that has been around since day one. It is a beautifully cooked piece of fish, sous vide for over 12 hours, then a wink in the oven to warm. The result is meltingly tender and delicate, pairing well with dill-flecked cream, and a subtle dusting of bitey mountain pepper.

Though free bread is a thing of the pre-covid past, the upshot is the high-quality, unique bread courses that have since cropped up in restaurants. True to the trend, the Farmer’s Daughters Soda Bread is absolutely phenomenal. A dark loaf of aniseed-infused oat and maple, this slice is dense and moist, the caramelisation bringing to mind the molasses sweetness of Christmas cake. And just wait until you ice the bread-cake with the whipped honey butter – it’s like having a dessert course halfway through the meal.

The Amber Creek Pork was easily my favourite course for the night (if we’re not counting the bread). Ridiculously succulent and juicy, it had just enough smoky char to bring out the aroma of the generous fat marbling. The accompanying mash of pumpkin adds an earthy sweetness, making for a much heartier profile than the usual pork and apple. It’s simple, but so well done.

Wrapping up the savouries was a simple but well-done (not literally; it was actually an ideal medium-rare) Grilled O’Connor Beef. Instead of the usual mashed potato, it’s served with a sharper puree of Jerusalem artichoke, and a gorgeous relish of charred and slow-cooked onions. If you weren’t full before, you’ll be set after this.

But there’s always room for dessert. The Cuvée Dark Chocolate, Salted Caramel, Blueberry is an unexpectedly passé flavour combination, but honestly? Salted caramel and chocolate is a classic for a reason, and this is so well-executed it doesn’t matter. We’re talking a plump blueberry-soaked chocolate madeleine, accompanied by a luscious dark chocolate sorbet and a decadent milk hazelnut cream, on a base of sticky salted caramel. You bet I licked the plate clean.

I wasn’t drinking (though having just seen the Farmer’s Daughters Vermouth on the menu at the time of writing, I regret not having noticed it on the day), but Ethan availed himself of the Australian Negroni ($25). Aside from being incredibly strong and warming for the cold weather, it had distinct, mentholated notes reminiscent of gum leaves in the Australian bush.