— TheToothfish

I’ve now been to Farm Burger several times, and to be honest I’m a bit conflicted. Every time I stepped into the place I wanted to fall in love with its burgers, with its menu.

I don’t think my feelings were unwarranted either. The menu is a playground of ingredients. It’s a mix-and-match dream come true. House-cured bacon, oxtail marmalade, laura chenel goat cheese — the options are limitless, and we haven’t even gotten to the appetizers (fried chicken livers, chicken croquettes) or the fries (sweet potato fries, beer-battered onion rings, fried with smoked paprike etc). So much creativity on one menu that it’s hard not to keep coming back to try other items.

Having visited three time, I think that Farm Burger makes good burgers. In the grand scheme of restaurants, this is a sad designation since Farm Burger’s menu has remarkable potential and is, in itself, not that ordinary.

I say “good” because the burgers are tasty and filling, but fail to make any impressions. “The Farm Burger” is a messy, $8 affair of cheese and onions, and while gluttonous, the burger is not beyond the reach of an everyday cook. Homecooks can probably get a better sear on their patty at home. The No.5 (braised pork belly, fried onion ring, pickled jalapenos, bbq sauce) is a disconnected overkill. Farm Burger loves its “grass-fed” beef so the need to blanket it with ingredients, which don’t mesh well together, seems counterintuitive.

Moving beyond the beef, the No.4 chicken burger, sweet potato fries, onion rings and ginger-farmade float are delectable. The red pepper goat cheese pairs very well with the arugula and chicken, and the sweet potato fries are addicting. These dishes are good enough to warrant return trips.

Yet at the end of the day, it’s all about the beef, the searing in particular, and in this respect, Farm Burger falls short. The menu is diverse enough, though, that you can find happiness somewhere between brisket chili and the wells banana bread beer float.