Brunch at the Farmer's Apprentice

I have already made a post on our fantastic dinner at Farmer's Apprentice in August soon after it opened (see here) and today, we finally managed to get back to try their brunch (only served on Saturdays from 11:30-2:30).  On a rainy Saturday, the place was packed with a satisfied bunch of diners, but fortunately, the wait was pretty doable, at about 30 minutes (far shorter than most Vancouver brunch hotspots!)

As mentioned in my last post, Farmer's Apprentice is a locavore's dream come true, with a menu that changes daily based on which ingredients are fresh and seasonal, and their brunch was no exception.  It was a treat to be served many of the same produce that we had seen at the Winter Vancouver Farmer's Market at earlier that morning!

This was especially true of my entree, described on the menu as "Red fife, kaboucha squash, honey crisp apple, granola and poached egg".  I just LOVE squash and the chef really made this the star of the dish and served it in several different ways on the plate (puree, diced, shredded).   I loved the apple flavour, and the not-too-sweet granola.  Although I liked the egg on the dish for its added sustenance, it was a bit overcooked for my liking (a runny egg would have worked so well!).  Overall, this was one of the most creative and well conceived brunch dishes that I have had in some time, and I loved how great I felt after eating it!

Hubby and one of our friends dining with us had the biscuits and gravy with fried chicken which had been recommended to us by our server.  In Hubby's opinion, it was just "OK".  He found the fried chicken a little one-note and the overall dish not incredibly exciting.

My other friend had the smoked sablefish benedict with sunchokes and watercress on brioche.  Again, kudos to the chef on creativity for putting this original spin on the ever-popular benny (a Vancouver brunch staple).  I tried a piece of the sablefish and it was delicious.

We also enjoyed the cheese plate served with house-made quince jam (it is available for sale in jars at the counter), dates, walnuts and honey, served with amazing bread from Beyond Bread (a local bakery).

If I had  to compare our experiences at Farmer's Apprentice, I will say that we enjoyed dinner more, which was largely due to the sub-par service at brunch.  Our server did not seem overly enthusiastic when we asked about certain menu choices (it seems like quite a chore), and more disappointing was the fact that she was not clear on what had nuts in it even though my friend had a severe nut allergy and told the server at the very beginning of the meal before we ordered.  Also, our drinks took quite a while to come and ended up coming out at the same time as our food.  We would have been much more content waiting for our food if we had our coffee and tea to enjoy!

All in all, we quite enjoyed our brunch and I would definitely return to see what other quirky and tasty creations the chef had up his sleeve.  The ever-changing menu means there is always something new and exciting to discover!   If you haven't experienced a meal at Farmer's Apprentice yet, I highly recommend putting it on your to-do list next weekend!

Follow @FoodieDoc3