RedFarm
“Next time back I'm definitely trying the Katz' Pastrami Egg Roll and the Pac Man Shrimp Dumplings.”
“Whiskey men, both, we jumped at the Red Farm Old Fashioned made with Suntory Whiskey, Nori infused bitters, and agave nectar.”
“Pac Man dumplings, spicy crispy beef, pork buns, sauteed shrimp, veggie fried rice and the short ribs were all better than the next.”
RedFarm
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Bike Parking: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Price range.
$$$ Price range $31-60
8 reviews
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3.5 stars for food
2 stars for service
0 stars for the host and hostess because they are so disorganized and are just impolite
This restaurant is a Chinese fusion restaurant. Some items are a hit like the kat'z pastrami egg rolls and some are total misses like shrimp and wonton noodles or a plate of string beans stir fry in sambal sauce is $23?!
Regardless food is done well. And drinks are nice. Like others complained the hostess isn't very kind. We said we would arrive at 9:00 and called 15 mins ahead to confirm, then they claim and told us outright that we didnt ask for a table until 9:30. Ok fine. So we get there at 9:30 and then we still had to wait 20 more mins. We were being seated the hosted cleared out 8 seats for us and then realized we where on 6- and made us squish together btw at a communal table to save two seats. Our friend who organized everything, her patience was wearing thin and she called them out on it nicely.
It's tight spaced and popular, I get it, but one thing after another, it is just not enough to get returning customers.
I came here on a Sunday brunch. I was glad to be there early and get a seat, because people kept coming in. But whenever the door opens, the room is filled with cold air.
I ordered:
Homemade ginger ale: the drink has a strong taste of fresh ginger and it's quite spicy.
Corn, shitake, chive & jicama dumplings topped with roasted red pepper: these are fried dumplings served with a spicy yuzu shot. The vegetables were flavorful and the dumpling crust was crispy and pipping hot.
This is from the lunch special menu:
Wok-braised shrimp wontons & ramen noodles: the wontons were generously filled with shrimps and sprinkled with spicy flakes of dry shrimp. The ramen is lightly seasoned, mixed with ginger, scallions and snow peas. It's not a soupy dish, which is perfect. I really liked the big bites of shrimp from the wontons. The dish is served with a ginger vinegar for dipping.
The food is delicious and tasty. I really enjoyed the dishes and I would love to come again.
Very trendy inventive Chinese food but super expensive! I mean, the flavours were good but not really wow, except how they were served. The menu is a delight to ponder over as there were only two of us, we decided on ordering a small selection of dim sum to share. We ordered the pan fried crunch vegetable and peanut dumplings $12.95 for 4, the popular Pac Man shrimp dumplings $15 for 4, steamed lobster dumplings $19.50 for 4, black truffle and chicken soup dumplings $20 for 2 and the Happy Buddha Delight $26 (mix Chinese vegetables with 'cellophane' noodles (but actually, they were bunched taro noodles)).
The food was nice, the vegetable dumplings were nice but lacking in seasoning, the Pac Man was fun but we couldn't taste any difference between the four flavours (so much so I don't even remember what they were now), the steamed lobster dumplings tasted like prawn dumplings and although they were very prettily presented it would've been better if the mushrooms sitting on the bottom of the mini martini glasses were INSIDE the dumpling because they were difficult to eat and because on their own the mushrooms were only okay. I'm probably not going to be very popular for saying this but the soup dumplings were too big! Hear me out, the food is dim sum which means "little heart" which also means each mouthful is a delight. The soup dumpling (or Shanghai dumpling) is supposed to be eating in one mouthful so that the consommé inside the dumpling bursts in your mouth. So, if you make the dumpling too big, the soup leaks on your plate (I know right; they didn't give us a bowl)! The noodles were beautifully stir fried and came piping hot with interesting mushrooms, pak choi, tofu, bamboo shoots, carrots, mangetout but no lotus root when it was specified on the menu. We were full by then so didn't complain.
For drinks we ordered the Monkey Chinese New Year cocktail $15. Our waiter was the bartender as we were situated at the bar. He was fantastic. Sitting at the bar was not so bad except we were at the end and there was alot of loitering – people waiting for the one unisex toilet, waiters, people collecting their takeaway, etc.
Also, note to all restaurants including RedFarm, please make sure your staff don't swear, even if it's in another language (Cantonese) because NYC and the rest of the world (including myself) are multicultural and SOMEONE could understand! It's very off putting.
All in all, I had a good time but just be warned, you are paying for inventiveness and the atmosphere, not fine dining!
We came here late one night after burning the midnight oil at work. It was well past 10pm and Red Farm was still hopping.
I'm a bit torn because unlike some of the other Yelpers I thought the portion sizes were more than enough (at least for two). We were stuffed to the brim from the items below:
Mushroom & Vegetable Spring Rolls: Super delicate crust and the veggies were hearty and a bit crunchy – just the way I prefer them.
Katz Pastrami Egg Roll: I couldn't have predicted that this was a winner. The mustard side sauce is also A+. I'm a texture-person and the crunchiness of the outside dough has a nice chew to it!
Thin Rice Noodles, Vegetables, Singapore Style: Very light dish (though still filling) with fresh, high quality, lightly cooked veggies (including brussels sprouts!).
I highly recommend the ginger ale as well!
I agree with a few of the other reviewers – I'd almost prefer coming here than Chinatown for my Cantonese fix!
Very homey place, feels like you're sitting down to have dinner at the kitchen table. We ordered the following for 4 people, in order below by what I enjoyed the most:
Crispy Skin Smoked Chicken, Garlic
Katz's Pastrami Egg Roll (1) – 2 orders – the sauce for this was really good
Shrimp-Stuffed Jalapeño Poppers (4)
Kowloon Filet Mignon Tarts (2) – 2 orders
Bentons Bacon & Egg Fried Rice
Wide Rice Noodles, BBQ'd Roast Duck – the sauce for this was really good but hot, use small amounts
Pan-Fried Pork Buns (4)
All of it was good, but the Pork Buns I rated last because they had little Port in them and seemed to lack flavor. Besides that, it was a very good meal and we all left full. I'd also recommend the Lucky 8 drink.
As good as Chinese food gets?
Considering out visit was on their busiest day of the year, the quality of the food was astonishing.
There is a small place in Colchester, England that is probably my number 1 Chinese place on the whole planet – Red Farm made me forget it for a few hours. That good.
I've been wanting to come here for a couple years, and finally made the trek last night.
It's a warm and well lit atmosphere with an emphasis on communal dining. It's a bit crowded, but that's to be expected in the west village I suppose. We had conversations with our neighbors but you certainly don't have to if you prefer a more private dinner.
It took about 10 minutes for our party of two to get seated on a Saturday night at ~6:30pm. The menu is overwhelming, so I would recommend trying to pick your dishes in advance! We ended up ordering 1 appetizer, 3 dim sum plates, and one main.
Here's the breakdown of the food:
Five flavor chicken dumplings – everyone around us recommended the five flavor chicken dumplings, and I liked these. They were delicious and subtle. The couple next to us found them to be a little too spicy, but I thought they packed just a small kick.
Shrimp and snow pea leaf dumplings – these were a big hit – my wife really liked these. I believe they are similar to the pac man dumplings, but without the multi-colored dumpling wrappers.
Crunchy vegetable and peanut dumplings – totally mediocre, and similar to what you might get at any other chinese restaurant. There's something to be said for the presentation I guess, but I would not recommend these.
RedFarm chicken salad – this was actually pretty sizable, and pretty delicious. The chicken on top got mixed reviews – it has a nice smoky flavor, but it's cold, and kind of slimy. The rest of the salad was great though.
BBQ'd duck and ginger fried rice – totally mediocre. I couldn't taste the ginger, and with the duck chopped in, this dish is only slightly different than the chicken fried rice you can get at your neighborhood chinese place.
In summary, it's a different type of chinese restaurant with a nice atmosphere, but don't expect the food to blow you away.
Do order: Five flavor chicken dumplings, Shrimp and snow pea leaf dumplings and maybe the RedFarm chicken salad
Don't order: Crunchy vegetable and peanut dumplings, BBQ'd duck and ginger fried rice
Food: 5 stars
Service: 4.5 stars (the waiter kept getting my attention by putting his hand gently on my shoulder…)
Price: 3 stars
Overall: 3 stars
The food was amazing. The drinks were good but nothing special. The prices could have been $10 cheaper. The toilet in the bathroom was very modern…the seat was actually heated which I was not expecting.
It was a great meal overall – very good date spot if you don't mind sitting cafeteria style with fellow overpriced Chinese food enthusiasts in the west village – but I can get the same type of food in chinatown for WAY less. I'll only come back if someone else pays.