Café Review: The Farm Urban Kitchen & Coffee

You can barely swing a cat in Letná these days without bashing your squealing moggie into a hip coffeehouse. These places all seem to share the same interior designer. Industrial light fittings? Check. Monochrome décor? Check. Menu scrawled on a chalkboard wall behind the counter? Check. Quirky seating, preferably including a swing? Check, check, check.

Don’t get me wrong – I love an upmarket café as much as the next freelance creative. And as the name would perhaps suggest, this café prides itself on masterminding a menu based on fresh, seasonal ingredients from local producers: in other words, its mission is to bring the farm-to-fork trend to a city where rib-sticking stodge was once the norm. However, I only know this from doing a little online research: perhaps the management ought to consider making it clearer to diners that there’s a locavore ethic behind the daily specials.

I visit on a Tuesday lunchtime after an arduous morning spent shopping for summer tops and bikini bottoms. All the ingredients mentioned above for constructing a hipster hangout are here: grey walls, decorated only by a rusty bicycle, a few comfy chairs, some exposed vent hoses and yes, there it is – a wooden swing made from reclaimed pallets hanging in an alcove.

I know I’m poking fun at all this but my first impressions were positive even if they were tempered by a certain cool café déjà-vu. I peruse the menu on the chalkboard wall (yep, another tick) where the drinks on offer are listed: all the usual fancy coffee option from flat white to frappe along with a range of homemade lemonades and fresh milkshakes are all there. However, the food menu is nowhere to be seen so I decide to start with my usual cappuccino (52kč) and find out from the waitress what’s on offer for lunch.

Today there’s a choice between burgers and salad. I decide I need meaty sustenance and go for the turkey burger (145kč). In this reviewer’s humble opinion, Farm Letna could really do with giving diners a hard copy of their menu. I understand that the whole farm-to-table concept means that the options will change from day to day but I’m the kind of girl who likes to see all the possible choices written down and to have time to mull them over – as well as checking out the prices too.

My cappuccino took a while to arrive but it was really rather nice: not too foamy but a little on the small side, as seems to be the rule in hipster joints these days. I grab a copy of Elle and flick through while inhaling the delicious aroma of grilled turkey wafting in my direction. Yes, here at Farm Letna you get to watch the chef prepare your food behind the counter so at least you know it hasn’t just been reheated by a quick blast in the microwave. Obviously this means there’s a bit of a wait compared to other lunch spots which don’t offer acooked from fresh guarantee – don’t come here for hot grub if you’re in a hurry.

When my plate of food does arrive, it certainly looks tempting – I’d give it top marks for presentation. There’s a generously sized wholemeal bun covered in seeds, a side salad with a drizzle of balsamic dressing and a serving of roasted carrot as a healthy alternative to fries. The whole thing screams first-class nutrition (which is no bad thing) – but how does it taste? Pretty darn good, I’m happy to report. The burger, topped with coleslaw and cheese, was grilled almost to perfection. It’s easy for turkey steak to dry out when grilled but mine was still moist in the middle. The carrots still had a hint of crunch and the rocket in the side salad gave it a peppery kick.

Once I’d managed to work my way through the main course, it was time for dessert – accompanied by more caffeine, naturally. The banoffee pie (55kč) was calling my name and I ordered a latte (62kč) to wash it down. Again, the presentation was excellent: a leaf of mint and a sprinkle of icing sugar made this sweet treat look even more appealing. Just like the turkey burger, this pie tasted just as good as it looked: the pastry, which was crisp rather than soggy, deserves a special mention. Compared to the rather petite cappuccino I’d had earlier, the latte seemed enormous – I even struggled to finish it. I should also mention that both coffees were served with a generously sized tumbler of tap water; there are also large jugs of water with slices of lemon and mint available for you to help yourself to.

Overall, I spent an enjoyable afternoon having a leisurely lunch in Farm Letna. The service was laidback but friendly and welcoming. There were a few fellow diners but unlike similar establishments nearby, it was easy to bag a table so it might be a good spot to come and work on your laptop until the word gets around about its existence. I’d certainly like to go back one weekend and brunch it up here: what self-respecting paleo wannabie could say no to bacon, asparagus and a poached egg? My main grumble is just that Farm Letna hasn’t done anything to break the cool café mould but perhaps that’s asking a little too much. If the iPad wielding kids say it ain’t broke, why fix it?    

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