Farm 2 Bistro - Nutley, NJ

When we saw the deal on Groupon for Farm 2 Bistro, we just had to get it. The deal was $15 for a $30 voucher. I've been meaning to check out this place since forever, so with the Groupon deal, it was a good time to do so. Armed with our Groupon, we headed out to Nutley a few Sundays ago for dinner (Yes, I know. I've been meaning to blog about this for quite a while but never got around to it). It's located on Franklin Ave, the main strip in Nutley. Since it was a Sunday, there wasn't really many shops open around that area, so there were ample off street parking.

What made me want to check Farm 2 Bistro out in the first place was it's whole concept and the lifestyle that it promotes. Most of their ingredients are purchased from local farms and markets, when in season. Because of that, they have a diverse menu and feature different specials everyday. They also pride themselves in serving really fresh and healthy food. In fact, their tag phrase is "Farm to Plate, in a Day". I like the whole idea and concept of learning how to live a more sustainable lifestyle.

The moment we walked into the restaurant, we were like "wow". The decor was definitely errrr eclectic. There were a few picnic tables in the middle and a mismatch of tables and chairs all around. Random things were hanging on the walls but the tin ceiling was pretty cool though. There was also a weird musky kinda smell that I cannot place, maybe it's just an old building. The whole place had this laid back hippie kinda feel to it. We felt a bit out of place and a lil weird :P

The waitress took our drinks order and gave us the dinner menu to look through. Both Kevin and I ordered Unsweetened Iced Tea ($3 each). Farm 2 Bistro is also a BYOB, so you can bring along your favorite bottle of wine to go with dinner, if you choose to.

Kevin ordered the Shepard's Pie ($16, even though the online menu says $15). The portion was really small though. I asked Kevin if it was any good and he said it was just alright. I guess it wasn't all that great but it wasn't bad either. However, to pay $16 for this tiny mediocre serving of Shepard's Pie is little too much.

I ordered the Balsamic Chicken ($16, again..it says $15 on the online menu). Seared chicken breast, marinated in Balsamic Vinaigrette. It was served with fresh mozzarella, local tomatoes and pesto on top. Now, this was really really good. Again, the portion was really small but it tasted great. As much as I love the taste, I do not know if paying $16 for such a small portion, is justifiable. I would understand if it's a nice restaurant, but this is just a small and casual suburban cafe. I don't know.

There was a whole table filled with home made cakes, muffins and pastries, on display, just next to us. They all looked super yummy, so we decided to share a slice of carrot cake ($5). I must say that it's as yummy as it looks. Really moist and delicious! That really ended our meal on a sweet note :D
Now, here comes the part that ruined our whole dinner experience. When we first walked in, we showed the waitress our Groupon voucher. She said alright. Then, when the bill came, you can see from the pic above that she took out $30 from our total bill BUT added on a 18% tip for herself! It was just the two of us and not a huge party of six or more. Why should she add on a 18% gratuity? When we asked her, she just said that because we used a Groupon voucher, she HAD to add that in. Now, no where on the voucher or the Groupon website does it say that it's mandatory to add in a 18% gratuity. Of course we will tip her, but it is not right for her to add in the 18% herself, INSIST that it's done because we used the Groupon voucher and that's the policy. She was just outright lying thru her teeth. Boy, I really dislike people like that. The service in that place wasn't all that great, definitely not worth getting that 18%. We didn't want to argue with her anymore, so we just paid the bill and left. With the steep prices, small portions and horrible service...I don't think we will ever return again, no matter how good the Balsamic Chicken or Carrot Cake was.

Farm 2 Bistro - Nutley, NJ
177 Franklin Avenue,
Nutley, NJ 07110
Tel: (973) 667 3276
Web: http://www.farmbistro.com

Kevin's Birthday Cake

Today is Kevin's birthday (yes, his birthday is on the 31st and my Dad's is on the 30th). This year, I decided to try something a little different. Instead of going out to buy him a birthday cake, I will make one myself! Now, this can be a little bit tricky, since I have never baked a birthday cake, let alone work with fondant before. However, with some research on the Internet about working with fondant, a trip to Michaels to pick up all the stuff and inspiration from one of my favorite shows, Cake Boss, I started working on the cake 2 days ago.

My cousin (who is a pretty good in baking and stuff) told me that I should make the decorative pieces earlier, to give it enough time to harden. So, I made the ribbon, alphabets and stars two days before. I was a little afraid of working with fondant, but I found it to be pretty fun actually. Feels like playing with Play Doh! :P

The following night, I started to bake the cakes. I just baked some yellow cakes, nothing fancy at all. It turned out pretty good, nice and moist. So phew, that part turned out alright.

After letting it cool for a bit, I then chilled the cakes in the refrigerator overnight.

The following day, I took out the cakes and tried to shape and trim them. I have never done this before but I tried my best to get them as even as possible. It was a lame attempt, in my opinion, but oh well, that's the best I could do :P

Next was frosting the cake. Kevin wanted strawberry frosting, so strawberry frosting he got! No, I didn't make it from scratch. I just bought a tub of ready made whipped strawberry frosting and slapped it on. That was easy. I then proceeded to frost the outside of the cake and then started to work on rolling out of the fondant (to cover the cake). I find this to be the most difficult part. It's not really that easy to roll out the fondant and then to cover the cake with it. At that point, I was already preparing myself to run out to the local bakery to get a backup cake if this doesn't work out :P

Now the decorating. If you noticed, there is no photo in between the initial frosting and the decorating part. That's cause I was trying to get it right with the fondant and stuff, I totally forgot to take pictures! Powdered sugar was flying everywhere...boy, it was chaotic! I love the decorating part the best though, it's fun.

Here it is, the final product!! I guess it isn't the best and might look a little 'amateurish', but I'm just glad it worked out and I didn't have to run out to buy a last minute ready made cake...hahaha! As long as the birthday boy likes it, I'm happy!

Kevin cut his cake at around midnight last night. We will go out later tonight for dinner to celebrate his birthday. Havn't really decided where to yet though. I will blog about that later on. Now, anybody wants a slice of cake? :D

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KEVIN!!!

Microwave Milo Mug Cake

Somebody passed me this recipe a while ago but I never got around to trying it out. It seemed way too easy to be good and I was pretty sure that it would turn out yucky :P We felt like eating cake a few weeks ago but we were too lazy to go out to get some. So, I decided to try this recipe out. I must say I was pleasantly surprised! It turned out to be really good. The cake was moist and tasted greaatt! The best thing was..it only took about 10 mins in total to make! Here's how you make it.

First, you would need a tall microwaveable mug/cup. It will overflow if the mug/cup is not tall enough. Spray the inside of the mug with some non stick vegetable oil.

Measure in about 4 tbsp of flour.

Then add in about 4 tbsp of Milo. If you do not want to use Milo, you can use any type of chocolate powder that you like.

This is then followed by 4 tbsp of sugar.

Mix everything together well.

Next, crack in one egg.

Then, add in 3 tbsp of milk.

Measure in about 3 tbsp of oil

Pour in some semi sweet chocolate chips and mix everything together.

This is how it should look like once you have mixed everything together well.

Pop it into the microwave for about 3 minutes on high.

This is how it looks like after 3 minutes in the microwave. See how nicely the cake has risen up. Oh, it smells great too, by the way :P

Give the mug/cup a few good shakes and it should slide out without any problems.

This is good for two servings. I cut the cake into two and served it up with a dollop of whipped cream. It would taste yummy too if it was served up with some vanilla ice cream. It's amazing how something so yummy could be made in such a short time and all you need is some basic ingredients, a mug and a microwave!