Review: Farmhouse Kitchen, Silkwood Park, Ossett

Four months ago, the Silkwood Farm restaurant at Silkwood Park, Ossett, was refurbished and rebranded as Farmhouse Kitchen.

I’d had a look around during the opening night and sampled a few of the dishes, but wanted to see how a full-on dining experience would be.

The carvery at Farmhouse Kitchen was praised by our reviewer.

placeholder image — The carvery at Farmhouse Kitchen was praised by our reviewer.

Owned by national pub company Greene King, Farmhouse Kitchen has switched its focus from a pub with food to a restaurant with a bar and has expanded its menu accordingly.

Our visit was in the early evening on a mid-week, and the restaurant was pleasantly full - a mixture of couples, families, and groups of friends.

The newly refurbished Farmhouse Kitchen is bright, clean and welcoming.

We fell into the ‘friends’ category and were ushered into a comfortable booth near the bar.

The decor is fresh and clean, and the whole restaurant looks far more welcoming.

The bar has a smaller selection than before, with no cask ales, but I was pleased to see alcohol-free beer on draught. We ordered, and our drinks were delivered to our table.

The main menu has a reasonable amount of choice, but, despite saying it caters for vegans, they are not particularly well served. The vegan in our party was limited to either soup or meatballs as a starter and burger, salad, meatballs again or pie for a main course.

The interior of Farmhouse Kitchen is painted in welcoming pastel colours.

With veganism on the rise in the UK, as elsewhere in the world, and many non-vegans choosing plant-based food, Greene King is missing a trick.

Anyway, back to our food. We ordered a selection of starters to share: halloumi fries with a sweet chilli dipping sauce, chicken strips in breadcrumbs, garlic breaded mushrooms and plant-based meatballs with vegan cheese.

The chicken, mushrooms and halloumi were nice. Hot, succulent and flavoursome, but the meatballs didn’t impress.

Mains were a standard carvery, crispy chicken fillet, beef and ale pie and a vegan Beyond burger.

The Yorkshire pudding from the carvery was judged to be as good as homemade.

When one of your party orders a carvery, a member of staff escorts them to collect their food, timed for when the rest of the dishes are coming out of the kitchen - a nice touch.

The carvery meat was succulent and the vegetables fresh and hot. A few favourites were missing, such as cauliflower cheese and peas, but a dish of peas was brought to the table on request. The Yorkshire pudding got a thumbs up - as good as homemade.

The steak and ale pie was judged a success, and it came with a mountain of creamy mash (no lumps), peas, carrots and a large jug of gravy.

My chicken fillet was really lovely. Crisp, piping hot and a dish I’d happily order again. A fresh side salad, baked potato with lashings of butter in a pot and a creamy sauce accompanied it.

Steak and ale pie with loads of mash and a generous serving of gravy.

Sadly, our vegan friend was not so happy. She didn’t enjoy the Beyond burger, which came plonked on a huge dry bun, or the chips, which were soggy and unappealing.

We couldn’t manage a dessert, so everyone took home a cake to enjoy later. Our vegan had a choice of two cakes plus vegan ice cream, which was a nice surprise.

Would I go again? Yes, certainly. The experience was pleasant, the staff were friendly, polite and attentive, and the food was hot and delivered quickly. And it’s good value for money. The bill for the four of us, including two rounds of drinks, was a bargain £112.

The afternoon tea is tempting. For just £12.50 each you get wraps, fruit scones with clotted cream and jam, a selection of cakes and unlimited hot drinks. For an extra £5 add a glass of prosecco or 0% prosecco for a special treat. You need to book though.

Food is served daily from 7am-9pm (weekends 8am).