My wife took me out on a lunch date last month, to a farm.
To be fair it's only partially a farm. The animals are kept down the hill, while the restaurant is on top of the hill.
The place is called Farm Basel, Tokyo Farm Village, and it's quite a pleasant experience smack dab in the residential part of Hachioji city. From Shinjuku station it's about 1hr and 15min by train & bus.
Being an actual farm some of the food is harvested and used in the restaurant, especially the dairy products. You are allowed to walk around the farm, but I believe you have to register to do so before hand.
(source - https://www.tokyofarmvillage.me/)
We arrived at about 11am on a beautiful day.
We entered and were immediately greeted. It was still quite warm outside so we asked to be seated inside. Unfortunately the interior was full so we were offered a table outside and reluctantly said yes.
Now, it wasn't too hot and there was a decent breeze so sitting on the patio turned out to be fine. It also felt nice to be outdoors with all the greenery.
Since it sits upon a hill the views are quite nice and looking around you almost forget you are in a dense, residential area.
Complimentary water arrived while we looked over the menu.
The menu was actually fairly small. There are about six main dishes, with a few sides and few desert choices. The main dishes included a beef curry, quiche, salad and hamburger. I can't remember the other two items.
Anyway, we both decided to get the hamburger, but mine would come with a smoky mayonnaise sauce while my wife's was a citrus type sauce.
As we were ordering a table opened up inside so we decided to go in. The interior is reminiscent of a lodge.
It's completely open with only 1 wall for part of the kitchen. The large, open room doubles as an event space. The patio area also hosts events making this much more than just a restaurant.
About 5 minutes after moving inside the meals arrived!
Hers.
Mine.
It was like a work of art.
The burger was normal, but their smoky mayonnaise really turned it into a delicious meal. It's funny how just one part of a burger can make or break the taste.
My wife's was ok. I definitely preferred my sauce over hers, but she was the exact opposite preferring hers.
We had a great time trying to figure out how to fit the burgers in our mouths as well as just chatting about life. I told her I'd love to move to the countryside and raise animals so we could enjoy this experience everyday, but she was not interested.
When we finished lunch and went to pay we looked at the various cakes they have for sale. As you enter the building the cakes are in a glass refrigerator on the left hand side. They were big and looked delicious, but we were both stuffed from the massive hamburgers. There is also a gift section at the entrance full of various dairy products, honeys and sweets to take home with you. We passed on buying any, but we knew we would be back in the future and could try some of those things we passed on this time around.
We left, bellies full and relationship batteries recharged. My wallet was a bit lighter though missing about $50 for the two of us.
If you want to find more information about Basel & Tokyo Farm Village you can visit their website here: https://www.tokyofarmvillage.me/
I hope to go back again this winter when the snows come. If I do I'll be sure to write about it.
Thanks for reading!
