West Village Restaurant Red Farm: Tasty and Fun Dim Sum

Red Farm

It was about mid-August when former Chinatown Brasserie chef Joe Ng and “Chinese restaurant expert” Ed Schoenfeld finally opened Red Farm, their long-anticipated dim sum spot in the West Village on Hudson Street… and even during summer’s doggiest of days, the crowds have been turning the homey space into a party. Now that fall’s in full swing, expect things to get even more happening at Red Farm. Because not only is Chef Joe Ng’s kitchen turning out fun-sounding, great-looking dishes, everything that we’ve tried on the Red Farm menu also tastes really good.

Red Farm

Dim Sum: The Core of Red Farm

The core of Red Farm’s menu is dim sum (and “starters”), and rightly so: even the most gimmicky dishes here were great. Take the Katz’s Pastrami Roll, which is basically a roll-up, deep-fried sandwich, complete with carmelized onions and, on this day, asparagus. This could have been a disaster, but instead it’s delicious: the pastrami hot and juicy, the “egg-roll” shell adding an excellent crunch, the chinese-mustard dipping sauce the obvious accompaniment. Not for purists, perhaps, but we loved it. Even better was on Red Farm’s dim sum menu was the Shumai Shooters, two shrimpy dumplings topped with earthy trumpet mushrooms, set above shots of warm, thick carrot ginger juice. Pop the shumai in your mouth, then shoot your shot. This was our favorite dish of the night, and we can imagine it being an excellent tension-breaker on a first date.   

Red Farm

Our Red Farm dim sum feast continued with Chef Ng’s Grilled Shrimp with yuzu and wasabi, a pair of plump crustaceans, lightly battered, fresh and clean tasting, walnut on top, maybe a bit sweet. And the Mushroom and Vegetable Spring Roll is a bit of goofy fun, arriving at your table as a pair of palm trees, the duck-sauce-y dipping sauce for the crispy “fronds” looking like a tidal pool. Again, this could have been a too-cute mistake, but was actually quite good. 

Red Farm

For our final dish of the night we dove into the noodle section of the Red Farm menu and were rewarded with a big, hearty bowl of chewy noodles, tender chunks of duck breast, and slivers of intense wild mushrooms. This was great on warm early-evening; it’ll be even better on a shivery winter’s night. Red Farm is a comfortable restaurant on a pretty stretch of the West Village that’s increasingly becoming a lively destination for a grown-up’s night out. Nicely done, Red Farm. 

Red Farm

Red Farm West Village dim sum restaurant details 

Red Farm is located on Hudson Street between Charles and West 10th Streets and is open every day for dinner from 5:00 until around 11:45. For (slightly) more information and a look at a (sample) Red Farm menu, please see the Red Farm website, here.  

Red Farm

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