Welcome to Food Farmacy

The food here is very creative and very tasty. This is my favourite place to eat in Dunsborough (my home town).

Can be a bit expensive for dinner (except perhaps for a special meal) and their lunch menu is pretty basic.

Also excellent for breakfast.

Highly recommended.

I was booked in to this place by some people I offered to take out on a Monday night after school holidays, so was relatively quiet but good to see it open on a Monday night - I was absolutely delighted with the quality of the food at this cafe, it seems out of place for the region. For entree had 5 cuts of rabbit - sausage, spring roll, rack & 2 other forms that were exquisite. Main course of duck was also superb. Appetisers included pumpkin sorbet and other interesting delicacies. Food reminded me of what I would expect in Melbourne or Sydney expensive institutions. Wine was a little on the pricey side (2.5 bottles between 5 of us @ $150) but enjoyable with the food. All present were very happy, particularly the 2 of us that had not been there before. Service fine & unobtrusive. Highly recommended to try out but be prepared to pay for the experience: total cost for 5, with 4 beers, 2.5 bottles wine [one half bottle of sticky], 5 entrees, 5 mains, 4 desserts, 1 coffee = $550.

I ate at Food Farmacy twice this weekend with a group of 5, we were down south for a weekend away and I had heard a lot of good stuff about the oddly named Food Farmacy.

I can't say I was disappointed. We first lunched there on Friday - the place is quirky and has been decked out in funky decor, water is served in beakers and all your salt, pepper and sugar, etc sit on the table in test tubes, hence the name.

For lunch we all had different dishes, I had the Caesar Salad which whilst I was initially wary of it as it all came out in whole pieces (ie. not chopped up) it was delicious, fresh and crispy and just perfect. My other friends has the gnocchi which was homemade and I would love to try it next time i return, one had the tasting plate, one the spaghetti and the other the Caesar with Prawns. We all enjoyed our meals immunsley so much so that we returned there this morning for breakfast having caught a look at the menu the first time we were in there.

There are some rather different choices for breakfast, my friend raved about the smoked salmon risotto with avocado as she had been there prior to this weekend - and after a taste I could see why she had done so - it was divine and completely different. Another friend had the eggs Florentine which was very filling and she remarked they were fantastic. The remaining dinners had the breakfast where you pick out what you want at $4.00 a serve to make up your own breakfast. This is a great idea for people who are fussy or like me will see something on the menu they want, but due to dietary restrictions then proceed to ask the waiter to remove half the ingredients. My fry up was fantastic, and I would return purely for the sour dough bread which I could not get enough of.

Being a long weekend we had a fair wait for breakfast, but as we all remarked as we left it was definitely worth the wait to fill up our weekend weary hungover bodies.

Try this one out on your weekend down south, busy but you won't be disappointed as there is a reason it is such a busy cafe.

In short, I was somewhat disappointed with this place after hearing so much about it. I suppose curiosity with such an unusual name and what possible concepts they might have was what led me to pick this restaurant out of the several available in Dunsborough.

On the outside it looks like a cross between an apothecary, a continental deli and a high class coffee lounge. The decor is very swish, full of dark brown tones and a nice warm log fire in the wall. The tables all have a rack of test tubes filled with condiments like salt, pepper, chilli, oil and sugar cubes. The test tubes look funky, but that’s about where the funkiness stops with their use of laboratory paraphernalia. Perhaps it’s because I am used to seeing this type of equipment at work every day and am used to seeing toxic solvents in them, that I was quite turned off seeing my water poured from a 1L erlehnmeyer flask (conical flask, in case you're wondering) and the little distillery setup on the back wall with its colourful liquids bubbling away just looked...out of place amongst the stacks of food and wine on the shelves around it.

Being a weeknight, the place was empty when we walked in, and only had a few more tables filled when we left. The lighting was very low and I would have liked to be able to see my food a bit better. A first look at the menu was creative, although there wasn't many choices. We opted for the half duck with lentil broth and the eye fillet in leef puree, pea mash and onion tart. While we waited, the waitress brought out a trio of appetisers, which were complimentary. A nice touch, everybody appreciates free stuff :) The tiny balls of food, we were told, was a rabbbit salad, truffle icecream and beetroot something. They tasted ok, but were gone in less than one mouthful.

While waiting for our mains, we perused the drinks menu, at first glance, it seems to have random chemical formulas instead of titles for each section. If you're a bit of a chemistry buff, you might notice that the formulas are actually compounds that form major constituents of the drinks below...the easiest one to work out being H2O - water. Other ones on there were caffeine (coffee), fructose (fruit juices), ethanol (wine/alcohols) and sucrose (soft drinks). I think there was a lactic acid there aswell for milk shakes but I can't remember exactly. We both ordered a glass of pear juice, as there was some unusual fruit juices available. Much to our disappointment, the waitress brought out a pair of smallish glasses full of ice and filled them from two tiny bottles of juice that looked like the type you would buy in a health food store or a continental deli. They couldn't have been more than 100-150ml. At $3.50 a pop, you'd think it would be more than just a few gulps. We stuck with the water for the rest of the night.

The mains came out fairly quickly, but again they were much less than what I expected for something costing almost $40. It was very simple fare, interesting mix of colours but the taste was so...bland. There was not a hint of spices or any kind of marinade or flavouring. The steak was simply cooked to a good medium and I do sometimes like steaks to be plain with just a bit of salt and pepper, I expect the sides to make up for it. The pea mash was exactly that, green tasteless mush. The leek puree was swimming around at the bottom of the dish and equally as bland. The onion tart was simply a pre bought tart case filled with caramelised onions. The duck was merely a roasted half duck sitting in a bowl of lentils and broth.

A quick glance around found no toilets, so I asked the waitress. The toilets were located outside and around the corner inside the shopping centre. Not so much of a drama until I walked in to discover the UV lighting. I hate these kinds of toilets because you can barely see where you are going and the general purpose (so I've been told) is to prevent intravenous drug users from shooting up in the toilets. Charming.

Dessert rolled on and I decided to just have a hot chocolate while hubby had an apple tart. Both were ok but nothing to write home about.

So with a bill coming just over $100 I can say that while something of a novelty, I could not justify spending so much money for what we got. It’s original. It’s unique. But just doesn't work.

So if you're down in Dunsborough for the weekend, there are plenty of other places around that are worth checking out.

I had big expectations from this place, acquired mainly by reading the other reviews and few other articles and blogs around the internet.

But I must say that while the food for our dinner experience wasn’t THAT bad, it was not even unforgettable and certainly not the reflection of their considerable high prices.

As entrée my boyfriend chose the scallops 7 ways, he thoroughly enjoyed this dish rating it quite high. Although, given my experience in restaurants, I can certainly say that the scallops were frozen rather than fresh.

As entrée I had the semolina gnocchi with ox ragout and gorgonzola. Now, the gnocchi were pretty good and the tiny pieces of meat on top were very tasty and soft. But the gorgonzola was really bad definitely not a good quality Italian one, they were certainly better off with some blue cheese; also the tomato sauce was VERY bland.

As mains my boyfriend had the marron with black rice and some kind of coconut milk sauce. It was really good and he enjoyed it a lot despite the small size.

I had the beef fillet with a cauliflower sauce and some boiled potatoes. The beef was alright tender but definitely tasteless, I also asked for medium rare and it came well done! The potatoes were another big disappointment, since they were described with a fancy name, but unfortunately they were simply very sad boiled potatoes.

The way it works in this restaurant is that all the sauces and meals (except the fillet of curse) are already cooked and then they are simply reheated in the microwave, I saw reheating the marron and the sauces, since the kitchen is actually open. While you can expect this from a fairly cheap restaurant it’s quite disappointing to see this from a quite expensive one.

The ambience of the restaurant was nice; the waiter/owner was nice, but nothing unforgettable. Overall we will not be going back, especially considering the much better food we had in the other places we visited.

Foundation Day Monday showed to be a very busy morning in Dunsborough with everyone grabbing a bite to eat before heading back to Perth.

My partner and I decided to have breaky at the Food Farmacy. As locals, we had heard much rave about the food and had not yet visited so we thought we'd give it a try. With only about 3 smaller tables free, two large tables of about 6 or 7 they were very busy.

We sat and read the menu about 100 times and changed our minds about 50 times before someone came to take our order. When she did she was very busy and didnt even take the time to say hello let alone sorry for the wait... we ordered coffee, basic eggs benedict and a big breakfast...

The table next to us had finished eating and left and new people sat down to eat. We waited and waited... then got our coffee's... then waited and waited... Then the table next to us got served! Not Happy Jan! We had been there a good half an hour before they sat down... I stood up and asked if they had forgotten us... only to receive a smart reply "It will be ready shortly"... My partner and I were thinking of walking next door to the bakery to grab a pie because we were so hungry! He had to leave because he was so frustrated so he went and bought the paper... finally after he got back we were served our breaky... it was good but we were so hungry we demolished it without enjoying it and left...

Do yourself a favour…head direct to the Food Farmacy the next time you are down south. After being overseas for a couple of years, this was an unexpected find, and equal to the best meals we have enjoyed anywhere around the globe.

Entree scallops were inventive and perfectly cooked. Mains...steak was perfect and the fusion marron and pork tom yum was excellent. A good wine list with many local options.

Service was attentive without being overbearing. Overall, restaurant had good vibe and top notch food.

The Food Farmacy was one of the best - and most unexpected - finds of three weeks I spent in WA's south-west with my family. Perhaps our expectations were low, but I was blown away.

At a loose end one night, we managed to secure a table at the restaurant. Some may remember it was once a milk bar but now it sports funky decor and an intriguing menu. To be honest, it is still the size of the milk bar, but a creative refurbishment means it doesn't feel squashed.

I thought the thematic test tubes on the wall were a bit of overkill and reminded me of science class and Bunsen burners, but it amused the younger members of our group.

The service was prompt (if a little unenthusiastic) and the food was just magical. They offered us a caviar and scallop starter - on the house - which was much appreciated. I wish other restaurants would take such a great initiative.

I ordered marron in miso sauce with black rice for entree. Even now, about three months after dining there, I can still taste it.

All our meals rated at the upper end of good, but for seafood lovers, the marron really was a treat and the lemon curd pie for dessert...

I'm making myself hungry writing about it.

Anyway, for me the final stand-out was the kids menu. The bangers and mash was really well presented, as was the spag-bol. The kids’ food service was prompt and friendly but best of all was that the menu was not absolute rubbish. So many great restaurants have kids menus chock full of fats and batter. It was a lovely change and I couldn't have been happier.

I can forgive the Food Farmacy for the glaring pun in its name and the pharmacological paraphernalia for turning an average night on holiday into something that three months later, we are all still raving about.

In Dunsborough, the competition is tough but we thought the board of fare measured up to that of the high profile wineries.