Tuesday, March 27, 2018

Friends of Mine, Richmond by Bureaucrat

Friends of Mine is a cafe that I've been wanting to try for a long time.  Every time I drive down Riversdale Road/Swan Street I see this lovely while period building that has that quaint, gently decaying look to it.  There's not many cafes nearby so I figured it must be doing something right if punters are willing to come and queue up for a table.  It's situated right next to some industrial (electrical?) building/power station that lends an air of grittiness to the scene.

Friends of Mine, Richmond, iced tea
House-made iced tea

And queuing up for a table is a given here - at least during peak periods.  The Log Lady and I arrived around 10:45am on Sunday and, boy, was it crazy hectic here.  A crowd of 15 or so people all crammed into the small entrance area, all waiting for a table.  While there were quite a few tables available on the footpath, all of us wanted a table on the inside, which was packed full.  Being told that there would be a 10-15 minutes wait turned out to be closer to 25 minutes (*groan*). Sandwiched and sardine-d we were... not unlike squishing onto a packed peak hour train but with a lot more noise. 

Finally seated, we quickly placed our orders.  It became apparent to me that you have to be proactive here - flag down a waiter as soon as you can... they're all far too busy, whizzing around the place to properly take care of you.  

Friends of Mine, Richmond, coffee
The Log Lady went for a skinny flat white while I got the house-made iced tea (see first pic)  - something that you don't typically find on the menu in cafes.  This iced tea was refreshing with a good proper tea flavour and not too sweet.

Friends of Mine, Richmond, falafel
The food was yummy and spot-on.  The Log Lady was happy with her house-made falafel with salad and warm flatbread.  It certainly looked fresh, and the falafel was a vibrant verdant on the inside.

Friends of Mine, Richmond, chicken po boys
I usually don't order po boys or sliders as I think there's too much bread for the amount of filling you get.  However, these chicken po boys were brilliant.  A nice juicy, panko-crusted chicken fillet with lots of fresh slaw.  I especially liked the ginger-Kewpie mayo dressing that came with it.  If all po boys were like this, I be happy.

Friends of Mine, Richmond

Verdict

We really liked it
We really liked it.
Mid value
Mid value.

Overall

The food is tasty and it's really nice - that's definitely a plus for Friends of Mine.  But the long queues, the crowds, the noise (you have to shout at each other) detract from an otherwise nice meal.  Just for the food, I wouldn't mind going back but I'll definitely go during an off-peak period.

We dined at Friends of Mine using a dining voucher from the 2017-18 Entertainment Book.  We're promoting the Entertainment Book to help fundraise for SecondBite.  Pre-order your copy of the 2018-19 Entertainment Book, which will be available in a few weeks time!).

Also have a gander at Big Fil's review back in 2011.

Find it at

Friends of Mine
506 Swan Street
Richmond VIC 3121
Phone: (03) 9428 7516

Friends of Mine Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato 

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