TGI Fridays, Melbourne CBD (by invitation) by Bureaucrat

Continuing our ultimate Melbourne winter's night out at Melbourne Central, we headed onto TGI Fridays for dinner.  Perhaps we're showing our age, but the Lawyer and I really enjoyed our time at TGI Fridays as it transported us back into 1990s - the cushy booths, the great rock hits from the 80s and 90s blasting out from the speakers and the super-friendly staff made us remember when life was simpler and when eating out wasn't about trying and bragging about the latest foodie fad.  It seemed like we weren't the only ones thinking like that - as the place was impressively full for a weeknight with diners and those chilling out with friends over a couple of drinks on the open-air balcony that overlooks Swanston Street.

We (wisely) decided to skip entrees and start with our main dishes.  The Lawyer chose an epic 400 gram rib-eye steak, which came with cheddar cheese mashed potatoes, veggies, onion rings and gravy.  While he enjoyed the juicy steak, mash and onion rings, the veggies were a tad over-cooked.

I went for the char-grilled chicken quesadilla, which was filled with cheese, caramelised onions and salsa.  It came with sour cream, pico de gallo, guacamole and salsa.  The quesadilla had really nice flavour and I love the pan-fried crust of the flour tortilla.

For drinks, I went with a strawberry passion iced tea.  It had fresh strawberries, strawberry puree, passionfruit syrup, fresh lemon and lime juice with agave nectar.  It was very nice but a touch too sweet for me, so I diluted it with some water.  The Lawyer was glad he took Kara's recommendation (our waitress) for a Hendrick's Cooler - it was a very refreshing cocktail of Hendrick's gin, sour apple schnapps, muddled with cucumber, fresh lemon and lime juice, sugar and lemonade.

Although we were very full, we were equally very tempted by the dessert menu.  So, we shared the chocolate malted turtle.  It was a warm chocolate fudge cake with choc-malt icing, vanilla ice cream, caramel sauce and chopped pecans served in a goblet.

 

Verdict

We really liked it.

Overall

Service is super-friendly with lots of smiles and the staff are knowledgeable on all aspects of the menu.  While the prices are mostly in the $20+ price range, the serves are very generous (think: American-sized portions).  While it may seem a bit naff to dine at a themed restaurant, this doesn't detract from the fact that TGI Fridays have hit upon a great formula that can easily let you kick back and just enjoy the ambiance with friends.

While we didn't use it for this meal, the 2016-17 Entertainment Book has a dining offer for TGI Fridays.  You get a complementary main course when another main course of equal or greater value is purchased (up to the value of $40).  Click on these links to find out how we're raising money for FareShare by asking our dear readers to buy a copy of the 2016-17 Entertainment Book.

Find it at

TGI Fridays
Level 3
Melbourne Central Shopping Centre
Corner of La Trobe & Swanston Streets
Melbourne VIC 3000
Phone: (03) 9650 3322