Friends Of Mine

Food is fresh and yummy and nutritious. Very nice atmosphere and great service. We have always enjoyed the food and service here.
Great Job, Friends of Mine! :)

Friends of mine located on swan st away from the hustle and bustle of Richmond is ideal for those who drive there as there is plenty of street parking.
Unlike previous reviews — this place contains an ATM machine, they do accept eftpos and card payments with a minimum of 10 dollars and are happy to split payment.
I went here on a Saturday afternoon for brunch with a friend around 12. There was no wait.
The café is massive with outdoor seating and spacious two sets of indoor seating. My water was quickly filled up and menus had already been placed on the table before I even sat down. Throughout my meal experience at friends of mine, my water was magically replaced and filled. Such attentive staff.
Between us, we got the lamb tortillas, the shakshuka, a skim cappuccino and a bloody Mary.
The coffee is strong bodied and acidic but still potable. And it’s extra hot the way I like it. My friend thoroughly enjoyed her bloody Mary and it looked so tropical and delicious. As I looked around the room, I noticed large mason jars with fresh juices and smoothies. This place has a an amazing selection of beverages.
The expansive menu with a plethora of breakfast options made it difficult to decide.
My friend and I settled for the shakshuka which is poached eggs in a tomato base with three slices of toast from noisette. We also got the lamb tortillas which is meant to contain pulled lamb atop a yoghurt chilli chutney.
The serving size is massive. We had to move tables to for the the two dishes as well as our drinks and share plates.
The shakshuka was heaven in my mouth. The tomato base was bursting with flavour with flavours of cumin, the sweetness and freshness of tomatoes and perhaps basil. The poached egg was the best poached egg I’ve ever had. And I felt like wiping the tomato base off the dish with my soft yet crispy toast. Yumm.
In contrast, the lamb tortillas were extremely disappointing. The lamb was dry and has absolutely no flavour. The yogurt paste at the bottom was yet again flavorless. And there was no coriander salsa or charred corn only lots of purple cabbage despite the menu saying that there would be. Felt cheated.
Definitely going back to try more on the menu. Friends of mine is definitely a friend of mine. :)

These guys are winners in my book but boy oh boy do they get busy on the weekends. They have a huge selection of funky yet slightly different breakfast options, eggs benedict with cider hollandaise anyone? With a side of fresh watermelon & mint juice. Deeellliiissshhhhhh!
I find the staff always very calm and pleasant considering how busy they get, very pooch friendly with multiple outdoor seating options, this is a slight risk on the weekends though as if no available seating you cannot exactly take the pooch inside so you miss out on scrumptious breakfast.
Being located on the «wrong» end of swan street, these guys tick all the boxes and people have no issue making the treck to visit

Have been to this place at least 40 times in the last 3 years.
One of the best menus in town.
The staff is magic juggling waves of people and getting everybody fed within reasonable times and remaining SO friendly in doing so.
The fact that it’s straight on the road and that it’s a cash-​only place isn’t enough to discourage me from visiting regularly.

Yep — liked it — nice to sit outside the sun, great service, kids loved the juices. Snappy service — reckon we’ll be back

Disappointing experience, coffee average compared with other cafes in the area, food killed by butter and oil. Sadly they won’t accept any form of debit or credit card and force you to use their ATM in the corner which chargers you a fee, seriously guys get with the times!

YUM
Great food, atmosphere & staff!
Will revisit & recommend the chicken wraps!
Cash only but do have an ATM you can withdraw cash from the sweets are amazing!

Great breakfast food. Vegetarian friendly dishes. I had the Jack And Jill dish and I for sure recommend it. And an amazing flat white.

This is a solid café. Good coffee, nice looking food with a bright airy outlook (sitting outside might have contributed to that). Nice staff and a friendly vibe.
There are two things that hold it back from four stars.
It is child friendly, particularly outside but we had to leave because of people smoking. I get that this is legal but it does take away from families spending time here.
It is cash only.
Definitely worth a visit.

What started as a nice breakfast of coffee, Bircher Muesli and toast turned sour when told by staff they do not accept cards to pay and directed me to ATM in corner of course slugged $ 2.50 ATM fee and I must say people will vote with feet as more and mor people warming to pay wave!

First thing first. .. They have an ATM! ! ! yes many reviews re the lack of eftpos, they’ve addressed this by enabling you to get your cash from their ATM to pay :)
Its one of these places that I’d been meaning to get to for a while. With some time off work I took myself down this morning and had eggs Benedict and the mandatory coffee.
Service was spot on for an early mid week visit, it wasn’t busy but had a constant flow of traffic in the door.
Food and coffee came out promptly and very well executed as you would expect from any place that does an all day breakie. Food was delicious with perfect eggs, no over or under cooked. Coffee was a little on the weak side for but wasn’t horrible either.
Although I’ve rated ‘Friends of Mine’ four stars I’m not feeling a strong urge to draw me back at the moment and cant put my finger on why.

The coffee was very good, if perhaps not exceptional, but the highlight of my breakfast was the croissant; buttery, flaky, exactly as it should be. I consider that the true test for any coffee place/​bakery! I’d did seem though that the wait was long for a takeaway coffee.

Great service & delicious food (Grilled chicken salad was one of the best I’ve eaten) make this place a winner. Great ambience as well… Good music at just the right volume (Rare these days).
Would have been 5 stars if it wasn’t for the lack of EFTPOS… I realise cash is a bit trendy around this end of town, but get with the times guys!

In 2014, the days of electric cars, landing on comets & bitcoin how in the world can such a popular café be cash only? I have been to farmers markets where the only thing the stall sold was heritage beetroots & they had even had an eftpos machine.
Everything else was great (food, service & coffee) & I can see why this place is popular. The payment situation just really let it down.

On my first visit (a Saturday morning about 10.30) I was expecting to have to wait around before my party of four could be seated — we clearly timed it to perfection however and got a seat right away.
Coffee hit the spot as did the eggs benedict. Everyone else also seemed to love their selection and I swear there was silence at the table for at least a minute — and that NEVER happens!
We are in the habit of drawing out our Saturday brunches for as long as possible so after a break filled with tea and more coffee, the cake display was out next stop. We shared a lamington (a little bit ‘meh’), a scone (warm and yummy) and a pistachio cream cake thing (delicious).
Our bill came to more than $ 100 so it really would be nice if they got with the times and installed a card machine — it can’t be that much hassle surely???
Staff were friendly and quick — looking forward to going back.

This place is really cute! There’s a front counter for coffee and quick items, then the main café itself actually looks like a dining room, with split rooms, white table cloths and a large chandelier.
Charms aside, I found this place so frustrating. For starters, it’s cash only. They serve main dishes over $ 15 and have alcohol on offer. I know I’m a bit flakey when it comes to carrying cash — but surely if you’re dining in a place where the bill can reasonably top out at $ 50+ for two people there should be an eftpos machine. To add insult, they don’t split bills when they’re busy. So if you dine as a group, one person needs to be literally cashed up. Urgh. I found the service to be impatient to boot.
Coffee served is All Press coffee. My LB was drinkable but very… meh.
The fit out, menu offering and overall vibe of the place would normally check a lot of boxes for me, so while I certainly didn’t hate it — I can’t imagine myself motivated to give it another shot.

Fantastic food, and totally worthwhile coffee. but beware — one of those few places that is still cash only, despite serving full lunches.
The «Fried Chicken Po’Boys» (mini burgers) were great, as was the «Warm Spiced Beef Salad». The service is also attentive, but can be slightly pretentious at times.
The décor is fantastic, with the restaurant split between an industrial wood-​and-​concrete look, to a fancy carpeted area that brings out some wonderful indulgence.
A good place for brekkie or lunch, but not the only game in town.

Ooooohhhhh I like this place. Thanks for being a Friend of Mine in Richmond.
This place is always pumping for breakfast, brunch and lunch. Recommend you come early.
The cake selection is delicious and there are multiple breakfast/​lunch choices to choose from — I have only tried a few options but can recommend the smashed avocado and the ‘Jack and Jill’. I always get extra bacon on top. You can never have too much bacon in your life. I suspect GPs may disagree with me, but I digress.
The coffee is good too. I always judge a place by the quality of the soy latte and they’re consistently creamy and delicious here. There ain’t no So Good here peeps.
If you’re looking for a cool inner city place with relaxed vibe, kitschy French provincial décor and a delicious range of food options this should be on the hit list.
Loses a point for the very long wait times. Sorry. But if I need eggs, I need egss NOW.

Originally from Adelaide, I was horrified at the 40 minute wait we endured before getting our seats. I’d love to see coffee/​drink orders being taken and delivered while customers wait for a seat.
Great food here, good service, nice décor, but just a little underwhelming for the wait. I acknowledge that’s not the café’s fault, but perhaps they could consider ideas to keep customers entertained/​fed while they wait.

Nice venue cept they don’t do flavours. All I wanted was a Vanilla Latte, Come on guys get with the times!
Otherwise it was just another little caffe in inner city suburbs. Nothing Special.