Famili Ria — Restaurant in Melbourne

3.5 stars ⭐️ I took two kidlets out for lunch and heard great things about this Indonesian cafe. The kids were Hangry so I already looked through the menu and decided what i would order.

I went up to the counter and waited while the staff was doing some random stuff, then waited and waited and waited because rather than serving a person in front of her she decided to take a phone order instead while my two kids are screaming they are hungry 🙄 technically if she could answer the phone, she could have taken my order right?

I ordered Chicken satay, egg omelette fishcake w noodles, red chilli chicken noodles, with chicken and mushroom and a chicken noodles (not spicy) with mince chicken.

The chicken satay was outstanding, beautifully flavoured and the chicken was so succulent. A definite must eat here.

The egg omelette fishcake was a bit weird. I thought it’s a noodle soup dish w plain omelette and fish cakes on the side, but the fish cake is inside the omelette and it was a bit gluggy and it doesn’t taste like fish, it just tasted like nothing much IMO. The “noodles” on the dish was just a scattering of noodles as condiment, not the main item 😅 the dipping sauce was yummy, although I probably won’t try that again!

The mince noodle dishes are great, but their chicken and mushroom noodles are less stellar. The chicken I got was a bit tough, I would have expected chicken thigh cuts to be used. I would probably have their chilli noodles w chicken...

Not just Indonesian Fish Cakes - "Mpek-Mpek" ..... good honest traditional and authentic Indonesian street food. I'm so glad that the other restaurant we were going to was closed on a Tuesday night, so we've found this Famili Ria nearby, specialising in Indonesian Fish Cakes. Casual, simple "not-much" set up, fold-up plastic chairs, semi-self service for your water, crockery, extra sauces, etc. We've ordered a couple from their extensive Menu; Combination Fish Cakes - good array of fish cakes, nicely fried, especially that spicy sweet (palm sugar) & sour vinegar sauce, and Chicken & Wonton Noodles - cooked and garnished well, plus take away Rice & Satay combo, probably the only downside. Small in portion, just like back home, very well made, tasty, quick and definitely a good value for money. A good quick exploration, we must come back and explore more. Please note - Indonesian Fish Cakes is called Mpek-Mpek back home, made from Tenggiri (Wahoo) fish & Tapioca, differ from its Thai compatriot and it's not an entree but the main course. Famous culinary from Palembang City the capital city of South Sumatera - the big island on the left of Singapore city just in case you are wondering where it is and no direct flight from Melbourne, so Surrey Hills is closer and more direct from anywhere in Melbourne. JT...

When you come to a restaurant, you would expect one or more of these things: the price, taste / food quality, portion size, ambience, the overall experience. If one aspect is not so good (e.g. not very tasty), you might still come if the other aspect is outstanding (e.g. great ambience, restaurant is uniquely designed, etc..).

For this restaurant, the price is relatively expensive given the portion size..both the pempek sampler and the noodle that we ordered. Pempek was not fried long enough, not crispy and the colour was pale. The noodle was nothing special either, a bit bland compared to other Indonesian restaurant selling similar dishes. The food, though dine in, was served in plastic bowl like for takeaway. Probably not enough kitchen hand staff. The ambience was nothing to be desired as the place was rundown. I hope they can lift up the game otherwise will be hard to compete with other new restaurants that...