Friends of Fire — Restaurant in Melbourne

Probably one of the most average and overpriced meals Ive had in years. Firstly for the price you would expect to be table service, but nope you have to order via the QR code at your seat. We booked a "grill seat" to be able to watch the chefs at work...nope they had only one grill going and that was up the other end, so couldn't really see anything.

We ordered via the QR code. Calamari for entree, ribs and a steak for main and brownies for desert. You would think the entree would come out first......nope, they bought out the brownies first and we said to the guy we haven't even had our entree or mains yet, he walked off with the brownies, came back 2 mins and said, you have to take the food you ordered in the order it comes out and put it in front of us and walked off............what a joke! We got someone else to take it away.

The calamari came out 15 mins later, it was awful, tough as leather and no flavour whatsoever.

The people next to us had the Parma, they looked great, loaded with chips and salad too.... big portion. Our ribs and steaks arrived..........yup....just the ribs on a plate, with a small watery side of coleslaw, luck to be 2 mouthfuls in it. My wife's Steak arrived.....just steak on a plate with again a watery side of "mushroom sauce" though id hardly call it that.

So a $29 parma comes loaded with chips and salad but a $35 1/2 rack of ribs and a $52 steak comes with nothing....if you wanted a side of chips it was an extra $14, only salad you could get to go with your meal was a "side Caesar salad" for an extra $18. Rip off much?

So we were given 90 mins to eat......at 85 mins we were told our time was up......but we hadn't even had our dessert yet....yes the dessert they mistakenly bought out an hour prior.. After our mains we waited around 25 mins, thinking the the brownies were on their way....nope. So we let the guy know we were still waiting on the dessert. It came out within 5 mins.........it seemed they were really in a hurry to get us out so the next booking could be seated as it wasnt a choc brownie so to speak, it was so under cooked apart from it being sightly cooked on the rim of the pan it came in the rest of it wasnt even cooked, it was cold and was all brownie batter........

One of the worst meals and worst service, Ive had in a long long time and it was very disappointing considering it was my Wife and I's first date night in...

Let me start by saying the food at Friends of Fire is honestly amazing – no complaints about the quality or flavours. However, the service and the claim that they heavily cater to vegans leave much to be desired.

We visited on an AFL game day, where you just show your tickets at the door to get in. The restaurant is also open on non-game days. Unfortunately, despite the limited game day menu, many items were unavailable. We ordered the parma and souvlaki, only to be told 5-10 minutes later that they weren’t available. We had to settle for the calamari, pretzel, and plant-based steak, which, to be fair, were all delicious.

The kids' menu offered a vegan cheeseburger and chips, but the chef couldn't make it for some reason. They ended up cutting the regular vegan burger in half as a substitute. We arrived as soon as the restaurant opened, so the wait staff not knowing what was available on the menu was confusing and frustrating, especially since they had to come back multiple times to inform us of unavailable items, dragging out the ordering process.

To top it off, there was a significant mistake with our drinks order, which I won’t dive into, but it was clear the staff weren’t paying attention. For a place aiming for a more 'high-end' feel and charging premium prices, the service was a real letdown.

It's a shame because the food itself was spot on – the plant-based steak was incredible, with great flavours and texture, the calamari was perfect, and the pretzel was massive and satisfying! However, judging by previous reviews, it seems like service is a consistent issue here. They really need to get this sorted, especially when they expect people to...

A brightening spark in Marvel Stadium precinct.

Friends of Fire offer two menu - a normal menu and a plant based one.

We have mainly tried the American-style dishes and they did not disappoint. The Argentinian skirt steak 500g ($58) is seasoned well, cook medium rare as requested. The woodfired pork ribs (full, 58) are melting-ly tender with a not too sweet peach tea, tangy sauce. It is served with a side of coleslaw that are tastier than supermarket versions. The Coney Island dog ($26) is quite a hefty 'dog" top with a creamy cheesy sauce with a hint of jalapeño. The Mac-Cheese (18) has a cheesy crusty top, the pasta itself is quite light and not too "cheese-heavy". We loved the super-sized onion rings ($14), the batter is crunchy, not too oily, and with onions that you can see and taste. We finished with a simple desert of ice cream sundae with 'fairy floss" ($15) - the fairy floss are more like the version we tasted in Turkey - its hair-like texture is meltingly soft, not sugar-gritty and not too sweet.

There's also an express lunch menu for Mon-Fri for $25. We particularly like the smashed burger - the construction is solid, its tasty and that flame grill aroma is just so appetising.

From the first week of opening to now, service has now settled into a groove.

Note: First Table currently has an early dining offer - for a fee of $10, get 50% off...