Please go to Friends of Ours for a brunch made with tender loving care and a morning of fanciful dreaming.

Phoebe went to FRIENDS OF OURS 21/11/2015

Specs: 👓

Overall Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Average Cost pp: £12

Nearest Tube: Old Street

http://www.friendsofourscafe.com/

Poppy suggested this recently opened, low profile café in Hoxton. I was ignorant to its existence until that moment, however a brief glimpse at the menu online assured me I was going to savour it. I arrived somewhat earlier than she, ordering a flat white and digested my surroundings. Not unduly flamboyant or overambitious; still possessing that unspoiled charm. This modern bruncherie still has that magic that’s so easily lost once the masses (or primarily Time-Out readership) discover and descend.

Laid back and inviting; more of your pre brunch boom little café or familial home. Friends of Ours is endowed with a chilled out character, simplistic and unassuming but heartening and endearing. Presumably a tactical initiative by the Australian owners. Just a couple of tables, window seats and a high bar with stools. A few exposed lightbulb fixtures and chalkboards lined the ceilings and walls. The asymmetrically tiled counter, with cakes and coffee machine acts as a central axis and hub of the venue. It’s the sort of place you go because you know the food is decent, affordable and honest. It’s not a place to luxuriate on fancy décor and pretentious facades. The Antipodean inspired menu presented a kooky but succinct list, with umpteen items I wanted to test drive. I seem to be a waiter’s nightmare, I have an innate propensity to start blabbing about nonsense forgetting even to pick up the menu and then proceed with a million and one questions. Restricting me to a couple of options limits breadth of deliberation, interrogation and is generally less painful for everyone.

Beautiful and mouth-watering, the food was all healthy, and well balanced but not at all gimmicky. I had the hash, roast pumpkin, spring onions, potatoes, feta and a poached egg. Poppy choice smashed avo with crab, chill and coriander on sourdough. Other exciting options included, baked eggs with corn salsa, lamb merguez muffins with hairssa and pork belly benedict. Ours were both very pretty, with scatterings of cress and dustings of seeds; everything was interesting with a quirky flare. There was a woodland feel to the presentation; autumnal hues and young sprouting leaves. The foliage seemed wild and newly picked. Some plates I saw had tiny vibrant flower petals or shavings of pink radish. It was not inordinately extravagant but attractive and delicate. Price was reasonable and staff friendly. There was no pressure from staff for us to depart; even when it was apparent we had no intention to buy anything further. A greater prompt were the groups of hungry looking bystanders, whom made us feel slightly guilty for our 2-hour stint.

Poppy told me a heart-warming story; regarding the two owners. These Aussie best friends renounced their city jobs to follow their dreams of establishing a café. I could not help but conjure elaborate back-stories of their lives, and feel inspired by their passionate pursuits. Friends of Ours really is somewhere you could sit and fantasize for hours (provided you don’t feel culpable for depriving other diners). It’s certainly not somewhere to show off or ‘live it up’ with a celebratory mimosa but the ideal spot for a really delicious brunch where you almost feel at home. Please go to Friends of Ours for a brunch made with tender loving care and a morning of fanciful dreaming.