Famish'd

130 Little Collins Street
Melbourne, 3000
www.famishd.com.au

Interior (from second floor)

 

Are you Famish’d? You had better be. It’s not every day where you can have a salad for lunch, and feel like you’ve eaten a really big and decidedly non-vegetarian horse. But Famish’d managed just that, despite serving just salads, soups, and baked potatoes.

Flower Display and Magazines

Every day, the lovely people at Famish’d whips up a soup (today’s was vegetable and red lentil, which I unfortunately didn’t have), as well as 4 pre-made salads to choose from. You can also mix your own salad by choosing a leaf or pasta base, and 5 ingredients from the black containers, all of which are vegetarian options. If you feel like a bit of protein, there are a few choices sitting in terracotta bowls, with a 2 dollar surcharge each. The same principle applies for baked potatoes.

Coffee and Cutlery

   
They also have a coffee machine whirring in the corner, serving supposedly excellent St Ali coffee. Sitting by the coffee machine is cutlery which you help yourself to.

Upstairs

We headed upstairs to eat. The space is less sunny and airy than downstairs, but thoroughly charming with scattered magazines and a huge vase of flowers.

Raunchy Roasted Veg/Thai-Lover's Creation ($10)

So after much deliberation, I chose two of the pre-made salads (they’re very happy for you to mix salads here) – the Raunchy Roasted Veg and Thai-Lover’s Creation ($10), served in a huge, huggable terracotta bowl with a slice of seeded or sourdough bread. I went with seeded, though more for research purposes (yummy, but nothing to shout about) than out of need, because I’ve never had a bigger serve of salad in front of me as I did then. The Raunchy Roasted Veg is a mixed leaf salad scattered with assorted roasted vegetables, such as capsicum, eggplant, and a lovely artichoke heart. There’s also a smattering of pasta, capers, and olives, all held together by a light vinaigrette.

I was already pretty full after finishing the first half of my salad, but I ploughed on to the Thai-Lover’s Creation, which was no where nearly as leafy as the previous salad. In fact, it has no leaves in it at all, but is instead a mix of vermicelli (glass noodles), red cabbage, carrot, peanuts, and coriander, doused but not drowned in a sweet Thai dressing. I couldn’t finish it, despite my most valiant efforts.

Baked Potato ($10)

K opted against the salad route, and instead got a Baked Potato ($10). He designed his own, and into his bowl went carrots, roasted capsicum, green beans, cucumber, celery, topped with a sweet chilli sauce (salsa was the other option). Warm and hearty, K tucked into this, but was eventually also defeated by the sheer amount of food. I’m not joking kids, this is the guy who can have two dinners in four hours – the serving sizes here are positively gargantuan.

All in all, I’m thoroughly impressed. I’m always looking out for restaurants that serve food that is delicious yet healthy, and Famish’d gets a tick in each box. Oh what the heck, have two ticks in each box, I’m THAT impressed.

Rating: 14/20 – Famish’d No More!