Do you enjoy having friends? Do you enjoy the show ‘Friends’? Good news- you can now combine the two previously unreconcilable concepts at London’s ‘Friends’ Café. Based in Woolwich, London, the café is a fan’s dream, serving brunch and afternoon tea alongside reruns of episodes of the hit show all day.
My experience with 'Friends' was more of a passionate, brief love affair than a steady relationship. Embarking on an odyssey of episodes last year, intending to get through as much as possible, I had planned on emerging from my Netflixcave a 'Friends' aficionado. I failed miserably, barely making it past the season two mark. I don’t think ‘Friends’ and I are going to be settling down any time soon. It’s not you, ‘Friends’, it’s me.
The American sitcom finished airing in 2004, but it absolutely refuses to fade into obscurity. It continues to be a fan-favorite, and the café’s success really shows how dedicated the fans continue to be.
I looked it up, and apparently, fans collectively are ‘The Friends Zone’ but don’t even bother going to the café unless you’re a self-confessed ‘Frienatic’.
The café isn’t designed to look like Central Perk, but you’d have a hard time forgetting you’re in a ‘Friends’ café while you’re there. Episodes are played all day long inside, where you can drink coffee to your heart’s content with your favourite six New York pals.
Fanatics will be crushed to discoverthat there aren’t any ‘Friends’-themed foods in the café. As delicious as their (arguably too British) Eggs Benedict and afternoon tea look, I feel like they missed a trick here. I’m not ashamed to admit that the best part of my 11th birthday was cupcakes with Edward Cullen’s face on them. If I can eat ‘Twilight’, you should be able to eat ‘Friends’. I’m talking about Joey’s face on a grilled-cheese sandwich. Not sure how it would be done, but willing to leave it to the experts.
You can get your hands on their £28 brunch and Mimosas for half the price, at only £14. The perfect way to soothe the pain of the show being taken off from Netflix.