Review Farouk's Olive - Thornbury

Great little wine & tapas bar. Intimate venue, great vibe, cool music!

Fun live music, lively music community culture and a quaint little bar. The owner has a fabulous story about how he and his partner came to make the bar- the love for the place is clearly felt when you walk in the door. I love a place with a good story

It's kinda like rocking up to a really good mate's place, all decked out in funky decor. Live music and shows, a great European bar and great bartender who whips up killer cocktails. The music is very eclectic and Opa! Balkan Brass is a massive danceable drawcard on Saturday nights and will dazzle if not transport you to Eastern Europe for the night. Outside the back is a beer garden and every time I've been here it's like a vibrant party.

Great place to have some drinks. It's kids friendly. Lovely garden with a sandpit.

Amazing vibe in this bar. If you want to see eclectic international music, come here! Every Sunday also has a super fun serbian brass band for dancing.

It is now called Cafe Gummo. A great spot for music and a drink

A cute little bar which is underappreciated, but which could use some logistical changes. Great intimate music performances.

Great bar. Does the nicest small gigs in town. There is always something great happening here.

Omg. Hreat balkan music jazz omg amazing! They will be playing throughout the day of my daughters wedding. Amazing !!! I highly recommend them. Gypsy music at its best.

Loved it. Staff were personable, relatable human beings clearly doing the job for the love of it. Great atmosphere inside & a lot of cute little corners to listen to music and chat. I highly recommend it.

Great music, great drinks, great atmosphere. Couldn't recommend more.

Saturday nights are a must. Wonderful Eastern European dirges and horn duets that should have you on High Street haranguing passers by to join in. There's something very unique and special going on here. Be. Here. Now.

Great intimate bar and venue hosting some of the best muso's in Australia - go!

Great Balkan Brass Music. Mulled wine on a cold night is a nice combination

Awesome band great atmosphere good bar and what a terrific balkan trubaci band well done Opa Bato. Dance the night away�

Great place to meet friends. Awesome Sat nights dancing to Balkan brass band Opa.

Great little bar with loads of character!

Fantastic mix of various music events, excellent choice of drinks and all round friendliness- if only we could stretch it a bit...:):)

The best cocktails and mulled wine and service anywhere, ever!... and the music is divine!

What a great atmosphere.... Filled with happy people, good times and great music. Thanks Farouks Olive.

Excellent spot to have a tune, see live music and relax/unwind.

Awesome venue!

Next time we're in Melbourne we'll be sure to support this cafe! Anyone who actively supports breastfeeding deserves business Let alone offering a free cuppa tea! Well done!! It is sometimes difficult to find somewhere comfortable to sit and relax to feed your baby, you're just the BEST!!! Thank you from many mums!

Awesome place with lovely music. The owners of this place are very very sweet and welcoming. A perfect weekday getaway or a weekend relax place.

Farouk's Olive is no longer a restaurant but an Olive bar/performance venue serving a great selection of different olives, roasted nuts, some cheeses, Austrian chocolates and Martinis. <br/>Great fun!

Great Food. Dining out as a vegetarian in Melbourne is practically always a disappointment, so hurrah for Farouk's Olive. Loved the potato cakes and the potato goulash. Not a pumpkin or a piece of tofu in sight. Really pleased to have this great little place open so close to home. Some reviews said the portions were small and overpriced. Not so at all. I didn't have room for dessert despite really loving strudel and prices were pretty much what you would expect.

I have been to Farouks Olive many times since it opened. It feels to me just the thing that was needed in this part of thornbury. The food keeps getting better (I love the strudel) and the selection of beer and wine is excellent. The staff are friendly and I love that they have live music. It's a little bit of Europe (with a touch of the Middle East thrown in) right in the heart of Thornbury.

Food is delicious, staff are friendly, music is lively. This place is the perfect antidote to the gloom and chill of a Melbourne winter!!

Excellent food. Again we dined on excellent food at this friendly restaurant.. This time an Austrian inspired savoury red cabbage strudel with caraway and fennel sautéed onion and hazelnuts, served with salad dressed with delicious styrian gourmet pumpkinseed oil , also a bean and pork mix. later apple strudels. Couldnt stay for music tonight but have enjoyed in the past

Comfortable, creative, fun. Farouks Olive isn't a fancy or super-cool place, it isn't looking to attract hipsters and so forth...possibly to its detriment...but it is a really comfortable and fun place. The live music is great fun and entertaining, nothing like a bit of gypsy swing to help get you going.<br/>The food is simple village food, but great value and nourishing. The drinks list is really interesting, particularly the schnapps and such.<br/>Not the flashest place you will find, but a really good fun and comfortable one.

Loved the concept, very comfortable. Friendly service, great food the strudel is a must and live music is a bonus.

Just had dinner tonight. Great place great food. Live music, Balkan brass band was great. Just what Thornbury needs, a place to have dinner and not just cafe food. Live music is a bonus.

About time a place like this opened in Thornbury. We came for dinner and had a great time. The staff were easy going and polite. The food was delicious. We shared Hummus and the Olives and both were nicely presented and tasted great. We also shared the beanpot with pork ribs which was full of flavour and very filling. We were almost too full for dessert but were convinced to share an apple strudel which turned out to be magnificent. To finish off we had a liqueur from Austria, which was lit up to reduce the alcohol content. Apparently it is called something like devils herbs- I understand why- it was quite tasty but very strong. We will definitely come back for more.

Leaves something to be desired. The concept of the this bar/ restaurant is great and it definitely has it's good points. However the food and prices are a real let down. <br/><br/>I have been here twice now both times with groups of friends. Once just after it opened and just last week with some friends who wanted to try it out. The food has improved (marginally) since I went two weeks ago. The portions seem more appropriate for cost and are presented better. <br/><br/>I have tried a variety of the dishes. The olives are good, the potato salad was great and the foul was awesome.<br/>The schnitzel was overcooked. I had it first time round but someone else from my group had it recently and said it was good. The potato goulash was awful. It lacked flavour and tasted reboiled. The beans and smoked ham was also a disappointment. Under salted, it tasted like thick pea and ham soup. It is dish that seems more appropriate for a winter menu. <br/><br/>I didn't try the other dishes. A friend of mine had the strudel and said it was brilliant. <br/><br/>This place has potential but the prices definitely don't reflect the quality of some of the dishes.

Could be the start of something good. The service is friendly and totally unpretentious. So is the food, which feels home-made and equates to the simple fare in a country taverna or tavern anywhere in Europe or the Middle East - with the pleasant suprise of Vegan recipes. The staff appear intimately familiar with the recipes and their cultural settings. <br/>However they could improve by more closely imitating another feature of such Tavernas - Price and serve size. Serving size and price at Farouk's corresponds to what I'd expect at a far higher-serviced and more luxurious venue. If I'm going to have a Potato Goulash that half to 2/3 fills a breakfast bowl (but wont fill me), I expect a bowl of bread rolls / similar sides as soon as I order, and in this setting I don't expect to pay $15+ for it.<br/>Similarly with Chavapi -in a venue that plays authentic Serbian music and has many Serbian items on the food and drinks menu, I don' expect to pay $17 for Chavapi unless they are carefully handmade gourmet items such as available at select butcheries / made by the Chef. These tasted mass-produced.<br/><br/>All in all though, I think the venue has the makings of a great asset to the Melbourne food scene - with multicultural owners who are genuinely proud of their gastronomic heritage and are openly warm in making one welcome in what feels like their lounge room -Or their Taverna!

Sehr Gut!. This place has only just opened but already its one of my favourites.<br/>The service is efficient and friendly, the atmosphere is laid back and cheery and there is live music most nights. The drinks range from international beers, wines and ciders to strange spirits I've never heard of. There's also all the regulars available, too. The food is the highlight, though. All of it is homemade and ranges from vegan, dairy free, vegetarian to the meatiest platters you've ever seen. My favourite was the lubia, green beans in red tomato sauce. Amazing. And the desserts are just as good, apfel strudel, baklava, vegan chocolate cake and biscuits. Nom nom.