Pholklore is a fresh, modern take on Vietnamese fusion - fast, casual dining made for good food and great company.

We’re not here to be authentic, just delicious. Pholklore is vibrant, flavour-packed dishes, ice-cold drinks and a space built for sharing meals and moments with your mates.

Pholklore was dreamt up by Dom Friend, who fell in love with Vietnamese food after a trip to Vietnam. Back home, he started hosting big pho nights for friends - simple, homemade and full of flavour. Those nights eventually led to Monday Pho Nights at Bomboras - the Torquay Esplanade restaurant owned by Dom’s brother Josh Friend and long-time mate Tom McGrath. The nights were a hit and it was clear the Surf Coast was craving Vietnamese food.

Seeing the demand, Josh and Tom offered Dom the Bomboras carpark to bring his idea to life - a relaxed, shipping container-style restaurant inspired by Vietnam’s street markets. In December 2017, Pholklore Torquay opened its doors, and the rest is history.

Since then, the family’s grown: Pholklore Geelong West opened in 2021, Lorne followed in 2024 and our story’s now stretching even further north with Caloundra on the Sunshine Coast and Ocean Grove coming soon.

At its heart, Pholklore is about community - a place for people to meet, eat, and feel at home.