Review: 42655 Restaurant and Cooking School
Posted by MeganL,
Restaurants are a staple in the Friends world. This year, there's a bit of a twist in that we have 42655 Restaurant and Cooking School.
As indicated in the title, this is a training ground for the future chef of our Friends, Leo. Undoubtedly, he's adding to the lessons he learned from his Abuelita in 41747 Heartlake City Community Kitchen. Coming in at $80, it's more expensive than 41747, so let's see if it's worth the price.
Summary
42655 Restaurant and Cooking School, 896 pieces.
£69.99 / $79.99 / €79.99 | 7.8p/8.9c/8.9c per piece.
Buy at LEGO.com »
The latest Friends restaurant offers customized food, but is expensive for what you get
- Plenty of food parts
- Churro the chef!
- Nice architectural details
- Expensive
The set was provided for review by LEGO. All opinions expressed are those of the author.
Inside the box there are eight numbered bags, one unnumbered bag with four 8x16 plates and one 6x16 plate, and a paper folder with an instruction book and sticker sheets. These stickers feel a bit gratuitous, but I'm guessing the target demographic likes to attach stickers. There are four larger stickers for this set, which feels like a lot to me.
Minidolls and animals
There are four minidolls in this set. The regular Friends crew is represented by Leo, in a bright orange apron, and Aliya, representing Heartlake City with a bright purple hoodie and a blue skirt. We're also meeting Sara again in this set - we first met her in 42630 Heartlake City Water Park. Sara is the first minidoll with an ostomy bag. You can see it just peeking underneath her cropped shirt.
New to the Friends world is Leo's teacher at the school, Chef Marta. She's wearing a chef's smock and a bright orange skirt.
Not to be left out, Leo's cat Churro is here for the ride, or more likely, the free food.
Sara and Aliya are provided alternate heads, showing distinctly different reactions to the creations of the cooking school. This is the first time I remember seeing a tongue on a minidoll's head.
Not to be outdone, Churro looks like they're enjoying the food as well, and even gets outfitted in a chef's hat when the restaurant is open.
The completed model
The small build for this set is a delivery scooter, with the logo of the restaurant on the side.
The restaurant and cooking school looks quite imposing, and to me, gives the impression that this is a second use for the building.
The dining area is outdoors, with two tables set, complete with lit candles (those flames look like a fire hazard!). A variety of food is already on the table, from some desserts on one side and some noodles and dumplings on the other. The tables are in front of some large display windows, that both have some pink and orange awnings. There's a tendency of the Friends designers this year (at least in the two sets I've built so far) to combine pink and orange together. It doesn't look great in the bag before building, but does seem to work once the set comes together.
Churro isn't the only creature interested in sampling the cooking school's offerings.
(Note: food sampling sloths not included in this set.)
The second floor has a really nice facade, and the display windows have some tulips on the sills. Centred on the second floor is a large tile-built chef's hat, along with a stickered sign suggesting that the building is indeed, a restaurant.
Taking a look at the back view, the bottom floor is dedicated to a reception area, and - of course! - a bathroom. The bathroom includes all the necessary equipment, as well as a pink and orange bathmat.
The reception area has a desk that has a flavoured water dispenser. There are some menus behind the desk, and a checklist on the side.
Going up a level, there's a spacious kitchen with some snazzy black and white tiling, and a clean-up area.
The spacious kitchen features some snazzy black and white tiling. Some large stickers on panels provide some details, but there are plenty of brick built details as well. There's an oven with a pot on the stovetop. Plenty of prep space is provided with the countertops and a kitchen island. A rolling pin on the counter has been used to make some of those dumplings!
The clean-up area has a large industrial sink, with a bottle of soap and a scrubbie. A broom is handy on the wall. Not to be left out, there's kibble and water out for Churro. Some extra kitchen implements are stored on the wall.
The part of the set that gained the most attention when images were released was the storage section at the top. There's ample room for all the food pieces included with the set. There is just about every food piece you can think of here, from hot dog buns, fried eggs, pizza, dumplings, and more. There are also several 2x2 round plates and other 1x1 tiles and plates to build whatever food the Friends might want.
While this feature would likely cause many AFOLs to yawn, I expect this to be the main source of attraction of this set for kids. The four year old in our family loves "making" food for us as well as many of their other toys, so this part of the set was endlessly fascinating to them.
Overall thoughts
This set is yet another Friends set that has some marvellous architecture. I'm still quite impressed how the designer has been able to make pink and orange work - in the bag, it looks like it clashes, but it does seem to work in the assembled set. Plus, I love any set that includes Churro!
I like the alternate heads provided for two of the Friends, especially with something that isn't a smile! Also, kudos to the team for continuing to feature Sara in the stories.
Kids will love the variety of food pieces available to make custom meals for their Friends and likely any other minidolls that may happen by.
I mentioned 41747 at the top - and I thought that set was pricy for what you got. This set is more expensive than that. While you get some great architecture and some terrific food pieces, I think it feels expensive for what you get.
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29 comments on this article
Why is the chef driving the delivery vehicle? Seems like an inefficient business model they’re teaching at that school.
"What should we call this new restaurant?"
"'Restaurant.'"
"I love it, you're promoted."
"These stickers feel a bit gratuitous, but I'm guessing the target demographic likes to attach stickers."
Sure.....
Apart from the stickers quite a nice set, but looks rather small for €80....
(and no, I don't care about PPP, especially not with so many tiny extras, as useful as they are)
Mama mia!
the alternate heads are neat, I haven't seen that done before.
Is it new for this set?
also that cat is cool
@Worrissey said:
"the alternate heads are neat, I haven't seen that done before.
Is it new for this set?"
The alternate heads for some Friends sets started in 2022, I think. I know 41701 was the first one I got with them.
Where can I find my own food-sampling sloths?
What stands out to me about this set, is that front facing - I didn't realize this was a Friends set at first. It's usually pretty distinctive when you see a Friends building vs a normal city or creator building, there are definitely colors or building techniques that stand out. I feel like this one blends them both to be honest. Not saying that's good or bad, just an observation.
Some frosted window panes for the bathroom would have been nice....especially with the toilet afront the clear window :D
I like several of the design elements on this building. I won't buy the set, instead I'll use most of the instructions to build an enclosed but empty version of the Restaurant. I do feel the colors clash, so I'll change the ones I don't care for.
This is my one of my favorite things about LEGO. If you think a set could be better, you have the opportunity to do something about it.
@vizzitor said:
"The alternate heads for some Friends sets started in 2022, I think. I know 41701 was the first one I got with them."
ahh, thank you
Honestly, love the storage space. Friends sets often come with so many wonderful accessories, but with nowhere to put them so they end up being carried forever.
It probably boosted the price by £10 or so to add the height, but it's worth it.
@WolfpackBricksStudios said:
""What should we call this new restaurant?"
"'Restaurant.'"
"I love it, you're promoted.""
Best comment, here.
I think the extra pieces with the storage space is a great idea! It makes customizing/modding the set very accessible.
I wouldn't be too happy to know the meal to be served was stored on the roof without cooling and packaging. Leo could expect a visit from the food safety office...
The external looks quite nice. And even naming it Restaurant feels meta enough it would work.
Love that they shoehorned in cool yellow instead of using tan for the inner/side walls.
@Kynareth said:
"Why is the chef driving the delivery vehicle? Seems like an inefficient business model they’re teaching at that school."
Chefs driving delivery vehicles, cats eating dog food, 555-YUM being a phone number...
What is Heartlake City coming to these days?
This set is really cute but my favorite technique in it is one of the smallest—the use of the new yarn ball piece in cool yellow plus a bowl to make a bowl of spaghetti. No longer will pasta fans like myself be limited to printed or stickered tiles—finally we have a simple solution for a realistically textured bowl of noodles.
The accessories are a great idea, and it makes complete sense given the doll house vibes Friends sets have. I like that there's a ball of yarn in there, presumably to keep the cat distracted long enough to serve the food.
Another good example of the beautiful architecture of LEGO Friends.
Great looking set, but the placement of the toilet, right in front of the window looking out over the street side seats (and vice versa!), is a bit awkward. Bon appetite?
@WolfpackBricksStudios said:
""What should we call this new restaurant?"
"'Restaurant.'"
"I love it, you're promoted.""
“And we are adding a cooking school. What should that be called?”
“cooking school”
“Very nice, you’re in charge now. I’ve fired myself.”
@WolfpackBricksStudios said:
""What should we call this new restaurant?"
"'Restaurant.'"
"I love it, you're promoted.""
Sounds more like The Village than Heartlake City (though in that case the signs ought to be in the Albertus font).
@whiteghost said:
"I wouldn't be too happy to know the meal to be served was stored on the roof without cooling and packaging. Leo could expect a visit from the food safety office..."
I presume McDonalds wouldn’t agree to the licensing:
@WolfpackBricksStudios said:
""What should we call this new restaurant?"
"'Restaurant.'"
"I love it, you're promoted.""
“Loo with a View”
“You’re sacked.”
@alLEGOry_HJB2810 said:
" @Kynareth said:
"Why is the chef driving the delivery vehicle? Seems like an inefficient business model they’re teaching at that school."
Chefs driving delivery vehicles, cats eating dog food, 555-YUM being a phone number...
What is Heartlake City coming to these days?"
"Cats and dogs living together. Mass hysteria!"
Recently I was at friend, he has a lot of Friends sets for his kid. One interesting thing is that minidolls have same hair/head piece as minifigs! Must investigate that closely!
@gsom7 said:
"Recently I was at friend, he has a lot of Friends sets for his kid. One interesting thing is that minidolls have same hair/head piece as minifigs! Must investigate that closely!"
The hair piece for Stephanie (https://brickset.com/parts/design-18639) even has cutouts that let it clear minifig shoulders.
not to nitpick but: is there a reason that both Leo's apron and Marta's skirt are described as bright orange when they seem to be different colors?
You can tell this is mediocre set because @MeganL only included one sloth photo in her review. A Friends set needs at least four sloths photo-ops before I will consider buying it.