To not understand adult food vs kids food?

I did the same thing at a little older, 5 I think or maybe 6. A couple of times a year my parents used to take us all out to the Lyons Corner House Brasserie at Marble Arch. Yes I am that old. We were taught to order politely from the waiter and the rule was we could have anything on the menu but had to think about how much we could eat in total, so eg coached to choose a light starter if we wanted a big main. It came to my turn to order and I requested steak and chips and the waiter asked me how I wanted it done so I said "rare please" Apparently the waiter was gobsmacked which my parents thought was hilarious.

How very presumptuous of them to make these comments. Extremely bad manners. Absolutely none of their business and says rather more about their choices than yours.
Ignore them.

I think kids menus are horrible. No nutritional value in it at all. My 4 yo eats what we eat. We usually share our meal with her if possible. Because of that she is (as it seems) the rare exception that loves soup, fish, seafood... Her favourite is octopus! She can be fussy about some stuff but she has very good food habits. Give your child whatever you think it's best.

They would have been thoroughly freaked out by my two then. Both of them were obsessed with mussels at that age. Like we’d go to restaurants specifically because they served a massive portion of mussels steamed in garlic cream sauce. They would just tear through them at 2/3. It was expensive but kept them happy while we had a lovely meal. Even now they are primary school age and there are actual fights about who gets to eat the pot of pickled anchovies. 😂

I think it comes from a place insecurity and anxiety about what their children eat, maybe peppered with some weird food issues of their own.

My son has loved horseradish since he was about 2, he will eat it on its own, let alone mixed in with foods. He also insists on adding hot sauce to everything (I had to say no to him adding hot sauce to a roast dinner the other day, that's just wrong)

Fed my son , normal food every day he has never eaten kids food , when in Sicily on holiday he asked for his beef blue at four ,the resteraunt staff didn’t believe he was British!!!
normally the British kids only eat chips, et cetera, according to the staff,
as an adult now he doesn’t really like sweet things unless it’s fruit et cetera he wouldn’t dream of eating a bar of cheap chocolate and cooks like a wizard.

only sad thing is neither of us can afford steak anymore or foreign holidays but I’m really proud of him. He gets food loves food and respect food.

Don’t you?! I’m a grown adult who loves sea food and I don’t eat calamari because it has a weird texture. It is absolutely nothing like a chicken nugget or a fish finger and you full well know that. My daughter would literally vomit if I gave her calamari, and of all the ‘adult’ foods out there I wouldn’t blame her 😂😂😂

My DS11 can easily eat an adult sized meal no issue and 100% needs it. Whereas me I'm lucky if I can finish 4 nuggets and a few chips so I often order a kids portion for me and an adult one for him. The looks I get are pathetic. I also get some.restaurants saying they can't serve a child meal to an adult. Yet when I point out they're getting the adult meal paid for anyway it's just the wrong way round they get all upset about it.

you’re very privileged that your child eats what they consider to be adult food. The concept
comes about when you have a child who won’t eat anything proper or nice. And then, why would I order myself chicken nuggets to share with my child, when I want the lobster tails. But it would be a waste on my middle child. My eldest would have eaten it, but would have wanted his own plate! My middle child will not eat anything other than pasta or chicken nuggets. So unless I want to waste money, I buy her those things and myself something nice or I take food for her. I was once you, my eldest ate anything and everything and lots of it. And I also then didn’t understand adult food and kids food. My middle child has taught me a lot about not judging other parents to be honest 👌🏼 who knows which way my youngest will go!

You wouldn’t buy one knowing it wouldn’t be eaten though.

when we take DS out to eat we order him a plain salad or something we know he will probably eat. Ordering him chicken nuggets and chips would be as pointless as ordering him calamari!

My grandsons favourite

the pesto thing is interesting. Pesto used to be outrageously exotic and now pesto and pasta is one of those dishes that seems to be considered a "safe" dish for children.

Well you wouldn't you would buy what you know your child will eat ,werher its chicken nuggets and smiley faces
Or Steak tatare and Quinoa

In your situation, could it be a cost thing? Meals on child menus are usually cheaper than a starter or a small version of adult meals.

Would the kids be eating baby jars at home? I can't imagine giving my three year olds at the time baby jars but I suppose it's a bit like soup.

The opposite question is also valid - why would you want to waste money on a child's meal knowing it wouldn't be eaten?

Well that's good that your child is more varied :-) They'll be getting a lot of vitamins and lovely food.

British Is not a race though. So maybe my post could be accused of Xenophobia but not racism. It's also an observation of mine since moving here, doesn't mean it's true.

This is a very good point. One of DD's best friends have parents on a low income and they eat very bland food because they know that's what everyone in the family will eat. So DD's friend hasn't grown up eating a big variety of foods. She now has a girlfriend whose Dad is a chef. He's now cooking lots of different styles of food for her every time she visits them so she gets to try a bigger variety of food than her parents can afford to experiment with.

Also, I think it's easy to boast about the foods that your DC will eat to make them sound adventurous. My youngest is 12. I could say he likes hummus, pate, haggis, chorizo, black pudding, chilli, fajitas, and pesto and isn't he an adventurous eater. I could also say he's so fussy that even kids meals are a challenge for him, he doesn't like cheese (he had a milk allergy as an infant so didn't try cheese until he was 5) so won't eat typical children's menu meals like cheese sandwiches, pizza, macaroni cheese or spag bol (which in kids menus often comes with cheese on it even if you ask for it without), he is fussy about meat so won't eat chicken nuggets or ham sandwiches. He only drinks water, doesn't like fizzy drinks. Doesn't like icecream (also a milk allergy hangover). I really feel for him because eating out is really hard for him.

The restaurants subsidise the child portions to attract the adults.

The food cost is negligible. The opportunity cost of having a child occupying a cover and sharing a plate with an adult can be significant. The 'incremental cost' isn't relevant.

Most towns have independents as well, but very few towns are too twee for a Wetherspoons, Lounge, Toby, Hungry Horse, Cote, F&B, etc..

Maybe they didn’t want to waste money on an adult meal knowing most wouldn’t be eaten!

I think it depends on the adult as well and what they eat/how they were fed as a child

My old colleague was having lunch with me one day, we got talking and she was a bit embarrassed but I got her point
Loads of food she hadn't ever tried and she said "but I don't want to buy it because what if it's horrible and I've wasted my money? I can't afford it"
So she was feeding her son fine, but with the stuff she had been brought up with

Stuff that was normal to me like hummus, blueberries, feta cheese she hadn't ever tried (I grew up in pubs and was fed/allowed to try whatever I wanted)

Every day for work lunch I ended up bringing in something different and she would try it. I said if you don't like it, you're an adult, spit it out! Then she felt confident she liked something, she could buy it and if her son didn't like it she could eat it and it wouldn't get wasted

Well that feels pretty racist to me. I'm British and my children eat fresh, home cooked meals most of the week. At restaurants they are offered the entire menu to choose from and will order things like smoked mackerel, curry, prawns and any meat from the grill. My youngest has eaten olives, cockles, gerkins, spicy salsa and similar from a young age. My eldest absolutely loves parsnips and brussel sprouts!!

What did she get for her child at the restaurant?

That chain restaurant “Billy’s” if it still exists. Did a Mac & Cheese on kids menu, which was same as adults just smaller. It had so much horseradish in the cheese that it was nose-burn hot. No way any child would like it, mine didn’t. I tried and it was awful for a kid - prob child abuse.

Billy’s staff was unapologetic …made a big deal like I was fussy.

The Billy’s in my town shut, and I like to think the Mac & Cheese child abuse menu was the reason.