To Ask What Restaurants do small childrens's portions?

[VTiredDad]

Just went to Nando's and ordered off the childrens menu for DD (4) and DS (3). Portion sizes were good for a smaller meal for an adult or a large meal for a big kid. Our children will not leave food and we cannot easily get them to share one plate. So they ate till their stomachs hurt........

Lesson learnt but are there any restuants that either have very small children's portions or have special portions for smaller children?

Order one portion and two plates....

Order one meal for the children and ask for an empty plate and set of cutlery.

thanks will try that but will be a challenge to get them to agree on a meal!

At Nandos you can order a platter of good and as many plates as you want. I have never ordered individual meals.

We get one meal and 2 plates. In lego land dh and I eat kids meals as they are huge and cheaper than adults (or we share an adult one).

Nandos are great at bringing extra plates for you to share. Most restaurants are ime.

Frankie and bennies do a smaller and larger kids meal selection

Pizza express do a three course kids menu or you can just order the main on it's own for littler ones

Wagamamas.

Nando's round here do very small kids portions compared to other restaurants. It's the only place where I encourage DD to order an adult's meal.

Can you not emphasise that you really just want a 'small' child's portion, or take some food off their plates as soon as they arrive so that they can have more if they want but don't end up overeating? However...

So they ate till their stomachs hurt........

is a bit worrying - I think you might be better off addressing that than hoping to find places where the portion sizes suit them better.

DoJo We are trying to address that and restaurants are only an occasional treat that we will not be repeating. Normally we control portion sizes at home and try our best to emphasise that they can leave what they want.

Does this really happen? do children actually get full and get sore tummies? I've generally always had the opposite problem with giant hungry DSs who I've had to order an adult meal for or a childs meal with an extra side dish. Could you maybe order some side dishes instead of a meal or just order a bigger meal for yourself and share it? Or has been said, in Nandos you can order a family platter and just put the amount you want on their plate. Or maybe go to a buffet style place where you can put an appropriate amount on their plate for them?

Pizza Express do a set price children's menu which is quite big (if you have the starter, main, dessert) but for very small children you can pick just the main course. That was the perfect for our dd1 who is 3. Strada also do a bambini menu for little ones too I think.

Also you could ask the waiter/waitress to split the portion onto two plates before they bring it to the table. We have asked before as dd1 isn't always keen to share with dd2. They have never minded.

Problem with family platter is that they probably wont like the chicken portions (they wanted burger and chicken strips today). But this is not really an issue as we will not be going to Nando's again for a long long time. Was just trying to get lowdown on other restaurants in case we go to a different restaurant next time.

thanks squeezepast very helpful

Prezzo do two sizes of children's meal - although to be honest even the small one is pretty big!!

Carluccio's .

Honestly, I think you just mis ordered. At Nandos, you can order a 'platter' something like a chicken, 2 large sides and 2 soft drinks. It will easily feed 2 adults and 2 children ( there are other options and you can get extras if needed) You pick up your plates. And everyone helps themselves. The only time I have ever ordered individual meals at Nandos is when there were not enough of us to justify a platter!

If mine want different I often order starters for them as they tend to be smaller. or Imyself or dh will share my meal with one of the kids.

Do you have a Harvester near you? They have a 'smaller bite' option as well as children portions which my light lunch! eater (10 yr old DD) manages only just.
Wagamamas today she shared mine but Their portions are good for young children.

If you rarely go to restaurants is this really an issue?

Harvesters does a children's menu with three sections: Babies, tiny appetites and little appetites. My 3 yo dd is okay with anything from the tiny appetite section.

Bella Italias children's menu is great. 3 courses but the starter and dessert are quite light but the main course is a generous size but not huge

Toby carvery serves up a tiny portion of pasta. Bit annoying really as DS is 8 and likes pasta and could do with a bigger portion, but doesn't like carveries.