To say no to pizza pasta again?

[karmakameleon]

So I'm trying to arrange dinner with a friend and her family and she's suggested a pizza pasta place. Fairly standard kid food but my problem is that DS (3yrs old) doesn't like it. DS will happily eat Indian, Thai, Japanese, Chinese, Mexican amongst other things, so I don't think he can be described as fussy, but just not pizza and pasta.

As you imagine this comes up regularly when we eat out with friends and in the past I've taken the view that DS can have some bread and fill up on ice cream after. But this time I've had enough and put my foot down as I just feel it's not fair on DS to always be the one that can't eat and ends up going home hungry. Also I know that DS really doesn't like pizza pasta as I've offered it to him a hundred times but I'm guessing that my friend's child hasn't tried half the options I've suggested. (The specific places I've mentioned to her all do some mild options in smaller sized portions although not specifically a children's menu.) And if the worst came to the worst, surely her DS could pick at his main and then have lots of ice cream for pudding like mine has had to in the past?

Anyway, the whole thing is proving quite traumatic, she's not taking up any of my suggestions and sticking fairly rigidly to her original choice and I'm getting the feeling that the whole thing is off unless I do as I'm told compromise. So now I'm starting to feel guilty and think maybe I'm being a bit unreasonable as it is a fairly standard choice. But then it's not DS's fault he doesn't like it...

WHICH chain OP? Which chains are you and your friend suggesting to each other?

I've just ploughed through the whole thread and the only way to finish this is to look at the menus.

If your son likes risotto etc, why not order him some in an adult portion? He doesn't have to eat it all. Or just ask them to give you a small bowl to put some in for him.

I'm sure there's more scope for an adventurous eater in an Italian than a conservative eater in a japanese/indian/thai place.

OK, i see Nandos.

Looked at the kids menu. Is the meat spicy?
Choose from one of the following:
Nandino Chicken Breast Fillet Burger
Chicken Breast Fillet Strips
3 Chicken Wings
2 Chicken Drumsticks
Veggie Strips

Pick two Dino Sides:

Chips
Sweet Potato Mash
Garlic Bread
Corn on the Cob
Little Tomatoes
Sweet Potato Wedges

OP still hasn't named the chain I don't think Epona

Those faces weren't to you btw!

Nandos can be any level of spice and they supply bottles of different level of spice sauce to add/dip and it's all proper chicken so no crispy crumb coated reconstituted chicken nuggets.

Or is there a big shopping type place you can meet that has a food court where you can buy from any of the food shops but all eat together in the shared tables?

My 3 year old DD is remarkably easy going when it comes to food and will eat whatever she is given (don't worry, I'm not smug as she is the complete opposite when it comes to sleeping so I have my battles).

She does prefer Asian food such as curry, rice, noodles, stir fry over pizza though, although she will eat it. I often find that we end up at an Italian as that seems to be what 99% of children prefer, and she is fine with pasta so it isn't a big deal. If she didn't eat it at all though I would just say, "oh I think it is our turn to choose as we went their last time, my DD would prefer to go to X, unless you just want to leave it this time and go for coffee and cake instead".

If there is genuinely nothing on the menu he will eat then don't agree to go, stand your ground and find somewhere else that can be a compromise, or just agree to alternate restaurants each time you meet.

Epona OP has suggested Giraffe and Nando's and I believe others. People have said on here Giraffe has a wide range of food and is child friendly (haven't been myself). Nandos surely works for everyone as there is plain chicken and chips for the less adventurous and spicy options for others. So if her friend isn't happy with either of those, I do think friend is being overly difficult.

Yes, picnic in December. Hardy northerner here.

Yes to be fair to OP, whilst the reasons for rejecting the Italian chain do seem a bit dubious, and I suspect it's more that she herself doesn't like it overly, the latest update where she has provided a number of options which friends have declined, does paint things in a different light.

I have to say out of all the things being mooted, Nandos would be my least favourite option. Until recently DS only ate breaded chicken ( so shoot me now) and I can't see the point of Nandos - not fast food, not a restaurant, what the heck is it meant to be?

Oh well, at nearly 50 and DH 5 years older, we quite like Nandos and more to the point, my teens like it so it makes a good choice for us where everybody is happy, the food is pretty good for a chain restaurant and it's reasonably priced too. I'm happy to go up and order as it saves hanging about waiting if you are in a hurry, but if you aren't in a hurry, you can sit and use the table and have a leisurely meal just the same as anywhere else. I'd go there over Frankie and Benny's and the like anyday. Ours is also handy for the cinema :)

I think you're making this a problem in order to show how sophisticated your DS is. All the chain Italians do foid that isn't pizza or pasta. No, they might not be in the kids menu but you can always just ask, or just order the adult portion and help him finish off.

And stop saying pizza pasta as though it's an actual foodstuff. It isn't, and it makes you sound like an oik. Which I'm sure, what with your sophisticated palate 'n' all you can't possinly be.

I live in a place where there are only chain restaurants. The ones which are primarily about 'pizza pasta' have a large variety of non 'pizza pasta' options on the kids menu. They also, without fail, have the option of smaller portions and a kids portion of any main courses, some of which are not 'pizza pasta'. It is a shame that OP's child doesn't like ANY pizza of which there are many types and flavours, or ANY pasta of which there are many types and flavours. At three, they must have been through the menu extensively to establish they do not like 'pizza pasta'.

Would love to know which chain.

OP YANBU. Nothing more tiresome than someone insisting on going to the same mediocre place all the time when there are many more interesting options to choose from. Why not try somewhere else for once?

He's three. Why are you letting a three year old's whim dictate the terms of a trip out that affects other people? Find something on the menu that he'll eat or feed him beforehand. Not rocket science.

The friend hasn't actually said no, right? Just "hmm, let me have a think"?

The OP has not claimed her DS has "sophisticated tastes" or stealth-boasted, other posters have inferred that from the fact he doesn't like pizza or pasta.

If one DC will only eat X, and the other DC doesn't like X, then it seems reasonable to me that they take turns in their DC being catered to. It shouldn't always be the OP's DS who doesn't get to enjoy his lunch.

Wagamama do a children's meal which is noodles, chicken strips, sweetcorn, grated carrot and something else. That seems like a perfectly sensible alternative to pasta and it doesn't mean she's insisting they all go out for whale-blubber sashimi.

You sound a bit precious about your DS and food to me tbh. I am not saying your friend is in the right but you definitely sound a bit precious.

And she hasn't replied at all re Nandos yet!

"Unless today's special is 'Pan fried Drama-Llama with a side order of slow roasted grips'?"

Haha to this!

In the overview you gave of the messages back and forth, it seems like you started out by asking your friend where she would like to go.

So it's not surprising that she suggested somewhere, and that she suggested somewhere she likes!! Next time why not suggest something yourself first?

For what it's worth, I think life is really far far far too short to be giving this a second thought. DH, DD (2) and I went out with another family to a pizzaandpasta place today, and I'm pretty sure 100% certain she didn't give a second thought to the choice of restaurant or what the choice taught her about fairness in adult decision making, she just enjoyed being with us and her buddy.

This is an absolute first world problem, the headspace you're giving it is awful, really. You say in your OP that this issue is getting traumatic - I would say that there are many many many people worldwide who genuinely do have traumatic issues with regard to access to food for their children, but that you are not one of them.

People are dying of starvation and I just read 6 pages of posts about a 3 year old who doesn't like pasta.

I know its not the point of the thread, but this constant use of the made-up phrase "pizza pasta" is driving me INSANE.

Natkingcole9 makes me feel all cosy inside to see that 'people in Africa would give their eye teeth for those sprouts' is still on the go.

I've just wasted my last bit of spare life tonight reading this. Best wind up for some time - well done OP.

It was this that gave it away -

Jamie's Italian is one of the few he likes

He's 3. 36 months. A baby, to all intents and purposes. And you're seriously asking us to believe that he's this fussy about his choice of eating establishment.
Yeah. Right.

7/10 on the BillyBullshit scale though!

A 3 year old showing a preference for Jamie's

pahaha

Jamie's Italian is just a bog standard chain though isn't it?