To think that this menu isn’t suitable for children?

[Mummyofabear]

A few months ago I booked to take my children to Matilda in Concert at the Royal Albert Hall this month (October), I had to book hospitality tickets because those were the only tickets left at the time of booking. And then today have been sent an email with the hospitality details and this is the menu! They don’t have a separate children’s menu either even though Matilda is a family event! AIBU to think this menu isn’t suitable for children? My children have autism and are very fussy so the only thing that they will eat on this menu will be the desserts but even then I don’t think there’s much on this menu that most neurotypical children would eat either? In my opinion it’s not suitable for families or children even though it’s supposed to be a family event!

I’ve copied and pasted the menu below incase the image doesn’t work:

Snacks (served pre-show):
Black garlic polenta crackers

Seaweed tapioca crackers

Canapés (served pre-show):
Glazed beef skewer, chimichurri

Parmesan churros, tomato and Parmesan sauce (V)

Cold Bowl (served pre-show):

Pumpkin seed houmous, maple-roast pumpkin, pomegranate, pickled pumpkin ribbons, mint oil

Sliders (served pre-show):
28-day dry-aged beef patty, crispy bacon, tarragon and chive aioli, confit garlic,
served with potato hash puffs, truffle mayo

Moroccan-Spiced lamb slider, grilled onions, sumac mayonnaise & pickled cucumber,
served with buffalo cauliflower

Dessert canapés (served during the interval):
Mango, passion fruit, coconut pavlova

Millionaire's chocolate mousse, salted caramel, vanilla sablé

Milk and Cookies

Drinks:

Trebbiano, Rubicone, Novità
Sangiovese, Rubicone, Novità
Estrella Galicia 4.7%
Ginger bitters (soft cocktail)
Sparkling mineral water
Still mineral water

Isnt it up tp parents to give a varied diet, not all children live off chicken nuggets and chips with everything or pizza or burgers

No, none of it is mainstream except the water (and the fruit, assuming it’s separate and not part of the coconut pavlova).

It may be a shock to some people but lots of people don’t eat like that, even NT.

Would it blow your mind if I told you I have never tried pesto as it’s on the ‘wanky’ list? 🤣

DS is ND and would eat plenty of that and give other stuff a try. I've found it interesting with his friends those from other countries or cultures seem to be a lot more open to food, his best friend is from an Italian family and loves food, another boy we have over for playdates is Lithuanian and very unfussy and our neighbours are Portuguese and Bangladeshi and their children all eat a wide range of foods. Some of his English classmates come for dinner with a short list of what they will eat. ARFID aside I wonder if it's to do with food culture and family style eating from a young age

It is but not all children will eat it. And your average family isn’t serving this up on a daily basis!

It would make me think you have very limited food experience, most toddlers eat pesto pasta, it's a staple

Sliders are burgers which most kids eat but you shouldn't have assumed it was a children friendly menu before booking

Why?

Black garlic is a mild garlic flavour.

Seaweed is a mild salty flavour.

What do be you think is going to happen to you if you eat a slightly different crunchy savoury snack to a bag of crisps? Genuinely, what are you scared of?

We always ate round a table when I was a kid, and I was always expected to eat everything. But I couldn’t be forced to eat this kind of thing

There is a gulf of options between nuggets and chips and this kind of thing

This! We've often ended up ordering off the adult menu for DS even though the portions are too big, he wants a nice meal not nuggets and chips! I find independent restaurants much better, our local Italian didn't have a children's menu you just pick anything from the menu and they will make a smaller portion

Again though, you seem to think that you represent the majority and that most people will be like you. I don’t know a toddler who hasn’t had pesto pasta… it’s a quick, cheap and easy meal that, in my experience as a real life person, most kids will eat.

This is essentially small burgers, meat on a stick, hummus and crackers?

"This kind of thing".

What is so mad about any of these foods?

In the life of many people perhaps, but most people I know haven’t tried it.

Pasta pesto is a great, quick, easy toddler meal, isn't it? Sneak in a bit of veg, excellent!

If your in hospitality and in a box, ask if you can swap some of the booze out for bar credit, and order a couple of pizzas. They aren’t shown on the menu but they are there!

Hummus is rank - I have actually had it.

And of course it’s not ‘meat on a stick’ because it has a glaze. Depending what that glaze is made of determines how the food tastes.

Of course they're not! It's part of a £250 hospitality ticket at the Albert Hall.

But none of the food here is especially crazy or odd in flavour or texture. Why wouldn't people try it?

No, it's mostly mainstream - other posters have broken it down. Lamb, beef patties etc. most children and adults wouldn't have a problem with that menu.
Additional needs aside.

Oh no! Not a glaze!

It's this sort of nonsense that results in the UK having some of the unhealthiest children in Europe. 5 year olds are getting shorter on average in the UK due to lack of adequate nourishment.

But when you look at the state of the average child's lunchbox filled with fridge raiders, jam sandwiches and Quavers it's not surprising.

It is depressing though.

Don’t be ridiculous - who said I was ‘scared’? I already said I’m ND

At best I would be trying to eat something that tasted unpleasant. At worst I wouldn’t be able to keep it down.

This is what football hospitality provided when I asked about alternatives for my son with a limited diet.

He then proceeded to eat his entire body weight in pizza! Happy days.

Which is why I said there are many things in between junk and pretentious food. It doesn’t have to be one or the other.

Healthy eating doesn’t mean having to have ‘confit garlic’ or whatever.

You can have a great diet without going too far either way

I couldn't agree more. All this nonsense about "kids' menus" wherever you go, it's settling up bad eating habits. Encouraging children to try different flavours and textures is essential.

But this thread isn’t about you. It’s about children, as a whole. The OP said that the food ‘isn’t suitable for children’, not that ‘Anarchy99 wouldn’t like it’.