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

And? As I said upthread, once you have met one NT person, you have met one NT person.

Okay it means it won’t automatically be unsuitable but by the same token it isn’t unknown for some ND people to be unable to cope with strong flavours

Sliders are just burgers, ffs🤷🏻‍♀️

Both of my autistic DS would demolish those.

Looks fine to me.

I'm sorry your children are so fussy.

garlic come out of your pores as well as your breath. Believe me toothbrushing doesn't get rid of the smell.

Are you serious? Wow.

Given they are ND, that was an unnecessarily rude comment

I am serious. Curries, pasta, most meat dishes, even a Sunday roast or a pie will have garlic in it. Unless you use 7 cloves the taste isn’t particularly strong. Seriously I’m imagining plain pasta and McDonald’s

There are so many different flavours in that menu that I would expect that ‘most’ people are catered for. Every dish on that menu will taste very different.
So the only people who aren’t catered for are those who like very plain food, and I’m sure if those people contacted them to say they had specific dietary requirements then the Royal Albert Hall would accommodate that. Which is exactly what I’d do for my autistic son who wouldn’t eat anything on that menu! (Well actually I’d just take his crackers, apples and fromage frais with me!)

Which can be strong compared to ordinary crackers.

I’m confused… do British people put 7 cloves in when they cook then? Because 2 doesn’t come out of your pores and it’s in everything if you cook from scratch?!

YANBU it looks revolting. Fucking hash puff etc.

It’s weird on here sometimes@DropEmOut

These are quite clearly not “just burgers” or in any way child friendly

What would you like to see added to the menu?

It's nonsense! Seriously.

Then this will blow your mind.

Not everyone puts garlic in every single meal. It is possible to have a Sunday roast without garlic. Same with any other dish - it’s a preference. I’m surprised that you can’t get your head round the prospect. You may feel that anything without garlic tastes of nothing but that really isn’t the case.

For the record I hate McDonalds.

Yes it does. I knew someone who added garlic to most things and she was lovely but you had to stand several feet from her

What makes a food ‘child friendly’ or ‘child unfriendly’? My kids can’t stand fish fingers or baked beans, so does that make those things ‘child unfriendly’, or can we accept that different people (including children!) like different things?

I know! Honestly, if children eat BBQ sauce, they can eat that!

Restrictive diet can be for many reasons, some ND people will be included. It is actually really rude to suggest all ND people are the same, my autistic son is a fabulous cook and will eat anything

It really has blown my mind. Do you put nothing on the meat? How do you make the gravy taste of something? Do you know you are offending Italy if you don’t put it in pasta sauce?
no wonder British children are so fussy if their parents are this scared of seasoning 😉 (this was a joke)
like seriously? What do you eat? No curry, no pasta except plain, no steak in a nice sauce, plain fish, steamed veg? Do you not get bored?!

I can't believe the amount of people trying to claim this is all normal food that anyone would eat. It's not. It's wanky pretentious stuff.

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

Polenta is pretty vile, it's not a common food and kids are unlikely to have had it or like it

Seaweed tapioca crackers

"They're just crackers" no they are SEAWEED and tapioca! Again, ingredients most people don't eat.

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

Glazed with what? I don't know what chimichurri is either but sounds spicy? Might be ok without the glaze for kids.

Parmesan churros, tomato and Parmesan sauce (V)

These might be ok but they also might be too strong due to the parmesan

Cold Bowl (served pre-show):

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

It's not normal hummus so will taste different, and not all kids like hummus. Pomegranate is known affectionately as ponceygranate in our house and in my opinion has no right being near savoury food, the mint oil is likely to be off-putting for children

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

Again this isn't just a burger, it's got truffle, aioli, garlic on it so unless that can be removed it's not very kid friendly. Plus not all kids like burgers, ds doesn't.

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

I'm unsure what sumac is, assuming a spice of some kind, and lots of people hate pickled stuff

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

Again not everyone likes meringue and cream so this isn't a safe option

Millionaire's chocolate mousse, salted caramel, vanilla sablé

Only ok if you like chocolate, DS doesn't so wouldn't eat it

Milk and Cookies

I think mine would mostly eat this 😂

We fed our kids everything when they were little, and I would only describe DD as fussy (she's autistic, very limited palate) DS will try most things but I know he wouldn't enjoy most of that menu due to the hipster/poncey ingredients they've added to justify the ticket cost.

I'm vegan so it wouldn't work for me and DH wouldn't like any of this either!

I can't even imagine asking my dad to eat any of this!

Op I would email and ask if they can do some of the options more plain for your kids, and if not then take in food or eat beforehand.

It's the kind of menu I would expect (and therefore I wouldn't book it) but I agree it's not got good options for everyone, it's not been very well thought out.

Oh come on now. That's just silly.
How do you manage in cinemas, the theatre, public transport... restaurants?. You'll be close to people who eat garlic!

I do think it’s a shame op won’t even let the kids try the food or try to dress it up in a way that’s familiar. Food is such a wonderful experience and they might actually like it. Yet she’s decided for them that they wouldn’t like it.

But you’re assuming that all kids are like yours?

Burgers, pasta and potato puffs… by fancier names