EATING OUT WITH CHILDREN!

[Esme]

I love eating out with my 12 month old son. I try to do it as often as I can. I don't have to cook anything or clean up the mess that my son makes. It's also a great social time for my son as he usually gets loads of attention. I don't think I've ever had a negative response from anywhere that I've taken my son. I usually aim for lunch time or tea time (around 5pm) as this fits best with my son and also I feel that these are family times in restuarants and no one can complain if you are spoiling the atmosphere. We live in York and I've found that the best places are the following;

Cafe Rouge - small but staff remove push chair for you, bring high chairs and toys. Child menu available with crayons and colouring book. Non smoking section

Frankie and Benny's - Great for birthday parties as everyone sings happy birthday(highly embarrasing but kids love it) ballons, crayons and child menu. Non smoking section

Pizza Express - Vast building with plenty of space so no need to worry about annoying other diners. No child menu so only good if your child likes pizza or young enough to eat jars. Huge non smoking section

Blake Head Bookshop (Micklegate) Great bookshop with light and airy vegie cafe at back. Often busy but very child friendly. High chairs, beakers available. Happily warm up any food. I make loads of mess and they never mind. Young staff who are very friendly. Great children's book section. Smoke free

M&S cafe - very good. Good wooden high chairs, bottle warming available and loads of oldies to entertain your little darling. Smoke free

Slug and Lettuce - big and airy, high chairs. Be warned that after 5pm can be loud and smokey so avoid. It's a mecca for the push chair brigade on Saturday lunch times. If you like total smoke free zone do avoid completely althogh big and airy enough to deal with the odd smoker - you could be unlucky to get a table near a smoker and they do not have non smoking section. I do stress however that I've never found it smokey during the day.

emmagee, glad to hear the science museum has got its act together, we were there about 9 months ago and like you saw that menu, sat down and got ready to order, only to be told that the only kids meal left was pasta, which when it came had obviously been sitting for ages, was congealed and frankly inedible. That having been said, when we wrote and complained we were sent free vouchers to use next time we visit, so heres hoping we can re create what you had.

Why am I looked at very strangely when I ask for small portions of 'grown-up' meals for my 2 year old? All the children's menu ever has on it is burger and chips or chicken nuggets and chips. My ds loves pasta dishes, fish etc etc but they don't seem to do these on children's menus over here. Sausages and mash are about the only ok options at most places.

Selja, you're so lucky, my son won't eat anything 'messed around' with. He loves things like salmon, cod etc..., but not if there is any hint of sauce/garnish on the plate. He won't even eat potatoes in any form except McDonalds chips (if they are even made of potato - I have my doubts). At his Nursery the other day he had refused to eat turkey (which he loves) - 'Because it had green bits on it mummy' the green bits turned out to be bits of brocolli (which he also loves). In the US, nearly all their menus state that a child portion of most dishes can be served.

Couldn't agree more Selja, our local Italian seems to be one of the few places who assume that your child will want a smaller portion of one of adult meals and are only too happy to oblige.
If only this was commonplace

Emmagee we went there on Saturday and at the same place and also thought it was great. The children's food was presented with care and the adults food was all delicious. Good value too.

....and we went to the Science museum on Sunday. Isn't free entry great?

I think the SM food is good, too. And it's served in so many places. Unfortunately, my two year old's hot dog was so yummy that he wolfed it down and was sick all over me and himself. So thank goodness for the plentiful loos!

Our main meal of the day taken in Harrod's Ice Cream Parlour - there's posh for you, though a low score for us in the healthy eating department.

I must rave about the service we recieved from our waitress. My escapee toddler cannot be sat in any high chair unless he has something to eat there and then. No food and he dives out with the statement 'I'm walking now'. I'm always in a bit of a flap when we eat out because of this. Timing is everything. I told the waitress the situation and his ice cream was served first and the high chair was smoothly wheeled over at exactly the time it appeared. During the meal, if my toddler got too messy, his face and hands would be discreetly wiped clean. I didn't have to lift a finger. When it was time to go, the waitress held my pushchair while I put my son back in.

Ok it was not the cheapest ice cream in the world, but it was not ridiculously expensive, and the waitresses made us feel really welcome. A treat to remember.

Not sure if this is a digression - or should I start a new topic - but here goes. Does anyone else have problems getting baby food heated in restaurants? A small local cafe refused to heat up home made food, and then on Saturday in Sainsbury's I was told that they were not allowed to heat jars of food (depspite selling it in the cafe!) Luckily ds was not too fussed and ate his cold chicken dinner - not that I would have been keen! I understand the health issues but surely this is red tape gone mad. I still think Debenhams is the best - you are treated really well, with free baby food and dishes that hold hot water to heat the food, not a microwave. Ikea is good too - they have a table with lots of dishes and cups, and a microwave so you just do it yourself - very sensible.

Anniemo, you may have helped to answer a question I posted on another thread earlier, maybe I should have put it here! I always took jars with me when I went out, (plus had them at home sometimes) and ds was hooked, and I was sure I saw people with homemade food for their babies but wasn't sure how they went about it. Did you take it chilled from the fridge or frozen - I wish I'd known about Ikea.

I've met the won't heat up food comments before. It tends to be the large companies who panic about lawsuits.
We've always found the most consistently good places to be pubs. Many now have restuarants or cook food on the premisses and are happy to either heat up baby food or provide smal portions for a child.
CAMRA do a good publication called " THe best pubs for families" Ok so I'm a member - but it really is good.
You can keep it in the car & suss out places to stop at as you travel or for a day out.
It tells you whether the pub just accepts children in cwertain areas or the whole pub & what facilities for changing & feeding there are.
My 3 yr old has a "pub Bag" we take with us containing the odd small book, colouring pencils, paper & dominoes. That plus some juice & emergency wipes is enough. Its turned our pub lunches into real famiy ocassions . We often have a game of dominoes while we wait for our meals to be ready. I feel sorry for children that go out to pubs & restuarants & are expected to sit quietly like adults, but then they can't run around like savages either. They just need entertaining as much as we do. We've foundthe "pub bag" works really well.

My son worked in a pub and the reason they won't heat up baby food is indeed fear of litigation.

Where we live it the the local council who ban all their pubs, restaurants etc warming up home made food, again fear of litigation.

Selja, I absolutely agree. Most childrens menus are so limited..chips and sausage or 'maggots' (dd's term for nuggets...so appropriate I dom't correct her!). However we had two good meals out recently, where they were only too happy to offer half portions. I have found that most places will do this, and if asked will be accomodating. On one occasion a while ago dd said she wanted 'mashed potatoes with butter and cheese' ...not on the menu, unsurprisingly, but she received just what she asked for and ate with great enthusiasm. Less lucky on another occasion when she wanted 'pasta with butter and cheese' (she knows what she likes!) and despite there being several pasta dishes with sauces available, was refused. We havent eaten there since!

hi ann i am too a fan of the camra pubs for family's i find it so useful we go on holidays in wales say and you are not sure wither they let kids in and i so hate going and asking i feel like a third class person having to ask weither you can bring your child into there wounderful pub you get your book out and there is always a few they range from the wounderful with full playground in the garden to your basic pub i would not go any where without my book .

Hi I've just joined mumsnet. can anyone recommend any baby-friendly restaurants and bars in South West London around Kew and Richmond? I've found a couple _ Browns in Kew and a Spanish one in Richmond (forgotten what it's called) but that's it.

Hiya - I'm from the same area - Cafe Mama in Richmond is good as is Ask by Barnes Green, and Zizzi's in Richmond and Chiswick - all Italian so no great selection I'm afraid, but they all have high chairs and are nice to the kids.

Did anyone see Room 101 this week? It was that guy from 'The Office' and he put 'kids in restaurants' into Room 101. Apparently they are naughty, dirty and put him off his food. But then I remember thinking exactly the same before I had kids, now I get all annoyed when restaurants and pubs don't allow kids - just wait until he has some of his own!!

BTW Wetherspoons should be boycotted. None of their pubs allow children, yet they have big open spaces, no-smoking sections and serve food. What killjoys!

Rhubarb that is one of the reasons I love going to Wetherspoons

Hey Rhubarb - my local Wetherspoons used to have a notice outside "positively no children" or somesuch, this week its changed to "families welcome", I wonder what that means?? Is it grandma, grandpa, mum, dad, an aunty, a great uncle and a cousin, all over 18? I must go in and enquire "

Loved the 'pub bag'idea will pinch that one!!
When we take our children out (5 and 20 months) we
just order an extra adult meal and share it between them, don't even tell my daughter chips are on the menu - if she does spot anyone with them we just tell her those were the last so it's potatoes, broccoli and sweetcorn all round...

Going past our local Wetherspoons on the bus today, I noticed that they had a big banner outside saying "New Children's Menu". So I presume that children are now welcome.

Hi, thanks to those who recommended restaurants in Richmond. Now i want some help on websites. i looked at previous messages which mentioned two sites: www.egokids.com and www.planit4kids.com that were apparently really good for listing child-friendly restaurants. well i went to them and the former was like an Amazon.com site for books and the latter listed restaurants in Mumbai (wherever that is)! Where have i gone wrong!

popsqueak - ASK on Kew Green and Pizza Express in Kew,by the station are our favourites !