What age did your children move to the adult menu in restaurants?

[user1498683185]

Hi everyone,
We have recently just got back from spending half term in Dubai with the three children (ages 9, 6 almost 7 and 4) who were some nights forced a meal off the adult menu due to there not being a kids menu. 9yo gave it a good go and 6yo cleared her plate everytime!
This weekend 9yo went to a birthday meal with 5 of her school friends and I noticed all the children chose something off the adult menu, where as she naturally looked at the children’s menu which has now sparked me wondering, what age should I encourage to transition to the adult menu?
We eat out at least once a week and I think if 9yo is aloud to pick off the adult menu, 6yo will want the same as she tends to eat a lot more and has a very mature and spontaneous food taste and I don’t want to restrict her to the usual chicken nuggets / burgers.
For reference we usually allow them a starter off the adult menu (if there isn’t children’s starters) so they can eat with us and then a kids meal.

Thanks in advance and sorry if this is in the wrong category!

I struggle to remember as its been years since we've looked at kids menus. Ds2 is turning 12 this week.
I think that they were quite happy with the content of kids menus since they are of the 'we like nuggets and chips' brigade, and I was quite happy to pay less, but they did find that it wasn't enough food once they hit about 8 or 9.
I very much think it depends on the kids though. Like I said, mine were quite happy with plain freezer food. Even now DS1 (14) will only ever have a cheese and tomato pizza if we go for Italian. They were more interested in quantity especially at growth spurt time.

I think also it depends on how much the child can eat, and how rigid the restaurant is. If they are happy to do a menu item but starter size for instance, that's great - no food waste and child who wants a wider choice is happy. I would resent paying for a full meal if I knew my child wouldn't be able to manage it.

My 7 yo is not keep on chips and mash which is often the kids choice. He likes trying different things but can't quite manage a full main, but we don't eat anywhere super expensive so usually just get him what he wants to try off the adult menu (and DH finishes it off 😂)

My two were never that keen on children's menus (other than Pizza Express) so when they were younger would often share an adult meal between them or order a starter as a main course.

Depends on the menu. If it was a nugget and chips, burger and chips type one, he'd have something of the adults usually from about aged 3 (sometimes just a starter, sometimes bits of ours, sometimes his own plate). If the kids menu was smaller portions of the adult meals, probably until he was 7, but he sounds like your 6 yr old in terms of quantity.

I think it depends on a combination of what your children like to eat and how hungry they are. DD is not a great eater in terms of variety and interest so I wouldn't dream of ordering off the main menu for her in most cases as nuggets/sausages/plain pizza is her preference. But she's starting to not be filled up by the children's portions (she's 7) so at mcdonalds I might order a separate portion of nuggets or we might order extra chips, depending on where we are. We have ordered off the main menu for specific reasons at times, but she then won't finish it (eg, she loves steak or chops, but could never eat a restaurant sized portion so I'd only do that if I was ordering something small for myself so I could share with her).

DS absolutely is happy to order off the main menu as a rule and has been for years. He's got a healthy appetite and likes a wide variety of food so the chicken nuggets/sausages/pizza thing is boring for him. He's almost 11.

Personally, I wish kids menus weren't so generic because it hasn't helped in getting DD to eat more adventurously. I'm not blaming restaurants but it's just another way in which she's struggled to get better at food.

It depends what's on them - mine are 6 and 9.
The 7 year old WOULD eat an adult portion of, say, sausage and mash but it would take her about a year.
The 9 year old wouldn't eat that much.
If they don't fancy anything off the children's menu then they will quite often have a starter or a couple of sides.
It suits us well to go places that have adult and child portions (e.g. adult's roast dinner, children's size roast dinner).

TBH, my kids never usually ate from the kids' menu. The food on kids' menus is almost without exception cheap nuggets, cheap sausages, cheap burgers, all with chips, or spaghetti with tomato sauce. Pudding is almost always ice cream

When they were v little, we used to share our meals with them - you always get too much anyway. As they got older we used to ask for a small portion of an adult meal - most places will oblige. Or they would have a starter and a pudding.

I don't know why kids have to eat different, cheap, crap food in a restaurant.

I moved on from the kids menu years ago.

I don't know why kids have to eat different, cheap, crap food in a restaurant.

It baffles me too. We rarely eat in restaurants and our DC are still only 18 months and four, but I grew up in the Far East and spent a lot of time in Europe pre-pandemic. I don't think I have ever seen a separate children's menu outside the UK - you either share adult portions with little children, or order a smaller portion for older children. It's also quite normal to order one adult's portion to share between two children. It gets them used to the idea that chicken comes in body parts with bones, fish comes with heads and bones, etc etc etc.

Of course other countries have Childrens menus. Weve lived in several. The UK ones were relatively healthy containing vegetables!

It's possibly some countries do half portions but some food is easier to make a half portion than others, Italian, Chinese and Indian it's easier to serve a small proportion than something like a pie or chicken breasts.

its a hard one for resturants. I'm all for a kids menu just being smaller portions of the adult meals however there are a large proportion of kids who wont eat thai curry etc and so if they dont offer nuggets and chips they will be losing some of thier customers whos kids will only eat nuggets.

There are some things that are impossible to portion down like steak but most things can be made in smaller sizes or portions or made milder. Wagamas do a lovely selection of small kids meals that still embody the spirit of the menu while remaining child friendly. most chinese and indian resturants will happily make a sall portion of most things on the menu.

My GD are 6 and 3....they don’t even eat off the children’s menus....they eat like sparrows so it would be a huge waste....We just get 2 extra plates and they pick what they like from what the adults have ordered

DS1 about 6yo because he's always loved good food and wanted to have real food from the real menu, not chicken nuggets etc. It's a shame, but it's still unusual for restaurants to offer child portions of their regular menu.

18yo DS2 would still eat from the chicken nugget menu now