If Carlsberg made family friendly restaurants...what would you want them to be like?

[rosie79]

I've been disappointed quite a bit at the lack of genuinely family-friendly restaurants and cafes in my city, so have started wondering what would actually make an establishment family friendly in parent's eyes?

There are literally hundreds of cafes and restaurants here, but at the most a few of them offer
a limited unimaginative child's menu (fish fingers, chicken nuggets,pasta chips etc.)
a few sticky high chairs
maybe a peice of paper and some colours
baby-changing facilities
This all seems rather half-hearted, mediocre and boring!
The huge warehouse sized soft-play area has an appaling 'kid's menu' too IMO

Personally I would like a place that :
-Has adequate space somewhere to park/store pushchairs (I don't use one anymore but remember what it was like whn I did)
-A properly thought out child's menu or smaller portions of the main menu with wholesome nutritious meals and variety! Oh and with different portion sizes according to the child's appetite and maybe even baby/toddler meals...
-Children's cutlery
-wet wipes
-stools in the bathroom so they can reach the sink
-a clean well looked after play corner where the children can go while they are waiting for their food or when they have finished and adults are still chatting

I would like all this without having to go somewhere with lots of bright plastic and noise...

what would others like in their dream family-friendly restaurant?

tasting trays for the children. In eastern Europe we often order platters of chartoucrie and cheese. They come out as big trays full of little morsels that can be picked and eaten as required. It's so much easier and less stressful than trying to guess what dd wants. Which, lets face it, often changes 3 times from ordering to eating. In Italian restaurants dd usually gets the antipasto and dessert then eats off my or dh's plate.

zip, it could have been, it doesnt ring any bells though. Its relly bugging me now. Off to search.

no, it wasnt there

I think Giraffe do a pretty good job of being a family restaurant. We brought our friend's baby, 20 mths to the one in Islington. They provided a small portion of grilled chicken, mash, peas and sweetcorn, which is the alternative on their menu to nuggets/ chips etc. They provided a high chair gave her crayons and paper without being asked to and there's quite a large area to leave pushchairs. The staff picked up stray crayons from the floor every time they passed and managed a smile each time. When she got restless the manager said he'd keep an eye on her if she got down from the table as they weren't busy and let us finish our meal properly.

Only grim thing was the changing area, but I can forgive them given how charming they were.

Yep have heard of giraffe- I think they have quite a few outlets on london.

I like the idea of plates of assorted finger food for children, it would make eating out more fun for them I think!

I've also found Italians very accomodating to children without actually providing specific children's services. It's nice when the staff are friendly to children.

But don't you find children's menus so dull and boring? How are we supposed to educate our children's palate and introduce them to new things when the only thing offered for them in restaurants is grilled/fried chicken/fish/sausage and chips or pizza?

The sluglet is not too keen on chilli or overly spicy food, but does that mean she is condemmed to bland whenever she goes out?

Not all Italian restaurants are child friendly! We went to one recently - no childrens menu, but that's fine I thought as prefer kids to eat small portions of "real" food anyway - no 1/2 portions either!

Pintxo People in brighton came near to perfection for me. Only been once, but tapas is perfect for kids. Bit more adventurous in terms of flavours. Little play area. Buggy no issue. Fab staff. Little touches, like low level sink with mixer tap in the toilet. And serve wine if you're a desperate momma! Am moving down there

Actually, I think we're all increasingly well served by family-friendly restaurants. They've smelt the buck. Room for improvement in cafes though...much more convenient / suitable for kids.

Ah scotlou, you just need to ask for an extra plate

Slug - exactly!! So many 'child-friendly' restaurants just have a boring bland kid's menu that is so uninspiring for children I think! Why do they have to be boring with little thought into them??

a 'tasting plate' of interesting bits from the menu so they can try something new and have something to fiddle about with

tasty veg food

fruit smoothies

cocktails to keep mums calm and things we can eat with one hand

toilets with space to squeeze in with your three year old without being squashed by the sanitary bin

Oh I meant the place in Glasgow skribble. I'm in Glasgow sometimes.

That Welsh place is on Fanny Street!! Should send that in to the Beano.

somewhere where the children are magically transformed in to little angels

Gracelands - a lovely cafe where they have great food, high chairs, a play area, a box full of beakers and lots of mums, babies and children. And enormous cups of coffee.

Child size cutlery, something to play with at the table and the ability to cope with reasonable requests for slightly adapted dishes in small portions. And proper furniture, not made from plastic.

Our local Italian scored highly for not batting too many eyelids when I asked for a bowl of plain, boiled spaghetti with no sauce or dressing whatsoever. I heard the chef say "what, not even butter?!", but he sacrificed his principles with good grace.

O Sole Mio in Bath St Glasgow.

The Loft in ashton streeet glasgow, is not an obvious choice for little ones but it has a small fleet of cosy coupe cars and very relaxed, food is very good too. Half portions half price. Lift for buggys. Its part of the Grosvenor cinema that does parent and baby screenings.

Thanks!

Great cafe in St Annes Well Park in Brighton. Really lovely nutritious food all in kids portions. Lots of high chairs and toys and staff who turn a blind eye to the chaos.

Only problem is that every mum within a 10 mile radius seems to congregate there at lunch time. The decibel levels can be intense and not enough room for buggies.

Fab if you avoid the rush though. And it's in a gorgeous park.

My children are now past the buggy/nappy changing stage but remember that a lot of 'child friendly' places were actually pretty grim for the adults-Pizza Express felt like a 'grown up'civilised experience but with staff who were actually friendly to children and happily provided mini pizzas,crayons,etc also nappy changing /highchairs.
Tootsies In Brighton used to be a regular haunt too.

A restaurant where they do half portions of adult meals and DON'T have chicken nuggets on the menu so that I don't have to have the same conversation with ds1 every time we go out where I try to convince him to be a bit more adventurous.
Plastic beakers for drinks and no ice in drinks

nursery nurses on hand to help look after the little ones.....
Nappies and wipes available in the baby change.....

Attenborough Nottingham

Went there with friends - 4 adults, 1 x six year old, 1 x ten month, 1 x two year old. All fed and watered (or rather latte'd) for under £25.

Kids chose really fab sandwiches, organic ingredients (£1.50 each)and ate the lot. Clean high chairs. Kids activities. Only 'complaint' portion size for adult - seem to eat masses of the great food but made not even a dent on the mounds. Way too much!

this place is lovely . DH and I take DD there whenever we're seeing friends around there. You often see mums breastfeeding, toddlers playing in the soft play area and they have a proper menu for kids with real food, just in smaller portions.

How about, rather than just a play area, something genuinely interesting for them to look at (a river with lots of boats, if well fenced off, some fish in a tank, etc)?

One of the best places we've been to was Henllys Farm in Pembrokeshire. There was a beautiful view, lovely home cooked food, tables outside (accommodated dog too) and outdoor toys on the lawn, (ride on diggers, cars, play house) a few animals to go and look at and feed, rope swing (kept the older ones happy) and lots of space for them to roam under the illusion of relative freedom. There were toys and books inside too, but in 7 years of going there we only sat inside once. They had a child height sink for hand washing after feeding animals and a baby change mat with a mobile above it and wet wipes in the garage...its all about the little touches making you and your children feel welcome.

Sadly, last summer was their last season (retirement) and we will be bereft on our holiday this year.

Failing that, family run Italian restaurants don't often fail to please.