Recommendations for kid-friendly places to eat in the city

Thanks for all the recommendations. I think we’ve found the right place for us now.
For those suggesting a picnic, great idea for daytime – we just don’t fancy it for a bunch of interstate visitors at night.

Why does it need to be in the city? My favourite kid friendly haunt is the Mawson Club, which has an indoor playroom, and the food is not bad too. Any club usually has lots of room, kids menu and reasonable prices.

I’ve remembered a cheap pasta place in Braddon that was good for kids. It is usually half empty which helps. I forget the name – it is green and red outside and I think begins with P.

Last time we went there service was a bit confused, but it is definitely in the ‘family restaurant’ category.

I went to Flavours of India recently in a group of five. We were charged $22.45 for rice. Plain, boiled rice.

I assume you sighted the menu before ordering your plain boiled rice at $4.50 a head ?

So what did you expect ?

$4.50 x 5 people is $22.50..At what point do you need clarification ?

I can recommend wagamama’s, they have a kids menu and can provide high chairs, they also don’t mind if people share at all and are not that expensive. Take some pencils and they will provide coloring in books.

barking toad said :

Prepare your own and feed them.

Wouldn’t this fit in with the home birthy hippie feeling?

While I understand the whole point of this homebirth rally thing, is to be as ‘in your face’ as possible (why do some parents feel this urge?), to extend what others have suggeseted why not make up a picnic style meal and goto Glebe park or Haig park?

This has advantages the kids are eatting healthy food (as healthy as you make it), you wont be forking out a fortune for kids meals that will only be half eatten, and you also wont be subjecting other patrons of a restaurant to herds of ‘feral hippy’ kids.

Flavours of India make truly delicious food, but it is expensive, service is slow and reluctant and they have a ridiculous minimum charge per person. I do not know if they would dare attempt to extend this minimum charge per person to children, but their attitude of “deserving” money for every customer who dines in really rubs me the wrong way. If they want to charge a set fee per seat, they should run a buffet!

I also don’t think the atmosphere would be conducive to your gathering, as the times I’ve been there, there has been the opposite of a warm, friendly atmosphere.

APK made the most disgusting food I’ve ever had the misfortune to pay for (as takeaway), with the added insult of it being quite expensive. Their cardboard pizza bases are obviously frozen, and the overall quality of the two pizzas I ordered was worse than a $5 frozen Lean Cuisine pizza. I say Lean Cuisine pizza quite deliberately as I don’t actually mind ordinary frozen pizza — but the Lean Cuisine kind tastes like a woolly cardboard disc topped with mushy, under-seasoned veggies.

The false advertising it just crazy, as it doesn’t matter if the oven is “wood-fired” if the pizza bases are frozen commercial discs!

Their “potato skins smothered with crisp bacon and mozzarella, topped with sour cream and guacamole” turned out to be soggy frozen potato wedges (barely even warm), topped with pre-chopped manufactured ham, and pre-grated semi-melted cheddar cheese which tasted vaguely mouldy. The most disgusting dish I’ve ever purchased, quite frankly. I complained that the dish was nothing whatsoever as described but received no response.

It’s a shame, because although the potato skins dish sounded like a heart attack in bowl, it also sounded absolutely delicious and just the right thing to soak up some alcohol.

I saw a large school group go in to Three Mothers Thai last night, seemed to work

I am probably amongst the majority of parents that wouldn’t dream of taking the kids out to a restaurant until they can speak coherently, understand that cutlery isn’t for stabbing their siblings with, and the waiter isn’t really ours to keep; There really aren’t many restaurants that cater well for groups with children in the city, and if you can excursion them out to the hellenic club, it would be well worth the trip.

Hogs Breath

CapitalK said :

How about Blue Elephant in Braddon – not the most classy but great food, plenty of space – although they do have stairs.

Braddon Club?

Maybe the Turkish on Barry Drive

CBD is hard for kids and large groups

the blue elephant, as emd notes [now, how would she possibly know..?? ; ) ], has sadly shuffled off to the elephant graveyard.

apk, while ‘kid-friendly’ is over-priced for awful food imho. try the noodle house in the sydney building on nthbourne, or tasuke in the interchange. sammy’s wil also likely cater to large group w/ kids, as would the place upstairs above redpaths (sorry, forgotten name). but the turkish pide house might be a good option, as a couple of folk have noted.

bon apetit.

tortfeaser said :

When you find a place and book it, make sure you post back here. Then we can avoid it like the plague.

+1. Nothing ruins a nice quiet meal more than a feral kid running amok in the restaurant.

SHOCK HORROR!!!
We wouldn’t want Little Juniors to have anything un-natural now.

Mama’s has closed down? WHAT? is this true, please tell me it isn’t!

barking toad said :

Prepare your own and feed them.

Wouldn’t this fit in with the home birthy hippie feeling?

this is exactly what i wa thinking… LORD KNOWS WHAT UNKNOWN COLOURS ADDITIVES AND PRESERVATIVES MIGHT BE IN THAT RESTAURANT FOOD!

Australian Pizza Kitchen is good – they have kids colouring sheets, gluten free food and cider.

Hogs breath also do colouring sheets etc and have a bit of room to move – I’m sure they have some non-meat food.

I went to Flavours of India recently in a group of five. We were charged $22.45 for rice. Plain, boiled rice. We finished the first bowl they provided, and asked for a second, which was eventually provided.

On the basis of that experience, I’m not going back, and couldn’t recommend it for you to take lots of children.

Those both sound like good venues, but I’ll also add that Sushi Bento (the sushi train one in Garema Place .. is that still there?) was alot of fun for a family outing and there is almost always something scooting past that they’d like. In case they are very picky (like my daughter was) they will also do a bowl of plain rice if you ask.

When you find a place and book it, make sure you post back here. Then we can avoid it like the plague.

Prepare your own and feed them.

Wouldn’t this fit in with the home birthy hippie feeling?

Thanks for the ideas – APK or Pancake Parlour sound like a good fit.
Blue Elephant used to be good, but there’s a baby shop now where their kitchen used to be 😉

I Second the Turkish Pide House, corner of Barry and Moore. Mine like the variety of foods on offer.

There is that tip top restaurant in Garema – the food isn’t great but it’s cheap and it’s pretty much anything goes like Woodstock used to be.

What about Happy’s (downstairs in Garema Pl, near Hippo) or Tip-Top (also in Garema Pl, upstairs, a few doors down from Landspeed)? The Labor Club (between the merry-go-round and London Cct) could might also be an idea.

Happys in Garema Place might be a go-er. It’s large and friendly and not too meaty.

How about Blue Elephant in Braddon – not the most classy but great food, plenty of space – although they do have stairs.

Braddon Club?

Maybe the Turkish on Barry Drive

CBD is hard for kids and large groups

I’ve never taken my kids there, but I’ve held some very lively meetings at the Pancake Parlour, and they tend to be pretty welcoming and tolerant, so I would be willing to take my kids there. APK is likewise flexible.

Were you willing to leave Civic, I could give more recommendations; we have had some great family gatherings at the Hellenic Club; they have a play area for the kids and a great Bistro with a variety of food.

APK?