Child friendly restaurants can be a Godsend and the rise of the kids ‘set-menu’ has been a very welcome thing but is anyone else getting a little bit bored of the same old choices? I adore so many of these restaurant chains and so do my kids but sometimes I just want something a bit fancier for me, and for them.
So, off I went to Theo’s Simple Italian at the Indigo Hotel in Kensington, with 2 of the toughest critics around; my 9-year-old and 5-year-old daughters! I was certain it would end in embarrassment for me due to my eldest’s obsession with cooking competition programmes! The Mary Berry (or more likely, Paul Hollywood) in her was set to unleash!
The familiar kids set menu was available but rather than pizza or burger and chips the options were much more appealing. The starter was a mix of crudités and breads with a honey dip (great for sweetening and encouraging the kids to eat their veg) all served on a wooden block- my girls loved it, they said they felt very grown up and both cleared their platters. So far, so good!
On to the main course. For the “fussier” kids out there, there is a plain pasta or a tomato and basil pasta but then there is also a fish option and a meat dish- both with a child’s palette in mind, just that bit more adventurous to awaken their taste buds! For me this is brilliant; my youngest likes everything plain whereas my eldest loves to try new things, so they were both very happy- resulting in harmonious dining!
To finish, daughter 1 had ice cream and daughter 2 had a milkshake, both were described as “delicious” (and finished in rapid time!) and there was no sugar overload for me to deal with! Hooray!
All the while, I was tucking into my own gorgeous meal (after much contemplation- the menu is incredible) accompanied by a lovely glass of red and (possibly due to the serene atmosphere in the restaurant or perhaps due to them stuffing their faces) my kids were actually quiet enough to let my husband and I have a conversation or two!!
It was such a lovely evening, with no embarrassing critiques from daughter no.1- quite the opposite in fact! As we were leaving she asked “when can we come back?!” that’s definitely her equivalent of the ‘Paul Hollywood handshake’! And, yes, we will be going back!
To book call 0207 370 9130 or visit www.theossimpleitalian.co.uk