Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Eating out with the kids

Taking the children out to a good restaurant is something we only do occasionally ... well we only go out to good restaurants occasionally ourselves, so they pretty much go when we go, apart from our once a year wedding anniversary escape. We have never been anywhere that is too posh to admit young children and they usually behave well, as long as there is somewhere they can play once they've finished eating.

Groote Post, where we went for our anniversary, came up trumps last weekend, as a place to visit in a mixed group of adults and children. They'd laid three places appropriately for the kids, without wine glasses, had thought of a few child-friendly options to propose, even though they had no 'kid' menu, and asked what the children would like to eat at the drinks ordering stage, so that they could start their food cooking while we were still leisurely perusing our menus and chatting.

This must be the first time I've had such thoughtful service with kids in tow. Usually restaurants are only to happy to comply with requests to divide adult portions on to two plates etc. but to have a solution already thought of and swiftly executed was great, leaving us to relax and enjoy our meal too.


We'd been given the big table in the Voorkamer (the entrance hall), so the children were able to run outside to play on the lawn and the jungle gym and feed dry leaves to the chickens in the run, without disturbing any of the other diners, plus we could still keep an eye on them through the open door, as we savoured our starters. It felt like we had our own private dining room and we were surrounded by beautiful antique furniture ...I'd love to move in there tomorrow!

The kids all chose steak rolls with hand cut chips and salad - the steak was the tenderest I've had in ages, pink in the middle and seared on the outside. They tucked in appreciatively, but a few adult eyes glanced acquisitively toward their plates and were eventually rewarded with the leftovers, when they ran back outside to play.

Our delicious lamb pie with mashed potato, butternut puree and vegetables and a wonderful gravy

We were able to enjoy adult conversation over our main course and then call them back in for chocolate brownie and ice cream, while we went for a berry tart that was refreshingly tart but finished us off completely. I was ruined by my motherly tendency to clear the kids' plates as well as my own, which had me finishing off corners of brownie as well as my own dessert!


The kids' chocolate brownie.
Please note in the background that our son has inherited the family trait of taking a book along, just in case...

9 comments:

  1. Wow...what thoughtful people. I love it when a dining experience turns out perfectly like that, and can't think of one where I would enjoy such good food and my kids would be happy too.

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  2. That is WONDERFUL to hear of any establishment doing that. I love that you were able to see them while they were outside, as well. Glad to hear you had such a nice experience.

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  3. Very nice post and experience and the food looks so MIAM MIAM ( yumie)

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  4. Isn't that the best...to find a decent restaurant that can respect the fact that you want to bring your entire family for dinner? We went to a place like that in Prague...it was so great it's almost spoiled all other dining experiences.

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  5. They sound like a wonderful business...I swear I can almost smell the food through your photos. Now I'm hungry!

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  6. Sounds like a lovely outing, you had my mouth watering!

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  7. great food AND a play ground! Everyone's happy! Lovely to read about your outing.

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  8. This lovely dining experience with kids would be a rarity here. I had to reread this post again. Delcious food and atmosphere.

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  9. It's always such a pleasant surprise when a place caters for kids so thoughtfully, and in such a way that all ages have a good time. And the food here looks fabulous - getting the kids into good eating habits early :)

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Thanks for your comments - I appreciate every one!