Can't decide where to go so you can enjoy a coffee or a spot of lunch without feeling that you're in the way? My website will hopefully help with that decision. I review coffee shops and restaurants and anywhere else I think parents might be interested in.
Each coffee shop/cafe/restaurant will be marked on the following.
1. Access in and around the premises with a pushchair.
2. Do you feel welcome? Is the staff helpful?
3. Cleanliness of baby changing facilities.
4. High chairs and other children’s facilities (i.e. play area)
5. Coffee & Cakes, children’s menu and price.
Last weekend was very sunny so we decided to head to the seaside. After a walk along the sea front we headed towards town for our lunch. Henry was getting hungry. We decided to go to Zizzi's Italian Pizza and Pasta Restaurant.
We were given the opportunity to choose our table so we chose one near to the cooking area so Henry could be nosey and watch the chefs make the pizzas.
We ordered Henry's lunch straight away. The children's menu is excellent, it is called the Bambini menu, which includes dough sticks for starter, a choice of main course and ice cream for dessert, all for £5.95. Excellent value. A bit too much food for a 1 year old but excellent value for a 7 year old.
The restaurant was soon busy but the staff still managed to keep to a reasonable standard of service.
I did think that the tables were a little small for 4 people to enjoy a meal comfortably, we did end up moving the condiments and wine glasses out of the way to make room.
Overall I give Zizzi's a 3.5* out of a possible 5*
I found the service to be a little slow and the waitress was not sure if the changing facilities were available when I first asked.
Access: Plenty of space to place your pushchair when you have unloaded but if you had to leave your baby in the pushchair I think it would be a bit of a squeeze.
Welcome: Average service.
Cleanliness: The baby changing room did eventually open, otherwise we were told to change Henry's nappy on the sofas upstairs. This would not have been very pleasant.
Highchairs: Plenty of highchairs, the nice wooden ones that bring Henry right up to the table.
Coffee, Cake & Children's menu: Excellent children's menu, great value even for older children. Craig even allowed Henry to try his ice-cream this time.
We finished our trip to the seaside by building sand castles, whilst Henry enjoyed knocking them down.
A fabulous children's adventure and soft play centre. If only we had one as nice as this in Wiltshire. If you find yourself in the Rodley area of Leeds one day and your toddler or young child wants to let off some steam then head straight to Cottonbudz. It's great. It is not really built for large children and I believe there is an age restriction, it is perfect for the little ones to enjoy climbing without been barged over by a big 10 year old.
The centre has a large play area which has climbing frames, slides and ball pools. A smaller area for the small and less mobile little ones to play in. Nice tables scattered around the centre so that where ever you are sat you can see your child. A great menu for lunch, drinks and best of all home made cakes!
The facilities are well thought through, a small junior toilet, plenty of little steps for toddlers to reach the toilet and a large baby changing area. Wipes and nappy bags are also available.
You can visit their website at www.cottonbudz.co.uk
There is also a great little children's shop just around the corner for those special treats. www.thelittlehencompany.com Overall I give Cottonbudz a fabulous 5* out of a possible 5
Access: Great, plenty of parking too.
Welcome: Everyone is made to feel very welcome.
Cleanliness: A very high standard of cleanliness is kept all through the day. There are plenty of facilities for toddler and baby. I love the nice touches, baby wipes and nappy bags are provided.
Highchairs: There are plenty or highchairs available and toddler chairs.
Coffee & Cake: The menu is great for lunch, nice sandwiches, jacket potatoes. The children's menu has a great selection too. The cakes, you must try the cakes, they are home made.
I never thought I'd have lunch with Henry in what used to be a place where I'd drink pint after pint of Peroni. It was a rainy Saturday afternoon, we all needed lunch. We intended to have a picnic but the weather wasn't helping. After thinking where can we go we decided to check if the Slug and Lettuce had high chairs, to our surprise they did. Wow. I'd love a large Peroni!
Henry is now at an age where we can easily choose him something from the children's menu that he will be happy with. Although he won't eat it all it saves us relying on taking a pack lunch for him every time we head out for the day. The children's menu is very well priced and has a good selection. A drink and dessert is also included. Craig enjoyed Henry's 5alive and his portion of chocolate ice cream. Henry enjoyed his battered fish, chips and peas. He loves peas!
A waitress will come to the table to take your order, the atmosphere is very pleasant and it does seem to be popular with families within your children. There is plenty of room for your high chair and pushchair if you need it to be near your table.
It's a shame we have found this lunch location after my maternity leave!
Overall I give the Slug and Lettuce a 3.5* out of a possible 5.
Access: Very large doors and plenty of room to move the pushchair around the tables.
Welcome: Not bad, considering it's a pub/wine bar I thought the welcome was okay.
Cleanliness: Okay, average. The baby changing is downstairs in the disabled toilet, it's a very large room so there is plenty of space for a pushchair if you needed to wee whilst your baby slept. You can't leave your bundle of joy outside if you're lunching alone.
Highchairs: Very good, it is the wooden ones so Henry is nice and close to the table.
Coffee & Cake: I think I should change this heading now to "children menu", I'll think about it. I did not have the coffee or cake. I would have loved a nice cool refreshing pint but I resisted. Craig did say that the ice cream was nice.
On the 2nd August we met friends Victoria and Alex for lunch at Pizza Hut in Solistice Park near Amesbury. We booked the table on line to make sure we could get a table as sometimes Pizza Huts can be so busy. When we arrived our table was decorated with balloons and a high chair for Henry was already in place. My first impressions are very good, it was unusually clean and smelt fresh. Those that have been to a Pizza Hut will know that they can be grubby and have thier own unique odour.
Victoria decorated Henry a hat as we chatted about their holiday and decided which pizza we were going to order. We took so long but we did not feel rushed, the waiting staff enjoyed the smiles given by Henry.
We all commented on how impressed we were with the staff and the service. I will definitely return to this Pizza Hut.
The changing facilities are very roomy and clean, as usual you can find the change table in the disabled toilet.
The restaurant atmosphere is very friendly, nobody seemed to mind that Henry was very vocal that day, laughing with Victoria and running around after the balloons. He had just started walking a week earlier so he was keen to get down from his chair and stretch his legs.
Overall I will give this Pizza Hut a 4.5* out of a possible 5.
Access: Great, large wide entrance with automatic doors, great for wheelchair users and pushchair pushers.
Welcome: Very good, and it is great that you can book on line. Balloons and crayons are provided for children.
Cleanliness: Excellent, is this a new Pizza Hut?
High Chairs: Basic high chairs, it's a shame they don't have the nice wooden ones that bring the babies closer to the table.
Coffee & Cake: Coffee should have been better as it was Costa, but I was disappointed. Nobody had pudding as we ate too much pizza.
A group of ladies who lunch with their babies descended upon Wagamama in Salisbury today. Luckily it was fairly quiet so we did not have to wait for a table. The only question was, did they have enough high chairs to accommodate us all?
The restaurant feels very big and airy, with a lovely relaxed atmosphere. All of the tables and surrounding areas are very clean to a high standard.
Most of the little ones ate their lunch whilst we ate ours. The high chairs are great they click onto the table so the little ones feel so big and grown up eating at the table with their mummies.
It was all just a little too much excitement for little Oliver!
Over all I give Wagamama 4* out of a possible 5.
Access: Great, there is even a large area to park pushchairs out of the way so we do not take up the space between the tables.
Welcome: Good, even with 5 babies
Cleanliness: Very good, the changing facilities are very clean!
High Chairs: Trendy and great for getting the children right up at the table where the action is.
Coffee & Cake: Nobody had desert or coffee on this occasion, but I did enjoy the soya beans again.
Within the passed few months we have visited a couple of Harvester Pubs for lunch. We had lunch by the sea at Bournemouth, Sunday lunch in Salisbury and more recently we had lunch in the Harvester in Boscombe.
The menu is very traditional and very good value for money. With every main meal ordered you get unlimited salad bar. Which offers great little finger foods for Henry.
The service isn't bad, I would say that we got the better service at Boscombe and the worst service in our hometown of Salisbury.
Overall I give the Harvester Pubs 4* out of a possible 5
Access: We did not have any trouble getting in and around either of the Harvester pubs.
Welcome: As pubs go I would say that the welcome is very good.
Cleanliness: The high chairs, tables and surrounding areas are to an average standard. Baby changing is available and are of an average standard.
High Chairs: Always plenty of high chairs available, two types one that is an attachment to an adult chair and the other is the usual standard chair.
Coffee & Cake: The dessert menu looks good and you can get a free ice-cream if you download a voucher from the Harvester website.
Over the bank holiday we decided to take the train to Portsmouth. We have a direct route that only takes about an hour and 20 minutes. Henry seems to enjoy his trips on the trains. After a pleasant journey we arrived at our destination. Just a short walk from the station we arrived at the shopping precinct. There are shops to suit all pockets, deep or sown up!
Another reason for going there was to have a walk around the harbour area and to see the Spinnaker Tower a recent addition to the sky line of Portsmouth. We wandered around looking at the boats for a good hour to allow Henry his morning nap.
It was soon time to decide where we should have lunch, there are many places to chose from. Craig fancied a grill as we have been to a number of Italian restaurants recently. We found Tootsies, the menu was appealing, the staff found us a good table with plenty of space. The high chair was an extension to a normal chair which enabled Henry to sit closer to the table to eat his lunch.
After lunch it was time for the usual clean-ups. The baby changing room was in the disabled toilet, the area was nice and clean.
Our visit to this part of Portsmouth will definitely encourage us to visit again. We had a great family day out!
Over all I give Tootsies 4.5* out of a possible 5
Access: Very good, but not sure how we would have got on if Henry was still little and needed to be left in his pram. There wasn't much room around the table so we had to leave the push chair by the door.
Welcome: Very good, friendly service.
Cleanliness: Average, clean facilities.
High Chair: Great, I love it when Henry can sit right up to the table.
Coffee & Cake: Kind of slacking here, we did not try any as we fancied an icecream which we didn't get in the end!
Last weekend was very sunny so we decided to head to the seaside. After a walk along the sea front we headed towards town for our lunch. Henry was getting hungry. We decided to go to Zizzi's Italian Pizza and Pasta Restaurant.
Overall I give Zizzi's a 3.5* out of a possible 5*
