5 January 2010

Toddler-friendly dining locations

| Jack Kirby
Join the conversation
44

Attempting to take a toddler out for cake, coffee, a meal or even a drink can be difficult for everyone involved!
I’m searching for toddler-friendly dining/drinking locations around the Canberra region.
Some I’ve already discovered include:
Tulips Cafe; – has fantastic enclosed shady playground.
Cafe in the House; – enclosed courtyard for a lazy breakfast – just watch the fountain!
Oaks Brasserie; – let the kids run around the park while enjoying a relaxing breakfast – however we’ve experienced less than prompt service.
Hellenic Club Woden; seems to have a fantastic play area

[Ed] Hopefully some better suggestions than this story.

Join the conversation

44
All Comments
  • All Comments
  • Website Comments
LatestOldest

rob68 said :

ghughes said :

The faux irish pub at dickson has a creche in the corner.
And it is now non-smoking.

a non-smoking creche? what will they come up with next?? 😉

oh too too funny! I’m still laughing!

Don’t laugh too soon.

ghughes said :

The faux irish pub at dickson has a creche in the corner.
And it is now non-smoking.

a non-smoking creche? what will they come up with next?? 😉

oh too too funny! I’m still laughing!

We just spent Saturday morning at the Gorman House Markets in reid with a 2 year old and a four year old. There is good food and coffee, space to run around and a free kids play area. There is often gentle live music. There are always lots of kids there, and it is very relaxed. Only good for Saturday morning / lunches though.

I like how the kiddies play area at the Ginninderra Labor Club is right next to the outside smoking area – so, yeah – I wouldn’t recommend that one. Pity, the play area is actually really decent too (esp. for such a small club)…

A Noisy Noise Annoys An Oyster said :

Keep your snotty-nosed brats at home, mate, at least until they turn 18. I’ve had a gutful of you arrogant, selfish creeps having kids and expecting the taxpayer to pay every step of the way and also expecting us all to put up with them when we go out to lunch or dinner.

yeah – ’cause parents; God knows we need more grumpy nimbys like “A Noisy Noise Annoys An Oyster” out in public than your snotty young kids and arrogant, selfish selves 😛

I hope a cashed up go-to person is reading this post. A cafe that is kid/pram friendly would make buckets of dough, they’d have:
-The sleepless parents of newborns for early breakfast
-The mother’s groups/playgroups booking out tables each morning tea time
-The parents of toddlers and at home child carers throughout the day
– Grandparents and dads taking the littlies out on the weekends
and if they offered a early dinner menu they’d be rolling in it. My bubba has dinner at around 5:30pm and there is nowhere nice that serves dinner for a family at that time. For example the Burnes Club starts serving dinner after 6:00pm.

Also the people who don’t like kids know to stay away and can eat alone, in peace with their cats for company.

LlamaFrog said :

I can’t believe people are suggesting clubs with pokies, no matter what the clubs say there are no real restrictions in place between where children are allowed and the gambling/Alcohol areas. It is a disgrace and parents that take their kids there are just as much at fault.

That’s a rather unfair blanket statement to make. Have you been to all licenced clubs with pokies and reviewed the setup?

One prime example is the Southern Cross Club at Woden. The pokies are kept to a particular wing of the club and you need to go past the security at the front desk to get in. The specifically set up area for the kids (complete with climbing castle, games room, etc) is in a totally different area as part of the kids restaurant.
Same goes for the Mawson Club. Pokies in a designated area. Kids play area totally segregated and on the other side of the restaurant.

Bleeding heck! What is it with you people today? People with kids have the same rights as those without to go out to a meal or have a coffee!!

The issue is that the kids need to behave in a manner appropriate to the location. Kids will never learn to act appropriately if they never go anywhere and there parents need to take responsibility!!

Those of you without kids – dont go to places that cater to kids if it annoys you. If you have kids make sure they are being inappropriate for the location!

Back to topic. Clubs are good – and NO THEY DONT MEAN YOUR KIDS WILL BE FOREVER POISONED BY THE POKIES – The cafes mentioned are all good too.

LlamaFrog said :

I can’t believe people are suggesting clubs with pokies, no matter what the clubs say there are no real restrictions in place between where children are allowed and the gambling/Alcohol areas. It is a disgrace and parents that take their kids there are just as much at fault.

that’s just what i was going to say
+1

Possibly I was taking the p*ss out of previous comment, not the OP. As I think you might have noticed by the last couple of sentences

Not sure where you are located as have not read all the posts, but we live down South and find the Lanyon Homestead great to take our toddler. They can provide a highchair if dining inside. Inside can be a bt cramped and does have fires in the winter that you have to be aware of, (although with guards), but in the warmer weather, sitting outside is fantastic. Toddlers can run around and tire themselves out whilst you take in the view. Food is also good. Better than club land anyway.

Anna Key Said
I agree. No-one anywhere should ever be allowed to have children, ever. I hope you pointed this out to your parents? Or you have at least returned the cost of any taxpayer funded activities you may have enjoyed as a wee tacker

Gee someone has some built up anger about family’s and Centerlink payments?
Where did you come from then ANNA someone brought you in to the world.
What next we all stop having children so you can eat in peace ha ha ha.
Learn for those without children to stay at home and cook a meal.
For us with families we enjoy home cooked meals almost every day of the week but there is times we like to have a treat and go out.
We try and find places that cater for families but there are not a lot of them in Canberra bar from clubs.
I personally would not go to the club if there were other options but there’s not other then take away.
Just remember a lot of you that comment on this site are paid public servants that whinge about families and hand outs? Take one second and think without us you people would not have a job.
Back to the original question before some rude people decided to take this question as an opportunity to attack families.
Little do they know the importance of FAMILY and what love and joy children bring into your lives.
Calwell club on the Southside is a nice place to eat with children.
They have a play area inside and out not to $$ either.

If you go to A Bite to Eat, try getting a table in the courtyard out the back. Much more relaxing when you’re with kids. The food is great and they have Zierholz beer.

The cafe at Rodney’s garden centre in Pialligo is good – shady outdoors with good view of the playground, but they also have an indoor area.

Mawson club has a great playground for toddlers and inexpensive for a family dinner, but the food is average. The playground at Southern Cross Club in Woden is probably better suited to primary school age children, I reckon.

Cornucopia on Mort Street in Braddon is great – what kid doesn’t like pies and pastries for lunch? They have mini versions of their pastries.

Ethiopia Down Under at Pearce is great with kids. And if you do traditional Mosob style, the kids won’t get frowned on for eating with their fingers.

A Noisy Noise Annoys An Oyster said :

Keep your snotty-nosed brats at home, mate, at least until they turn 18. I’ve had a gutful of you arrogant, selfish creeps having kids and expecting the taxpayer to pay every step of the way and also expecting us all to put up with them when we go out to lunch or dinner.

I agree. No-one anywhere should ever be allowed to have children, ever. I hope you pointed this out to your parents? Or you have at least returned the cost of any taxpayer funded activities you may have enjoyed as a wee tacker

A Bite to Eat (and a drink as well) at Chifley shops is toddler and baby friendly.

astrojax said :

ghughes said :

The faux irish pub at dickson has a creche in the corner.
And it is now non-smoking.

a non-smoking creche? what will they come up with next?? 😉

Is there no end to the ACT Government’s anti-smoking laws?

Canberra has a huuuuuuge lack of anywhere child friendly to eat.

Clubs – Mawson, Hellenic and Gungahlin have kiddy play areas. Good weekday lunchtimes, overrun and chaotic at dinner time or weekends – full of bored 12 year olds leaping off the toddler slide etc.

Cafes – Cafe enjoy always gets a mention. Food is ok, playground is bathroom sized, but does have a fence around it. Cafe atmosphere is that of a barn wrapped in plastic. Lots of other shops around for older kids and other family to browse.

Green Square attracts a lot of families. Kids can run around on the ‘grass’ bit. It is unfenced and near busy roads though.

Botanic Gardens is nice, again kids can run around and they have actual green grass. but unfenced and has a lot of area for them to run off in, as well as ponds etc.

Cockington Green – good spot for kids to run around – easier to byo food though.

Regatta Point – lots of room for kids to roam but no fenced area. Slow service.

Restaurants – suburban Asian restaurants on quiet nights of the week, early in the night are a good bet.

Why is there not one single cafe in Canberra that has a bit of grass around it, inside a nice little fence? there was one at Deakin shops that almost qualified, but it has big gaps in the fence leading onto a busy road.

@ #22 says

There is nothing worse then screaming kids when you are dining out! Don’t bring them to places where adults like to eat!!! I don’t want to hear your child scream because he/she can’t have ice cream with sprinkles.
Nothing worse then snotty nose kids either, ewwwww. What is wrong with people, don’t leave your child’s nose like that!! Wipe the damn thing!!

Worse than screaming kids are pretentious, loud, arrogant adults whinging about everything around them. Learn to adapt! I’ll accept a child screaming about pretty much anything, but I find it really hard to deal with adults who make a dining experience a living hell for those around them.

um, peterh, i rather think noisy oyster was in high-mode irony gear writing #12 – chillax pill is recommended, then a trip to any of the many al fresco eateries dotting the civic and other town centres, who each should have no problems with customers of any age. or a club, as recommened above. or best, a picnic – the garden city is primed for it!

ghughes said :

The faux irish pub at dickson has a creche in the corner.
And it is now non-smoking.

a non-smoking creche? what will they come up with next?? 😉

The faux irish pub at dickson has a creche in the corner.
And it is now non-smoking.

Geez louise, why did this question need to have nasty responses? For starters, not ALL kids scream and second of all, you will find that that just about everyone pays taxes so get off your high horse about “hand outs”. You didn’t even answer the question so stay on topic!

Jack, I find that there are limited places for Toddlers who want to be on the move so I don’t really have any other suggestions that what has already been said. We head up to our local bakery and little Miss likes to sit outside with her juice and sausage roll watching people go by. We don’t stay for long mind you. We will find a nice shaded playground and take a picnic along or somewhere else where she can run around. This age is tricky!

colourful sydney racing identity10:10 am 07 Jan 10

It is so easy to spot the rioters that don’t have children.

A Noisy Noise Annoys An Oyster said :

Keep your snotty-nosed brats at home, mate, at least until they turn 18. I’ve had a gutful of you arrogant, selfish creeps having kids and expecting the taxpayer to pay every step of the way and also expecting us all to put up with them when we go out to lunch or dinner.

Well played. You even got a fair sized bite!

LOL @ #12 – I also agree. There is nothing worse then screaming kids when you are dining out! Don’t bring them to places where adults like to eat!!! I don’t want to hear your child scream because he/she can’t have ice cream with sprinkles.
Nothing worse then snotty nose kids either, ewwwww. What is wrong with people, don’t leave your child’s nose like that!! Wipe the damn thing!!

A Noisy Noise Annoys An Oyster said :

Keep your snotty-nosed brats at home, mate, at least until they turn 18. I’ve had a gutful of you arrogant, selfish creeps having kids and expecting the taxpayer to pay every step of the way and also expecting us all to put up with them when we go out to lunch or dinner.

righty-ho, when did I say that I get handouts from the govt, have no job and sponge off the taxpayer? I work 5 days a week, I don’t take my kids to restaurants, I take them to play centres, sometimes to the club, parks, we have BBQs out the back of my place, and they are learning how to hold a knife and fork and actually eat with them. In regard to my comment about the erindale club, how is a disabled person in a wheelchair supposed to get down to the outside bit and back to the bistro to order their food? they can’t. no ramps. not expecting the taxpayer to foot the bill, expectiong the club to sort it out – perhaps from the poker machine revenues?

you put up with far worse than my kids when you go out to lunch or dinner. there are all sorts of people out there who p1ss me off when I am eating my meal, if I am outside, the smokers don’t seem to care about where they stand, if I am at the club, there is always some arrogant bugger who thinks lines to order are for other people. and for the record, I am a smoker. I just don’t believe in ruining someone else’s meal for a smoke.

how am i arrogant & selfish? if I was, i wouldn’t tell other parents of places that are kid friendly, and I would be looking for a handout for raising kids. I don’t, I pay for childcare and get nothing back, and I have a job that pays well. what would I want the govt to give me? a medal for having kids? woo-hoo.

re play centres, i have 3 kids, it costs me close to $50 to take them to one place, and I don’t go there often. mawson club is free, and has decent food and coffee.

i have had a gutful of being tarred with the brush that all parents are on welfare. I am not, and I don’t intend to ever be on welfare. I pay taxes, and the people who sponge off the system p1ss me off too.

“toddler-friendly dining/drinking locations around the Canberra region?”

Your shopping trolley.

I hate clubs so much 🙁

What’s wrong with packing a good old-fashioned picnic? Let the kiddies roam free, get dirty, soak in a bit of fresh air and sunshine…or does that sound a bit too much like hard work?

Cafe Injoy is quite nice… food is excellent and there is a playground just outside.

West Belco Leagues Club is awesome, sit near the glass fronted playroom to watch the kiddies leave you the hell alone.. !!!

LlamaFrog said :

I can’t believe people are suggesting clubs with pokies, no matter what the clubs say there are no real restrictions in place between where children are allowed and the gambling/Alcohol areas. It is a disgrace and parents that take their kids there are just as much at fault.

The clubs are some of the only places (other than McDonalds, Hungry Jacks etc) that cater for kids and put in play areas… I don’t see what the problem is if your just going for a meal and want somewhere for them to run around and hopefully wear themselves out. Most clubs have the play areas as far away from the pokies/bar/smoking areas as possible. I’ve even watched members get evicted for leaving children in the play areas alone while they gambled.. So the places I go certainly have restrictions.

maccas.. lots of them have kiddies playgrounds.

My mum takes my nephew to Brand Depot. Apparently there is a playground in the food hall and he loves watching the planes. She sits there, drinks a coffee and lets him do his thing.

Felix the Cat7:52 pm 06 Jan 10

Maccas

A Noisy Noise Annoys An Oyster6:01 pm 06 Jan 10

Keep your snotty-nosed brats at home, mate, at least until they turn 18. I’ve had a gutful of you arrogant, selfish creeps having kids and expecting the taxpayer to pay every step of the way and also expecting us all to put up with them when we go out to lunch or dinner.

grunge_hippy said :

surely there are places other than clubs? i am soooooooooooooooooooooo sick of clubs!

there are, but if they are a play centre, you pay through the nose for your littlies to have entertainment, and the food is geared towards them, not parents. Coffee at The Fun Factory is pretty good, as is kid city and monkey mania. lollipops is a bit too sparse for my kids re entertainment…

peterh said :

if you want something that has food and drink and kiddy entertainment, even the play centres are ok for a cup of coffee and basic food.

Ah, the Play Centre, I remember it well. My personal idea of HELL 😉

There’s a great playground at Rodney’s in Piallago. You can sit under a Golden Ash tree and sip non alcoholic beverages and eat lunch and snack type cafe food.

grunge_hippy4:26 pm 06 Jan 10

surely there are places other than clubs? i am soooooooooooooooooooooo sick of clubs!

Jean Mc said :

It’s interesting that these suggestions are all clubs.

I have always found Canberra’s clubs to be very supportive of the community and families and their needs.

My suggestion would be Kuta’s at Vikings Erindale. Secure, smoke-free play area; really friendly staff and nice food.

Any of these food places should consider applying for a Purple Tick http://www.purpletick.org.au

Jean Mc

Didn’t mention erindale for one reason, there are no ramps down to the play area, and it is near impossible to move a double pram down to the lower level when it is full of toddlers…

I can’t believe people are suggesting clubs with pokies, no matter what the clubs say there are no real restrictions in place between where children are allowed and the gambling/Alcohol areas. It is a disgrace and parents that take their kids there are just as much at fault.

It’s interesting that these suggestions are all clubs.

I have always found Canberra’s clubs to be very supportive of the community and families and their needs.

My suggestion would be Kuta’s at Vikings Erindale. Secure, smoke-free play area; really friendly staff and nice food.

Any of these food places should consider applying for a Purple Tick http://www.purpletick.org.au

Jean Mc

if you want something that has food and drink and kiddy entertainment, even the play centres are ok for a cup of coffee and basic food.

mawson club – they have a ramp to the play area. perfect for prams and strollers.

+2 Hellenic. The climbing structure ( including the plastic balls in the pit ) is/are individually disinfected monthly.
It caters for teens too with the video games.

Canberra Southern Cross Club or Hellenic Club. Excellent kiddie facilities.

Daily Digest

Want the best Canberra news delivered daily? Every day we package the most popular Riotact stories and send them straight to your inbox. Sign-up now for trusted local news that will never be behind a paywall.

By submitting your email address you are agreeing to Region Group's terms and conditions and privacy policy.