Powered by alexandalexa.com

HOW WE FOUND THEM

We have many mini-critics in and around London, and a set of our mini-critics had just moved to Barnes from Kent and their cousin, happens to now work at Alexandalexa.com…as a blogger.

Having taken a weekend off to spend time with them while their parents were away, this Alexandalexa.com team member thought it best they escape the family garden and go out for a meal, and after asking a neighbour where the closest family friendly restaurant was, we wound up at the beautiful Victoria Pub on 10 West Temple Sheen in London’s SW14 7RT postal code.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

On a hot summer day, walking into the cool bar The Victoria pub instantly refreshes you, it is quiet, and the lighting is non intrusive. The beautiful dark wood floors, leather seating and vintage looking wooden furniture is inviting, and if it wasn’t such a lovely day, I would be inclined to spend my day indoors; it is the perfect location for a relaxed romantic meal. But, I arrived with three of our mini critics, Lily (5), Scarlett (7) and Milo (1.5) who kindly agreed to help me with our undercover review.

After cooling off and ordering some (delicious) fruit smoothies from the smiling and friendly young gentleman at the bar, we ventured towards the great outdoors, through the beautiful timber framed conservatory and out to the stunning garden. We found seating in the shade of a tree, right next to the Pub’s impressive climbing frame.  

The kids seemed content with enjoying their smoothies and we were quickly greeted by our charming waitress who handed us each menus.

THE FOOD

The adult menu, created by award winning chef Paul Merrett and his team, had some traditional family favourites as well as some more eclectic cooking for those that like to venture into the great unknown.

The kids menu includes favourites of kids everywhere, like fish and chips, pita bread toasties, pasta, burgers, organic ice-cream and fresh fruit salad. But what the kids were most impressed about was that the menu is illustrated by ‘menu consultant’ Ellie Merrett (aged 11 ¾) and as mini critic Scarlett (age 7) is a budding artist herself, she branded the Pub the “coolest” before we had even ordered our food.

I found out after, that the menu is also incredibly environmentally friendly as The Victoria Pub only sources food from ethical suppliers:

BREAD: Baked in house with milled from Leicestershire.

MEAT & POULTRY: Comes from several farmers and small family butchers, including beef breed in South Devon, organic veal from Oxfordshire, and pork from Colchester.

FISH & SHELLFISH: Purchased from two harbour side markets in Brixham and Falmouth, and some of the fish they use, like their bass, is line caught and comes from sustainable stocks.

FRUIT & VEGETABLES: From a family run farm in Surrey.

COOKING OIL:  Is stored and recycled into bio fuel by a local company.

OUR MEALS

Lilly and Scarlett were both keen on the Pita Bread Toasties and Milo, being a bit less adventurous went for Pasta & Pesto. I ordered the Whole Char Grilled Sea Bass with a Salad of Green Beans, Black Olives, Cherry Tomatoes & Salsa Verde. As I finished saying the order, the kids snuck away from the table, having finished their smoothies, to check out the climbing structure.

THE CLIMBING STRUCTURE

As mini critic Milo was not quite old enough to ‘explore’ on his own, so I ‘escorted’ him to the play area which he independently investigated under my watchful eye. The girls climbed and screamed with some of the other children, while Milo took a wander around. He lost interest in the climbing structure after spotting a baby girl’s brightly coloured bonnet…..and started poking her in the head, which then turned into a game of peek-a-boo. The baby reacted to with giddy surprise and the other parents and minders in the area ooh-ed and aww-ed at how sweet they were.

Milo’s game was interrupted by our food arriving, which happened so fast, the mini-critics never even bothered to bicker or tease with one another, or the other children (horah!).

THE VERDICT

The mini critics and I gobbled down our food, enjoying each bite, and everyone, including the youngest mini critic (who is rather picky with his food), fully enjoyed their meals. For pudding, we all ordered Jude’s Organic Ice-Cream in all four of the flavours available and shared. It was AMAZING.

Afterwards, the two older critics announced their verdict: 5/5 for The Victoria Pub and with their duties complete ran off to the climbing structure, where they played happily for a full hour.

PROMOTION FOR YOU

For all you fantastic readers, The Victoria Pub would like to offer your kids a delicious smoothie at half price this summer. Just quote “Their Little World Summer” when ordering your smoothie! (valid until September 1, 2010)

As thierlittleworld.com searches out the top London resturants for kids, we have recruited mini-critics to anonomyously accompany us on our resturant judgements.   

For our second mini-critic resturant outing, we chose to try another South American resturant, this time, one that focused on all Latin American food, resturant chain, Las Iguanas.   

he mini-critics had been at the London Aquarium before our meal, so they had worked up quite an appitite running about inside. When we arrived, there was no one in the resturant as it was not quite lunch hour for businesses.As soon as we were seated, our waiter brought us kids menus, crayons and markers and quickly took a drinks order.   

The children’s menu features smaller portions than the main menu, with prices about half of what they would be on the adults menu…they even have FREE Organic bay food for your tiniest ones.   

The colouring sheet featured Spanish and Portugugese learn-while-you-colour games and the mini-critics got stuck into learning the Spanish word for ‘sun’, doing crossword puzzles, drawing self portraits annd colouring in various themed objects.   

The mini-critics,aged 5 (Agent H), 10 (Agent E) and 11 (Agent J), all ordered off the kids menu.   

Agent H got ‘Pizza’ off the nino’s menu which ended up being a Quesadilla with motzerella and cheese accompanied by a small salad and chrispy curly chips. The deserts were just run of the mill resturant desserts so he followed his meal with an ice lolly.   

Agent J decided to have a ‘Chicken Ceaser Salad’ off the under 12’s menu. Followed with Chocolate Cake.   

Though the food was great, for the kids, they did not really get a ‘latin experience’. There are only a few choices off the kids menu that are latin based, a lot of them are just normal ‘Western’ food with a Spanish or Portugese name. But on the upside, the kids did eat all of their food and were happy with their choices.   

The great thing about the menu was that there are icons to inform diners or caregivers of little diners if the food has nuts, is gluten free or is vegetarian friendly. This also goes for the adults menu.   

As a result of our visit, my mini-critics and I give Las Iguanas 3.5 out of 5 Stars for food taste, service and child friendly-ness!   

You can visit Las Iguanas online at www.iguanas.co.uk or visit them at their locations throughout the U.K  

Lovely sauce that is easily doubled. Make extra to freeze!!

Thank you to Ruthie Chant from Menu in a Box for the great recipe idea!

Get organized in the kitchen, plan your meals and teach your kids to cook with her site www.onlinemealplanning.com

What You Will Need

6 14oz/415g Diced Italian tomatoes

2 Carrots, grated

1 lb / 500 Ground beef

8 oz / 250 g Linguini pasta

1 tsp Minced garlic

2 Tbs Olive oil

1 Onion, finely chopped

1 Red bell pepper, diced

1 Zucchini, grated   

What To Do

1. Cook pasta according to packet

2. Heat oil in pan and cook garlic, pepper and onion until brown

3. Add ground beef

4. Stir through grated vegetables

5. Add tomatoes, wine and garlic and simmer for 20 minutes

Hot cross buns,
Hot cross buns,
one a’ penny,
two a’ penny,
hot cross buns.

Hot curst buns are always a sign of spring and are the perfect family breakfast during the Easter break. The kids can help out with this recipe, but will need some adult supervision!

What You will Need

DOUGH

1 cup Milk

1 tablespoon Milk, warmed to 110°F

1 package Dry active yeast

1 teaspoon Sugar

¾ of a cup Sugar

2 1/4 cup All-purpose flour

2 cups Bread flour

1/2 cup Black raisins

2 tablespoons Candied lemon peel, cut into 1/4-inch pieces

2 tablespoons Candied orange peel, cut into 1/4-inch pieces

1 teaspoon Salt

1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon Ground nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon Ground cloves

4 tablespoons Unsalted butter, melted

2 large eggs

BAKING

1 large egg yolk

2/3 cup(s) confectioners’ sugar

1/4 teaspoon(s) vanilla

What To Do

MAKE THE DOUGH

1. Coat a large bowl with oil and set aside.
2. Let the kids combine the cold milk, yeast, and the teaspoon of sugar in a small bowl and leave it until it starts to gets bubbly.
3. Have the kids combine the flours, remaining sugar, raisins, candied peels, salt, and spices in the bowl of a standing mixer while you fit it with a dough hook and mix on low speed.
4. Help the kids add the butter, 2 eggs, and the yeast mixture and then continue with the mixer until a sticky dough forms, about 3 minutes.
5. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and let the kids help knead by hand until smooth, about 5 minutes. (If dough has been combined by hand, increase kneading time to 10 minutes.)
6. Form the dough into a ball, place it in the prepared bowl, and turn to coat all sides with oil. Cover with a clean, damp kitchen towel and let rise in a warm, draft-free place until it doubles in volume, about 1 hour.

SHAPE THE BUNS

1. Line a baking pan with parchment paper and set aside.
2. Punch the dough down, transfer to a lightly floured surface, and knead for 3 minutes. Divide the dough into 12 equal-sized pieces, about 3 1/2 ounces each. Shape each piece into a ball and place the balls about 1 inch apart in three rows of four on the prepared pan.
3. Cover and let rise until the buns double in volume and touch one another, about 1 1/4 hours.

BAKE THE BUNS

1. Preheat oven to 260°C.
2. In a small bowl, help your kiddies combine the egg yolk with 1 tablespoon water.
3. Have your children use a pastry brush to lightly brush the mixture on the top of each bun (you may want to show them how first).
4. Place buns in the lower third of the oven and reduce oven temperature to 200°C. Bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes.
5. Transfer to a wire rack.
6. In a small bowl, combine the confectioners’ sugar, remaining milk, and vanilla. Stir until smooth.
7. When buns have cooled slightly, help your kids drizzle a horizontal line across each row of buns followed by a vertical line to form a cross on the crown of each bun.
8. To make crosses: mix together confectioners’ sugar, vanilla, and milk. Brush an X on each cooled bun.

Catering to the needs of both parents and children is a hard thing to do, but That Place on the Corner, located

in Newington Green, seems to have got it just right.

With tasteful decoration, That Place on the Corner looks more like the playroom of a aristocratic child in Victorian

times with a brightly coloured velvet and silk window seat, vintage wooden tables, a little library and beautifully crafted

play shop and a dressing up corner.  

A weekly schedule of baking, crafting, dancing and music making for preschoolers during the day and more programs for

the after-school crowd, your children are sure to be kept busy with the variety of creative activities offered at

That Place on the Corner.

To top off the extensive activities is the food. The children’s menu offers wholesome staples like pasta, burgers, chicken,

fish cakes and even a daily organic baby blend, while the parental choices are a bit more exciting with options like

Goat Cheese Salad, Breaded Plaice Goujons and Panini Sandwiches on the menu.

That Place on the Corner is located at 1-3 Green Lanes, Newington Green, London N16 9BS, 020 7704 0079.

With this week’s half term activities and the excitement and preparation involved in Halloween, you may be feeling

a bit tired by the time dinner rolls around this Saturday.

So before the children get another burst of energy from their Halloween treats, why not skip cooking for the

night and go out for a thematic Halloween bite.

We found two great London based family friendly restaurants that have put spooky dishes on their menus

in the spirit of All Hallow’s Eve, with planned activities that are sure to keep the children entertained while

they fill up on a hearty Halloween meal.

Chicago Rib Shack

When: 31^st October – 01 November, 13:00 – 00:00 

Nearest Tube: Knightsbridge 

Website: http://www.thechicagoribshack.co.uk/

Chicago Rib Shack will have a Halloween themed menu with face painting, magic shows and other special

events for kids and families.

Betty Blythe

When: 31^st October, 09:30 – 18:00 

Nearest Tube: Kensington (Olympia) or Shepherds Bush 

Website: http://www.bettyblythe.co.uk/

Fine food pantry Betty Blythe is hosting a Halloween party for children with apple bobbing, face painting and a

ghost trail. There will also be plenty of sweet treats like skeleton biscuits, ghoulish cupcakes and

hot magic potion drinks. 

The rock'n'roll design appeals to all ages!

This rock’n'roll restaurant is owned by Rolling Stone Bill Wyman and is the perfect place for families to hang out. It not only boasts a fantastic adult menu but also an excellent kids’ menu with a variety of classic children’s favourites including cod fingers and the perfect kids’ burger, not to mention ribs or spaghetti for the messy eaters among them! Children can also enter the ‘Draw your Waiter’ competition, which will keep them entertained whilst you wait for your order to arrive.

Where? 1a Phillimore Gardens, Kensington, London W8 7QG
Station: High Street Kensington

Booking Enquiries: bookings@stickyfingers.co.uk

Tel: 020 7938 5338

Website: www.stickyfingers.co.uk

La Famiglia is one of those restaurants that screams authenticity, from the food and the decor to the constant celebrity family clientele. The atmosphere has not been lost due to this however as everyone is simply there for the good honest food. The garden is perfect for children to explore and you’ll always be able to find something that they’ll enjoy eating!

Kids are very welcome and Gwyneth Paltrow has even recommended it in her kid-friendly restaurant newsletter on her website GOOP in the past! If it’s good enough for Gwyneth, then it’s good enough for us!

Address: 7 Langton Street, Chelsea, SW10 0JL

Tube: Fulham Broadway or Sloane Square

Tel: 020 7351 0761

If you have been to La Famiglia, then please let us know how you get on and what you thought! Email editor@theirlittleworld.com or leave a comment below!

Rainforest Café, located in London’s West End, is a popular choice for families. It is the largest family restaurant in London. It is very child-friendly and boasts an exciting kids menu with fun names such as their Bamba’s Bangers sausage and mash and Maya’s Meatballs served with spaghetti. By recreating the sights and sounds of the rainforest with various special effects and life-like animals, Rainforest Café is the perfect for a city-centre tropical hideaway! Explore life in the rainforest with a whole host of characters including chattering gorillas, fluttering butterflies and even a menacing tree-bound jaguar! There’s even a little shop for picking up Rainforest souvenirs. Something for everyone.

Address: 20 Shaftesbury Avenue, London W1D 7EU

Tube: Piccadilly Circus (Exit 4)

Tel: 020 7434 3111

Website: www.rainforestcafe.co.uk