There is nothing better than treating your family to a delicious meal out. After all, everything always tastes better when you haven’t had to cook it yourself. However, going out for meals can get a bit more difficult when you have young children who tire easily of the boring interiors of the “everyday” restaurants. But there’s no reason why eating out shouldn’t be great fun for the whole family. Here are some great kid-friendly restaurants your children will love in Cape Town:
Café Paradiso, City Bowl
Café Paradiso offers a unique concept to family dining. A part of the fabulous Madam Zingara collection, Cafe Paradiso was converted from a beautiful, old house on the slopes of Table Mountain. The atmosphere is informal and laid back – a place where “children and pets are not only welcome, they’re invited.” There is a large variety of “Kid’s Favourites” on the menu such as Chicken Nuggets with a Tin of Chips, Fish Fingers Royale and Lost Pockets – cheesy filled pasta parcels. With the greatest emphasis on relaxed dining and entertainment for kids, the menu has a section called “Kid’s Projects” where children can get involved in the bakery, making things like pizza boards, ginger bread men, cupcakes with butter icing, and chocolate chip cookies for only R45 per project until 8pm.
You will find Café Paradiso at 110 Kloof Street in Cape Town. For more information, call 021 423 8653.
La Cabane, Hout Bay
La Cabane Restaurant in Hout Bay provides quality entertainment for the young and old. Choose from a variety of well-designed eating areas which offer intimate and stress-free atmospheres. The indoor restaurant has a bar where you can enjoy top quality wine and beer; the Beach Bar sports a rocking day bed with beach sand and palm trees; and the massive outside courtyard has an informal and relaxed seating area. What makes this restaurant so spectacular is the 1000m² kids’ outdoor play garden. Children will be in their element as they investigate the huge, fort-like wooden castles, sandpits, swings, slides, and rope nets in the area. Another unique aspect is the children’s restaurant which features its own currency that kids can use to purchase food, drinks, popcorn, slush puppies, and ice creams. The only problem you may have is trying to get them to leave at the end of the day.
You will find La Cabane at number 4 The Promenade in Hout Bay. For more information, call 021 790 8686.
Driftwood Cafe, Parklands
Driftwood Cafe is a wonderful pub-style restaurant in Parklands that offers a truly fantastic eating experience for the whole family. Not only is the food delicious and reasonably priced, but there are exciting playgrounds and activities to keep the children happily entertained until the food is ready. A humungous wooden jungle-gym features bridges, slides, swings, and hidey-holes for kids to explore, with sand-pits for hours of endless, messy fun. A small, water-filled dam has a wooden bridge and gazebo, which provides sparkling beauty to the area and is great for taking family photos, or feeding the ducks as they paddle by. A collaboration of interesting animals inhabit the restaurant so don’t be surprised to find chickens, rabbits, ducks, or geese waddling between your feet as you eat. In the summer months, markets spring up on the grass, offering beautiful handmade beadwork and jewellery.
You will find Driftwood at the corner of Hampstead Close & Parklands Main Road in Parklands. For more information, call 021 557 8886.
Let us know your favourite spot to take the kids in Cape Town, be it for breakfast, lunch, or dinner.
