Eating Out

Practicalities Getting Organised Food and Drink Eating Out 

Eating different kinds of foods in cafes, bars, and restauraunts or at stalls in streets and markets is all part of the fun of travel. Try to get unadventurous eaters to taste at least one different type of food a day.

The Easy Option

Most restaurants allow children to share dishes with parents, though this obviously doesn't apply to eat-as-much-as you-like buffets. However, in smarter restaurants you might have to pay a cover charge. Many restaurants are also happy to serve smaller portions for children.

Any decent restaurant should be happy to warm a bottle or jar of babyfood. However, places that are geared to business people, or any resort giving itself airs and graces may be less helpful.

In smart restaurants, have a pre-dinner drink before sitting at the table, and order your meal at the same time. Although some better kitchens don't start cooking until you are seated, explain that you don't want to go to your table until the food is actually ready.

This will avoid disappointing small children who expect the be fed the moment they sit down and will mean they won't have to sit still in one place for so long.

In Britain National Trust properties, such as castles and country houses often have child-friendly cafes with good food, as do many museums. In the countryside pubs (public houses) are the best choice, though the rules concerning opening hours and children are often incomprehensible even to many locals.

Pubs with a children's certificate allow under 14s into the bar itself to 9pm (8pm in Scotland). Requirements to obtain the licence depend on the local licensing authority. In Scotland children are allowed more freely into pubs as long as they are eating and with an adult. There is no legal restriction on over 14s in pubs, though only over 18s are allowed to buy alcohol.

For the really unadventurous, fast food is available almost worldwide with Pizza Huts and McDonalds common in many cities, plus local versions of them (best avoided in developing countries).

But remember, local food is going to be fresher, tastier and more suited to local conditions. If some products, like cheese for example, aren't readily available there is probably a good reason for that which you ignore at your peril.

Reader's Report

One rainy day we stopped for lunch in a little village in the Dordogne, France. The menu d'enfant (children's menu) was a revelation : a bowl of home-made soup, omelette or steak hache (home-made hamburger), chips, tomato salad and ice-cream all for 30 francs - about £3. A proper French meal that all our children, aged from 2 to 7, could enjoy. Why can't more places offer children real food like this, instead of dinosaur-shaped turkey nuggets?
Adrienne Burgess
Chester