For a while know I was craving the peri-peri chicken from an authentic Portuguese restaurant not far from where we live. I have been there once before for an office-lunch and the food was delicious. So last night I finally convinced hubby that we should have supper there.
All went well until we actually arrived at the restaurant and Kiddy#1's ability to listen to us disappeared into thin air and Kiddy#2 started to whine about anything and everything! I was horrified!
We had a constant battle with Kiddy#1 to sit still and Kiddy#2 kept trying to run out the front door... Let me just add that this restaurant is situated on a VERY BUSY road. We've tried everything to keep them quiet but with no luck! It was so embarrassing. The restaurant is divided into different rooms and we were alone in the one room when we arrived and there were one or two diners seated in the room opposite from us.
On the menu it says that it takes ±30 minutes for the kitchen staff to prepare the peri-peri chicken. After about 10 minutes the waitress came to us saying "your food is on the way and someone from the room next door already complained about the noise!". Instantaneously I felt like running out the door myself. Needless to say, the chicken was not properly cooked and still very raw when it arrived. We did not complain.... We finished our meals as quickly as we could and left the restaurant. It was an awful experience and highly embarrassing.
Hubby went to the car with the girls while I paid the bill. The waitress recited her line she is supposed to say when diners leave "we hope to see you again soon!", but the look on her face was a completely different story. Lets just say we are not planning on dining there again soon in the foreseen future! Oh I forgot to mention, the manager glared at us on several occasions while we were trying to eat at a record speed to get out of there. Especially when Kiddy#1 handed him her empty plate when she was finished with her food. He was not impressed. She has got this idea that she must help clear the table when she is finished eating. Which is fine at home, not so much when you are at a restaurant. When we got home the girls were as good as gold....
8 comments:
Yip, that's children for you! I'm sure they all have a split personality. Heavenly angels at home and little minions at your final destination. But going on a night out can be a double edged sword. Yes, you want your little minions to experience the world, but then you get looks from other people, which I also understand. They probably left their minions with someone to look after while having a quiet night out. But not all are fortunate to have a 'someone' to look after the kids. And lets be honest, family orientated restaurants (Spur), only satisfy the appetite to a point and no furter. A very fine double edged sword.
I love the Spur, I really do and for obvious reasons that is the place we would normally go to. But just sometimes we would like to try another restaurant and like you've said, we don't have anyone who can babysit so where we go, they go. At the moment, however, I doubt we will feel so adventurous to try any "new" restaurants soon! I think I'm still in shock!
That's the problem with escpecially South Africa. We don't have enough child friendly restaurants and then we as parents, have to settle for the same old, same old. Luckily here where I live we have a second option- Wonderboom Airport Restaurant. It is a small airport with only one restaurant where they have ample space for the little ones to play and even make their own pizza. But one will have to do some homework on child friendly restaurant where you live, but usually the result is the same: SPUR! Ok, I don't like the Spur, never have and never will. PS. The shock will pass and you will venture out again with the little ones!
I will have to do some homework on the restaurants in the area. In the meantime, Spur and going to the park sounds like the only child-friendly options!
Maybe you should do a post on child friendly restaurants in Cape Town and let the rest know. Obviously you will have to go and try them out.
That is not a bad idea, but I would prefer to 'try out' restaurants that other people already tried and tested :) Any referrals are welcome LOL!
Ouch, that is a horrible experience, but think you should Google "family-friendly" restaurants when venturing out again. If you want to drive a bit out of the City I can recommend "Ashley's" in Goodwood. You know they make the BEST pizzas and the restaurant is similar to Spur set-up but with much better food.
Hi Juanita, I have tried googling it today and came across a site which has a lot of the Cape Town restaurants listed and it shows little icons on each ad to say whether it is child-friendly or not. To tell you the truth, none of the ones that had that icon looked child-friendly at all! In fact it looked quite the opposite. Thank you for reminding me of Ashleys. I didn't realize they had a similar set-up as Spur. I've only had their pizza once and it was a memorable experience :) Definitely the best pizza I've had in a long time. Now that I know they have a child-friendly restaurant it is definitely worth going there!
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