I think this info is quite nice to have. A reference of child friendly restaurant. Extracted from Straits Time 24 Feb
The kids get it too
Child-friendly restaurants a draw for parents of young kids
By Chung Ming See
CATERING to kids has become good business sense for restaurants, which are coming up with all sorts of ways to entice young diners.
In the last four months, no fewer than four kid-friendly eateries have opened. These include Disney Naturally, Food Junction at Great
World City, The Ranch Home at Dempsey Hill and Pasta de Waraku at Square 2.
All four eateries offer kids' menus, on top of having a kid-friendly environment.
At Great World City mall's Food Junction, for instance, the tables, chairs and other dining furniture have no sharp edges.
Disney Naturally at Anchorpoint will appeal to the tech-savvy kid. It has a play area equipped with computer terminals so young diners
can access Disney games. There is also a giant screen which plays Disney cartoons and movies.
The Ranch Home at Dempsey Hill and Pasta de Waraku at Square 2, on the other hand, opt for simpler ways to keep their little customers
satisfied.
The former, which houses American restaurant CA * California and ice-cream store Ben & Jerry's, provides a homey ambience for dining, complete with outdoor swings and a fake fireplace, whereas the Japanese pasta restaurant gives away complimentary toys to every child who eats at the restaurant.
Ms Kimberly Janie, marketing executive of Waraku International, says the toys help to keep children entertained so that parents can place
orders in peace.
'This is especially true for babies in strollers. They sometimes start to bawl when we try to put them in high chairs, so we give
them toys to keep them quiet.'
Other eateries such as Globetrotters, the Ikea Restaurant and One-Ninety at the Four Seasons hotel have also been providing for young
ones.
One-Ninety has a brunch buffet for kids at the hotel's Crescent Ballroom every Sunday, complete with activities such as face-painting and child-minders to care for the children while parents
eat.
The little diners can tuck into hot dogs, French fries and mini burgers, or else have fun on the bouncy castle in the ballroom.
This kids' buffet is part of Four Seasons hotel's 'kids for all seasons' programme.
Ms Adeline Toh, director of public relations for the hotel, says: 'Children are important as they dictate to a large extent where families go on holidays, where they stay and what restaurants
they patronise.'
Similarly, Globetrotters at United Square, a travel-themed restaurant which serves a variety of cuisines ranging from European to Asian, has a glassed-in play area with assistants to facilitate play.
The restaurant, which opened in May 2005, also conducts cooking workshops and ad hoc story-telling sessions for youngsters.
Globetrotters director Marina Wasantachat, 40, a mother of three children aged eight, six and three, was a frustrated diner herself
before she opened the eatery.
She says: 'Restaurants we went to did not seem to understand our needs. It's just stressful to have steaming hot soup served right in
front of your toddler, having to use high chairs with no straps or finding the restaurants have no high chairs.
'I found myself having to ask three times for kid-friendly crockery, while the children were yelling 'Hungry, hungry, hungry, Mummy!'
'The resulting meltdown from the ravenous kids was enough to make a
grown man vow never to eat out again.'
So not only does Globetrotters have kid-safe high chairs and child-friendly cutlery, it even offers a baby's menu comprising raisins,
rice cakes, teething rusks and Gerber baby food, among other things.
Swedish furniture store Ikea also sells bottled baby food in its in-store restaurant. The restaurant at its Tampines outlet has a
circular Play Tent with wall-mounted toys. There is even a circular tabletop attached to the tent's perimeter so that parents can eat
and watch over their children.
It will be adding a similar setup to the restaurant in its Alexandra Road outlet too, which currently has a children's corner, when that is renovated in the next few months.
All this will probably come as good news for parents who have had difficulty finding kid-friendly eateries.
Secretary Jeslyn Teo, 40, a mother of two girls aged eight and five, says she wishes that even more restaurants would be kid-friendly.
'It would also be good if there were caretakers to manage the kids while parents have a peaceful meal.'
Accounts assistant Yvonne Tay, 32, mother of two boys aged four and two, says her elder son likes the Ikea restaurant in Alexandra Road.
'The kids' corner there appeals to him because they have TV shows and the menu is specially tailored for kids.'
Nevertheless while more kid-friendly restaurants have been springing up in recent years, they still occupy only a small sector of the
food industry.
There are still many restaurants which tend to be wary of children. One is Chef Chan's Restaurant at the National Museum of Singapore in Stamford Road.
Owner-chef Chan Chen Hei, 53, says that while he will not chase children out, he will appeal to parents to watch over their youngsters.
'We have antiques all around the restaurant and they are very fragile, so it becomes a problem when kids start running around,' he
says. 'Also, it wouldn't be good if other customers were disturbed
by rowdy kids.'
He adds that when his restaurant was located at the Safra Club in Toa Payoh, a seven-year-old child climbed up and down a $50,000
antique bed in the eatery and almost broke it.
He says: 'All the parent said when I tried to stop the child was that if I wanted the child to pay for the damage, I'd have to wait
until she was 21.'