You might have noticed, if you’ve stopped by before, that we’re rather fond of dining out in the Rock ‘n’ Roller Baby household! I am no fabulous cook myself (although I do have a couple of tricks up my sleeve) but that doesn’t mean I don’t love food and dining out with family and friends is one of my favourite pleasures!

However, not all restaurants are child friendly so I do like to find the ones which are! Of course having children with you is a whole different experience to dining with just adults and some restaurants simply aren’t suited or geared up for little ones. This does not mean however that you have to eat in Maccy D’s from here on in and can’t find places with a ‘best of both worlds’ approach. Indeed there are many and sensational food mixed with great atmospheres for everyone is something I am seeing more and more of which pleases me no end!

Providing crayons and paper has become the norm in lots of places now and serving a little bit more than a chicken nugget is also becoming increasingly popular and we give massive rounds of applause to those that do – well done! Being understanding of noise with a touch of sitting under the table and even, gasp, a bit of running around is also on the up and it’s fabulous because we with children are very rarely out in the evening disturbing those wishing for a more placid experience so why not!

It does all seem relatively new to most places though and up until recently I have often felt rather uncomfortable with little ones who are, let’s face it, unpredictable! … It has really only been recently that most restaurants are catching up with the forward thinkers who have been child friendly for years!

Somewhere that really helped to start the trend of accepting little ones and their possible cucumber throwing, glass smashing and shouting abilities is Giraffe. My friends have been raving about this place for years! I’m not sure why but I never actually went… Never in the right place at the right time I suppose but I always knew, always had it in the bank that Giraffe was DEFINITELY a place to be with children! And now… I’ve finally been and can start recommending it to everyone else too!

Last week i was invited with Katy from Modern Mummy and Emily from Family Four Fun as well as some other lovely bloggers, to sample the delights of Giraffe at their Richmond branch! We had a lovely meal, the children ate loads of good tasty food and us adults had a real lunchtime treat too.

By the end of the meal they were getting a little antsy and in need of a run around the green but when we looked at the clock and realised we’d been in the restaurant for THREE hours, it’s hardly surprising! In all honesty, even in fairly child friendly restaurants, how often could you get away with a three hour lunch? What can i say, Giraffe… You MUST know exactly what you’re doing!

We loved it, take a look why!

Tasty starters to share with fresh juices while the children drank child sized cups with giraffe stirrers (very well received) and coloured in while having a little nibble too!

The children’s meals were MASSIVE and could easily have filled up a ten year old. My two really got stuck in to sharing each other’s! I’m sorry, I didn’t manage to capture the desert while the flake was still in it… That went like a flash!

The children really enjoyed their food!

And I enjoyed mine… Can you see why?!

Will we be back to Giraffe? Oh absolutely and this time we will make sure we ARE in the right place at the right time because it’s worth travelling out of your way for!

I was invited to lunch at Giraffe in return for an honest review.

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