Planet Hollywood London

We may have lived in London for an awfully long time and taken advantage of much on offer in our beautiful capital city but… It’s take us until we left to actually go back and do something we’ve wanted to for ages! Dining at Planet Hollywood!

It’s something we’ve always talked about but never quite got our acts together enough to actually do. Until now! And along with Katy from Modern Mummy and her girls we headed over to the Hay Market near Leicester Square for a veritable feast! My word… talk about food! This place is something else!

Our gang in our booth at Planet Hollywood, London!

I’ve often wondered if the food might be a little on the back burner when it comes to highly visited tourist destinations like Planet Hollywood (not that this would have put me off because I knew that the ‘fun’ element would be there) but wow! I was wrong for doubting. The fodder in this place is something else! It’s not just all American diner food either…

Although we LOVE all American diner food and the burgers, ribs, hot dogs, steaks, grill… We couldn’t resist trying some of the other offerings and boy am I glad I did! They literally do EVERYTHING including Asian cuisine, Italian food and a mountain of delicious sounding salads… I mean really this is just a smidgen because the A La Carte menu is super extensive and the deserts… Let me just advise some stretchy pants and we’ll leave it at that because you won’t want to miss a mouthful!

This is food for the tastiest of foodies and even the kids menu (£9.95 for 2 courses and unlimited soda) is delicious sounding and there is a pre-theatre menu, group set menus and a gluten free menu too.

Our sharing starter with THE best chicken wings and an absolutely gastronomic dip on top of tostadas, nachos, potato skins and cracking chicken!

Ribs for Florence which they halved in size from the main menu. YES! This is HALF a portion!

She LOVED it! She’s a BIG fan of ribs and said these are the best she’s ever tasted!

My noodle dish with shrimps was out of this world. How I finished the plate is anyone’s guess but I did!

The pizzas were so tasty! This was Jimmy’s full size pizza which he got to box half of and eat on the train later!

But food aside, and it’s not often you could say that about a restaurant, it’s the party atmosphere that kept us in our seats for nearly four hours. This must be some sort of record with my lot because as anyone with kids knows… Leisurely enjoyment of food is usually not an option! Here at Planet Hollywood we danced in our seats hoping to get caught on the camera panning the tables and LOVED every second when we made it onto the big screen. We also sent messages to each other to shine up and show the whole restaurant which everyone thought was amazing fun too.

We made it on the BIG screen at Planet Holly wood quite a few times much to the delight of our gang and dancing to songs such as YMCA was a highlight of the visit. A real party!

We also loved it that the restaurant welcomed us with this on the screen as we arrived – nice touch guys, the kids were so excited by this!

And the whole restaurant is a museum to the movies so although we did spend most of the time in our booth eating and chatting and dancing and laughing, when we got up to go to the toilets (which have lipstick kiss prints on the walls from stars such as Michelle Pheiffer), we had to look at all the memorabilia too.

Each area of the restaurant and each booth has a different theme. We walked around it all and LOVED the 007 zone, the hand prints on the walls and THIS from the Full Monty which made us laugh!

We literally had the best time in Planet Hollywood having so much more than a meal. We drank milk shakes and coke floats and at the end ate ice cream because, well, you can never have too much food right?! And every single aspect was utterly, utterly wonderful!

Milk shake madness – 3 scoops of ice cream in a drink is acceptable I feel! It definitely makes them taste amazing!

This is a restaurant to have fun in – what a refreshing change! And Jimmy did just that as did we all!

Right to the sorbet and ice cream choices at the end!

And all the while we were there we were looked after by a delightful waitress called Rosaria who, even though we caused lots of mess, asked for about a million different things on a million different occasions and she had to serve not just us but loads of other diners too, made us feel SO welcome. She remembered our names. She talked to the children directly and not just us about them. She laughed with us. She noticed when we needed something before we even did. She was absolutely wonderful!

Kids stood on chairs dancing, food was eaten slowly and enjoyment was the name of the game. I couldn’t think of a better place to eat out with kids!

We literally didn’t want to leave Planet Hollywood and it was really hard to force ourselves (roll ourselves now to be more accurate) out of the show. Oh it DID feel like a show! This was an event, a day out, a really GREAT time! But leave we had to (not before a visit to the gift shop mind) knowing we absolutely want to come back! Planet Hollywood has been voted THE NUMBER ONE KID’S RESTAURANT three year’s in a row and it’s easy to see why. The prices are not extortionate in the slightest, the food is wonderful and the whole trip is an outing. What’s not to LOVE?!

Leaving Planet Hollywood was a bit sad really but in the words of Arnie (one of the original owners), we’ll be back!

TOP TIPS FOR DINING AT PLANET HOLLYWOOD

Be wise and plan ahead – ALWAYS book a table. It can get VERY busy during school holidays and peak periods (12-14:00 and 17:00 – 20:00) so booking, which is free to do, ensures no disappointment!

Be daring and try food you wouldn’t ordinarily. I ordered noodles which is totally out of my comfort zone if not in a Chinese restaurant and they were SO delicious. I’m a little sad I didn’t try the burger (my go to when in an America restaurant) as they looked amazing but it’s all the more reason to go back!

Just lose your inhibitions and join in with the dancing, singing and revelry. I have never looked back so fondly on a restaurant experience and it really was an experience so immerse yourself in it and enjoy!

We were invited to try Planet Hollywood as a complimentary experience in return for an entirely honest review.