Kids in Restaurants/Pubs in London-Current Situation and Kid Friendly Places

I'm commenting to ask for the Sunday roast recommendation!

Lol. The Windsor Castle https://www.thewindsorcastlekensington.co.uk. My sister is a vegetarian and its close to the Princess Diana playground so it ticks all the boxes. Drinks menu looks great. My last Sunday roast in London was at Hawksmoor Spitalfields and it was fantastic.

https://www.timeout.com/london/kids/101-things-to-do-in-london-with-kids

Timeout was first published in 1968. Over the decades from its beginnings to now I’ve used it as a research tool to plan my London visits.

@ Mike S hitchhiking on another post won’t generate many replies. The topic of London Sunday Roasts has been addressed a number of times. Use the Forum Search box.

While each pub has their own rules regarding kids, the law says that anyone under 18 can stay in a pub up to 9 PM and up to 9:30 PM if they are consuming a meal.

For a family friendly restaurant, try Nando's. It's a chain but almost an institution. Peri-peri chicken.

After you dragged them around sightseeing, take them to Hamleys on Regent Street. They will love you.

The vast majority of pubs that serve food will welcome children but if they are more gastro-pub focussed (the type of place that is more a restaurant in a pub than a pub) they may not have a children’s menu. They will let kids share a main meal or sometimes they will do a smaller version if you ask.

I don’t think you’ll have any problems finding places to eat. My kids are a similar age.

These are some chain restaurants that we enjoy eating in as a family. The food is decent. They’re not fast food type establishments:

Cote (French brasserie)
Honest Burger
Wagamama
Sticks & Sushi
Nando’s
Pizza Express

There are others but we tend to gravitate to these ones that we know!

are Sticks & Sushi and Honest Burger West Country places? I don't know them

Nigel they’re both smaller chains. We have Honest Burger in Bristol but not Sticks & Sushi. Both have several locations in London and offer children’s menus.

Definitely agree about Pizza Express and Nando's. My son (about 13 at the time) loved Nando's in Glasgow. He was thrilled to find out that they have them here too (in Washington DC area). That surprised me a bit, but then I thought, I'm not surprised to find McDonalds and Starbucks, etc. in the UK, so it shouldn't be unexpected that a successful foreign chain (I think they're originally from South Africa) joins the U.S. market.

Thanks everyone for the recommendations. Hamleys is definitely on the list. I really enjoyed our visits to toy stores in Paris a few years ago. Are kid’s welcome in some of the nicer restaurants? I’m having a hard time finding any answers to this. Maybe ok at lunchtime only? Maybe dinner if early? We rented a place in Chelsea off King’s road and there’s lots of great restaurants around our place. We have a reservation at Gordon Ramsey for just the two of us so if that’s all we can do then we will work with that. The kids have outgrown kids menus and are adventurous eaters so that won’t be a problem. They also know how to behave. I’ve only been in a couple of situations where it was made obvious they didn’t want kids there which being a much older parent than my peers, I completely understand. I’d just like to avoid the situation if possible.

Oh Gordon Ramsey. That’s about £1000 for 2 with drinks… You’re probably not going to be going to Pizza Express!

Tell me which other places you want to go and I’ll see what I think. In general I would say that you won’t see a lot of kids in fine dining establishments. They’re an adult night out. Some good but more casual/fun places will be fine for kids at lunchtime or early, ie 6-7pm.

I’ve just looked at GR and it’s £185 for the tasting menu. So not quite as bad as I thought if you add a bottle of wine. My friends spend a grand in there but they did the wine pairing and a cocktail to start. It quickly adds up.

The only way to find out if a fine dining restaurant is okay with kids is to call ahead. But since there are over 70 Michelin star restaurants in London, you shouldn't have trouble finding plenty of places to eat.

https://luxurylondon.co.uk/taste/food/a-complete-guide-to-michelin-star-restaurants-in-london/

I hope to spend less than £1000! It’s our splurge night so whatever the hubby wants. We went to Petrus years back and it was very good so hopefully this will be too. This will probably be our only Michelin restaurant this trip unless we can sneak in a lunch somewhere while my sister takes the kids shopping. My husband loves the gastropubs. Not sure what they are called in the UK but The Windsor Castle is pretty typical of where we usually like to go. I picked that one because it was highly recommended in a London mom’s blog. I’m absolutely sure there will be a pizza express in there somewhere too in 9 days. I just started looking at restaurants and a couple not far from the house are Bluebird and The World’s End Market. They have lunch hours so that may be an option. I’m going to do some research this weekend. If all else fails, I can call. One of my bad experiences was from calling them only to find out the clientele did not agree with the management. We are going to take the kids to see a play or two and will probably eat in Chinatown. Any need to worry about kids there? Thanks for the help!

Those places will be fine for kids. Bluebird has a children's menu on their website and Worlds End is a pub so not a fine dining type place where people expect a certain ambience. Chinatown will also be good.

Thanks Helen. I can’t get the Bluebird Cafe website to load so I missed that. Sounds like we will be just fine.

I think you will be fine. Don’t take them anywhere that looks very adult and sophisticated. You just don’t get kids in these places in London. There is good food to be had in more casual places - busy, noisy places where no one will care.

Regarding kids in pubs. Should be fine just about anywhere, especially if the place has a dining room. Not sure what has changed since the pandemic, but in the past pubs in central London would best be avoided from about 4-6 PM, the afterwork crowd can be oppressive, a bit fun for an adult, but not kids.

Our favorite time before kids was 4-6! Met lots of fun people. No need to occupy space of the after work crowd!

Interesting places for kids in London:

Princess Diana’s Memorial playground Kensington Gardens
Mudchute Farm
Science Museum
Crystal Park Dinosaurs
Walk across Tower Bridge OR try the Tower Bridge Experience

The vast majority of pubs these days need to serve food and attract families to survive and the traditional adult only enviroment has slowly faded away and certainly in tourist areas are far and few between. As mentioned, pubs set thier own rules on children, but as a rule thumb a pub serving food will allow children up to 7 > 8pm. It may vary at weekends

Do your research, as a decent pub serving food should beat hands down any chain outlet on a number of aspects including quality of food and ambience - one assumes you are visting the UK to have a peek into British culture and eating in a pub is one way to experience that, over a chain outlet, where one could be anywhere in the World.

We went to Rules Restaurant it’s the oldest restaurant in London, it opened in 1798. It as wonderful.

Everyone is so gaga over Gordon Ramsey.
Why not go to a restaurant owned/run by the chef who trained him?
Marco Pierre White.

London Steakhouse Company
109-117 Middlesex St, London (Spitalfields)
https://www.londonsteakhousecompany.com/

Or try a restaurant owned/run by Fergus Henderson, a chef who was a friend of Anthony Bourdain.
Famous for his restaurant St. John, on St John St., Smithfield, London.
https://stjohnrestaurant.com/

Anthony Bourdain visited both of these chefs on an episode of his TV series "The Layover". The one on London is especially good.

These two recommendations are upscale restaurants, so I am suggesting these as options for the special night alone for you and your husband. I do not think the kids would enjoy these two places, nor would you want to pay gourmet prices for them to eat.

In my above post, I named two restaurants that are heavy on meat in the menu; steaks, etc.
My own preference is for a restaurant that offers some dishes heavy on vegetables, or where you can go completely vegetarian or vegan if you wish. The Indian restaurants in London are quite good. I will give some information on them if you want, but if that doesn't appeal to you, it would be pointless.
There are some very good restaurants in Chinatown, too. But you may be seeking a steakhouse type of place, and you already have some great suggestions on this thread for those.

Indian or Chinese restaurants in London can be quite fancy and expensive, too, so don't think of them all as "cheap" and not worth a special night out.

An upscale, expensive Indian restaurant for your "date" night for the two of you: Tamarind, in Mayfair.

Inexpensive but very good Indian restaurants to take the children: Dishoom (several locations around London) and/or Masala Zone.

Yes, definitely Indian. If your kids aren't familiar with it yet, it's so good in the UK and a great way to introduce them to something outside the box. Any place will have dishes that are flavorful but not super spicy (tandoori chicken, etc.). Just don't order the vindaloo for them if they're not prepared for that! As with most cuisines, some Indian places are high end, but most are not.

Thanks for the additional replies! Sorry, just catching these. The kids are adventurous eaters so everything is on the table. Indian is always on the list when we are in London so any recommendations are appreciated. Same for anything in Chinatown. That’s always been a pre or post theater tradition for us. We ate at a fantastic dim sum place there last visit and unfortunately I can’t remember the name. I think I’d recognize it if I saw it though. We are going to try and squeeze in a fancy lunch or two without the kids so I appreciate the other restaurant recs.

As noted in my first response to your initial query, Timeout is a great research resource.

https://www.timeout.com/london/restaurants/best-restaurants-in-london

https://www.timeout.com/london/restaurants

Thanks Claudia. I’ve used Time Out for years. It’s definitely a great resource.

Was with friends and their 4 yr old in London and we didn’t have any trouble going into pubs in the afternoons or at dinner. The key was going to pubs where food was served. Hereford Arms (near Gloucester Rd tube) had a kid’s menu and we sat in a small separate dining area so the busy bar wasn’t an issue - they are part of the London-based Fuller’s pubs and we found many of those around town (and southern England generally) were family friendly. You can find a list of their child friendly pubs on the Fuller’s website (go to the Find a Pub section and select the child friendly category). They normally have decent food and great beers for the adults too :)
We also went with the kid to Dishoom for lunch - if they are adventurous and want to try it! They can order from adult menu but they had a kids menu too. Masala Zone also welcomed children.

To repeat my recommendations from upthread....

An upscale, expensive Indian restaurant for your "date" night for the two of you: Tamarind, in Mayfair.

Inexpensive but very good Indian restaurants to take the children: Dishoom (several locations around London) and/or Masala Zone.

Giraffe cafe is a good lunch spot for kids and adults, serving healthy foods such as salads, sandwiches, wraps, omelets, waffles topped with fruit, pancakes, smoothies and lots more.
Several locations in London.

The lunchrooms/cafes at most of the London museums are great. Especially good is the cafe at the V&A Museum, which is near the Science Museum and the Museum of Natural History. I believe you and your kids would enjoy these museums.

You wrote:
"We will also be in Windsor our first evening so I’d appreciate suggestions there as well."

In Windsor, I would suggest Nandos, at the foot of the castle, at 10 Thames St.
https://www.nandos.co.uk/restaurants/windsor
Frank II has already mentioned this as a suggestion for London, but I wanted to mention their location in Windsor.
They offer a delicious meal of roast chicken, salad, and french fries for a reasonable price.
Casual, family friendly place. Not fast food.

Thanks Rebecca for the recommendations! I’ll look up Tamarind. We are big fans of museum cafes as well so that may substitute a lunch or dinner. One of my favorites is the Tower of London. I hope it’s still a thing.

I thought I had posted this but it might be a useful link for you.

https://london.eater.com/maps/best-child-friendly-restaurants-london

As it was written in 2020, might be worth checking with establishments to make sure they are still doing whatever got them added to the list.

Nothing out on the western edge of Hyde Park/Kensington, so maybe not so great.

Hi Leslie, You're welcome.
Yes, the Tower of London still has its cafe, The Armouries Cafe.
I agree, it's very good.

I'll suggest a fun bus ride: Take the Number 15 bus and sit upstairs at the front window, starting from the Tower of London to Trafalgar Square, where you might visit The National Gallery, The National Portrait Gallery, and the church of St. Martin-in-the-Fields.
https://www.stmartin-in-the-fields.org/

Downstairs in St. Martin-in-the-Fields is Cafe In The Crypt, a great lunchroom, something on the order of the cafe at the Tower of London. Great sandwiches, salads, wraps, desserts, coffee, tea and more. Casual, inexpensive, family and kid friendly.
https://www.stmartin-in-the-fields.org/visit/cafe-in-the-crypt/

St. Martin-in-the-Fields has free musical programs. Check their website for what's on, times and dates.
https://www.stmartin-in-the-fields.org/about-our-music/

As you take your ride on the Number 15 bus, you will pass St. Paul's Cathedral, in case you're interested in stopping off there.

My reply will mirror Helen’s above. I took my three young grandkids to both Wagamama and Pizza Express the nights my grown kids had a night or two out on their own. The kids especially loved the “three course” kids menu offered (at the time, not sure it’s still an option) by Pizza Express. We also went to a couple of pubs for fish and chips, etc. The kids were 8, 10 and 12 and warmly welcomed everywhere we took them. We did tend to eat early while we were there.

We just went to England (London, York, Oxford) and Scotland (Edinburgh, Glasgow) in November 2022. Our kiddo (5 at the time of the trip) was welcomed everywhere we ate. As long as the pub had food, it was no issue brining him in. (We were, of course, all in bed by 9pm so no worries for us about the cut-off.)

I wouldn't worry about it at all. We ate at a variety of pubs, fast-casual places, and traditional restaurants (although nothing crazy-expensive), and never had any issues. Have a fun trip!