Review - Eating Out with Kids 2009

Today ... after several days locked in the house with a cold (that swept through the whole house) and my son having conjunctivitis .. it was time yesterday afternoon to venture out and visit the park and one of the nice cafes in my area.

Apart from the relief from leaving the familiar four walls and the fun my son had at the park ... we made a surprising discovering. While visiting one of our favourite local cafes I noticed that they had a new book for sale and the price of $20 it appeared to be a bargain, so I grabed a copy.

The book is called Eating out with Kids 2009. It is a guide to dining in Sydney with children including the Southern Highlands, South Coast, Blue Mountains and Central Coast. I love the concept. I know before our son came along we loved to go out for dinner and would most weeks have a least 1 meal away from home. I love the Sydney food scene there is such great diversity of places to eat and food to explore. However as I experienced, your relationship with them drastically changes once a baby comes onto the scene and you have a whole new set of additional requirements that you may not have even considered in the past. This can make identifying a place that is suitable a bit of a hit and miss process.

Eating Out With Kids helps you in the decision making process by measuring each place against a high standard of criteria: child menus, allergies catered for, vegetarian meals, breastfeeding friendly, change facilities, wheelchair and pram access, high chairs, toys and more are all put under the microscope. Whats best also is that the reviews are completed by Mums with kids and include comments from both in each review. The reviews are also very practical and often include information on parking, atmosphere, helpfulness of staff and children's activities.

Downside ... Peronally I would like to have seen more reviews however this is their first edition and I am sure that overtime this will grow to be the bible for parents looking for kids friendly places to go out and have a meal. Still well worth the $20 price tag.