Six Kid-Friendly Spots to Hit When Everyone's Feeling Hangry
Calm the nerves and tanties and fill bellies at these spots for the fam.
Six Kid-Friendly Spots to Hit When Everyone's Feeling Hangry
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Calm the nerves and tanties and fill bellies at these spots for the fam.
If you've ever been in that particular headspace where you need to eat immediately lest you snap and entertain serious thoughts of curling into a ball and crying in public, chances are you've been hangry. The short fuse is often accompanied by a growling belly and a pre-caffeine tiredness, and there never seems to be a spot to park your car when you need one.
Add children into the mix, and you might be found counting very slowly to ten under your breath, watching a child have a screaming tantrum and straight up wishing you could do the same. Kid-friendly spots for a meal all together aren't so easily found when you need them, so along with our mates at American Express, we thought we'd compile a list for you to bookmark and come back to later when your resources are low and your cravings for eggs, peace and quiet are at alarming levels. Walk on in, get some food in all of you, wave your card and Bob's your uncle: hanger attacked and conquered.
Got yourself in another dining situation and need some guidance? Whatever it is, we know a place. Visit The Shortlist and we'll sort you out.
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The Flying Duck Hotel is both nice times for kids and nice times for you, the tired and hungry adult. In Prahran, it’s one of the oldest pubs in Melbourne and holds a special place in the hearts of the community — and it might just hold a special place in your hangry heart, too. Everything from the parma to the spaghetti worthy of a red hot go, the Mediterranean-Australian cuisine will nip that grumbly tummy in the bud. And, with the rustic brick indoor bar, the conservatory and marquee spaces for dining in an inside-outside setting (as well as the outside courtyard presided over by some beautiful palm trees) this pub has a spot for whatever mood you and the kids might roll up in.
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The massive Stomping Ground Brewery houses a 24-tap bar, a 2000-litre brewhouse and a beer garden with a retractable roof. The space was created to be all-inclusive and social, and it ticks both of those boxes: it also ticks the ‘good for bringing your entire family down even when everyone’s in a terrible mood’. The menu is sure to brighten up your grey clouds easily with grazing and sharing-focused plates, good for getting some pizzas and share platters of burrata, spiced lamb and mussels out on your table.
Also, there’s a kids’ cubbyhouse and a kids’ colouring menu, which might just have you crying tears of joy/relief and replenishing any lost fluids with the comprehensive list of tasty beers brewed on-site.
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Pantry in Brighton has — as is the way of those sunny bayside areas — an enviable outdoors space, as well as room enough for a stroller or two inside. Aside from making you feel relaxed because it’s just a hop, skip and jump away from the beach (and a fact of life is that people are happier around the beach), Pantry has an entire menu dedicated to little people. What’s more child-friendly than that? Get a mini chicken parma their way ($13), a seriously stacked version of the requisite avocado brekkie your way ($23.50), and you’ll be forgetting all about any thoughts of not having a peaceful, chill time.
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Flatiron Side Door is an equal parts indoor and outdoor venue that might just be the one you’ve been looking for (if you’re in or near Kew, very hungry and have children with you in a similar state). The innards of the venue boast a hand-carved bar and artwork on the walls, but the magnolia-lined wine garden will instantly put a bit of calm in your heart — as will the wine list. Carefully curated by the owner Ben Bangay, the menu’s wines each have a personal story and many of the cocktails use fresh ingredients from the herb garden.
Food that will soothe your tired and hungry soul includes salumi and cheese platters, bread and dips and pizzas — including the ‘three meats’ pizza for $20. With a trio of different types of meat, you’ll forget all about being in anything except a cheery, stable emotional state, especially with the news that you can opt for takeaway pizza and wine if you’re not quite done when it comes to leaving time.
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Frankie Says is tucked behind an apartment building complex in an obscure part of Richmond. It’s way less crowded and frenetic than CBD venues, making it perfect for when you and your family need to eat, stat. The cheery, light-filled venue opens onto a vast, sunny outdoor area overlooking the river: good for big legs to stroll or little legs to frolic over.
Meanwhile, the menu’s ever-changing selection of yumminess includes antipasto boards, house-made stone-oven pizzas and tasty breakfasts, like a deep dish pancake and truffle eggs with artichoke paste — placating bellies of any age. Also for mummy and/or daddy, the eatery has its own table wines: a 2013 sauvignon blanc and a 2012 cab sav.
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Inkerman Street in St Kilda is home to Mr Wolf, a pizza lover’s dream — what else fixes a grumpy child (or adult) like a big, cheesy pizza? Carbs and carbs alone might be the cure for hangriness, and the comprehensive menu of Roman-style pizza will sort you and your little ones right out. Opening at 5pm for dinner, you can get in early before the cravings really hit, and all pizzas come with a gluten-free option. Also, if you order off the kid’s section of the menu before 6,30pm your bambini gets a free sundae. You’ll be wishing you were a bambini, too, instead of a boring adult.
As you drink and dine with your American Express, reap all the sweet rewards of being a Card Member. Explore the many ways American Express has your back here.
