Restaurant Suggestions with Children
 

Any recommendations for good and interesting restaurants that are good for taking kids in Sydney, Cairns and the Gold Coast? Thanks

McDonalds

Thanks "Ronald," I guess you missed the "good" and "interesting" parts of my question (I don't even go to Mickey D's in ths US unless my kids force me!). Any serious suggestions?

Hi, oratl!<BR>You will have a lot of fights with your kids in Sydney, as every corner has a McDonalds, Burger King, Hungry Jack's, KFC, or Taco Bell... often all of them on the same corner. There are, however, alternatives, and you will, I think, be pleased to learn how "kid-friendly" most Australian restaurants are. My kids' favourite in Sydney is Govinda's at King's Cross... buffet-style Indian vegetarian, very mild, just exotic enough to tempt them rather than turn them off, and the management is lovely. Many of the Clubs -- the favourite eating spots for families in Australia, and out-of-towners don't have to be a member to get in -- have reduced prices for children, but they can still help themselves to as much as they like. These are usually buffet-style also, and my kids love the dessert range (all right, let's be honest... I love the dessert range, who cares about the kids!) If you choose carefully (preferably in the suburban areas) these clubs --Services, Workers, Catholic, Leagues -- can be a real bargain... even adults pay only about eleven dollars for as much as they can eat. Another popular choice with children are the various food courts, usually in the basement of large shopping centres, where booth owners let you see what you are going to get and point to what you want. Again, prices here are usually quite reasonable, so you don't feel that you've thrown away a fortune when the kids take two bites and then say it's not what they like after all. You will feel at ease in all of these places, because there will be families with kids in all directions. Sydneysiders think that eating out is a family affair.

Thanks Alan. Can you explain what you mean by Clubs and how we would find them?

One restaurant we can recommend in Cairns is Charlies at the Acacia Hotel on the Esplanade. They do a good value buffet dinner with lots of seafood in a very pleasant atmosphere for about $20 per adult. <BR>Re Alan's comment about the clubs - there are lots of 'private' clubs in Australia where you can usually get good value meals. Non-members can use these facilities - you just need to sign in at reception. Ask at your hotel for their recommendation for the best club in the area. For example, we have had a (reasonably good) three course meal for two adults for under $20. They usually have a children's menu.<BR>Also look out for the food courts at the shopping centres.

Hi, again, oratl!<BR>The concept of the "club" is a bit hard to explain to people who don't have them in their own cities.... they are all-in-one entertainment areas (often including gyms, function rooms, shops, a pool, billiard rooms, and lots and lots of poker machines) which are ostensibly open to members and their guests, but in fact take anyone who lives more than about ten kilometres from the venue. You just turn up at the front desk, say you're from out-of-town, are issued with a temporary members pass, and then you ask to be pointed to the nearest bistro or family restaurant (they may have several). Some of these clubs are quite enormous, containing cinemas and sporting complexes, and since, like the casinos in Las Vegas, their main revenue is the slot machines, they will do almost anything to keep you in the building where you might be tempted to lose your week's salary.... hence the cheap meals, free movies, children's entertainment, and so on. Again, like the casinos, they often feature live imported entertainment, and, in fact, draw many of their acts from the Vegas circuit.... everyone from Pat Boone through to Mickey Rooney. Johnnie Ray used to spend half his life in one club or another back in the seventies and eighties when no one wanted him back home. <BR>Marge's idea of how to find one is good; otherwise, you can just look in the Yellow Pages. Because of space limitations, there are only two or three small clubs in the heart of Sydney itself, but if you are prepared to hop on a train or bus, there are dozens.<BR>By the way, there is usually good separation between the slot machine areas and the places where families congregate, so you need have no fear that you are taking your children into someplace undesirable.... the comparison with Las Vegas falls down here, as clubs are all about families.

We traveled to Sydney, Gold Coast, Cairns, and Pt. Douglas with 2 10yr. olds and an 8 yr. old and never had a problem finding a restaurant that everybody liked. You will find that most of the restaurants post their menus out front; most have the same type of child's meals they have in the States (ie, chicken fingers, mac and cheese, pasta, etc) and they cost around $5.00US. Just ask at your hotel for some recommendations and then wander the area and peruse the menus. We also ate at a couple Clubs and those were good value, with tons of kids running around. And, yes, even though I also refuse to go to McDonalds in the US, we did let the kids go to a couple of them at lunch because they wanted the Happy Meals with the toys that have "Australia" on them. They actually kept them as souvenirs. Have fun!