Healthy kid's meals - The ubiquitous children's menu - time for change

The ubiquitous children's menu

I am truly fed up. Well and truly fed up. Living in London with such an abundance of great restaurants offering food from all over the world is one of the pulls that keeps me here. As adults we are spoilt for choice. These said restaurants offer us temping daily specials and menus listing dishes as long as our arms. Why is it then that the children's menu in most eateries offer the same four dishes:

1. fish (more often than not fingers) and chips
2. chicken nuggets and chips
3. penne pasta with tomato sauce or meat bolognaise
4. baked beans on toast

Not only are these the only four choices available, the chips are mostly frozen and not hand made from fresh potatoes and there is often no vegetable in sight on any of the plates. You may sometimes get a dried up slice of cucumber or tomato shoved onto the corner somewhere as an after thought. Come on - what is going on? There is no wonder there is a food crisis in the UK with children.

The worst places for offering the above, and often adding cheap sausages, frozen burgers and pizzas to the tasteless mix are soft play centres. I haven't yet gone to one that offers a varied and healthy menu for kids. Although there are signs everywhere warning you not to consume any of your own food or drink on the premises, I couldn't care less. I come equipped with packed lunches and drinks for my children as I do not want to pay for the pleasure of seeing my children eat cardboard. Speaking to the owner of a local soft play centre and asking him why he did not serve healthy freshly cooked food at his establishment, he answered 'it would cost me too much money to employ a chef to do this.'

Come on! Change your menus please. So, if anyone can suggest any nice places to eat where children's taste buds are given the same respect as adult's please let me and my readers know.

Ok. Rant over. Have a wonderful weekend and for all us Londoners out there, enjoy the sunshine.