The Allotment Cafe – Kaipara Coast Highway

Today after swimming me and mum checked out our local cafe (finally!).  It is set amongst the Kaipara Sculpture Gardens and Garden Centre on the Kaipara Coast Highway.  Off the beaten track, but highly recommended, I reckon it’s one of the top kid friendly places we have been too!

It’s a really lovely setting having so many pretty plants and flowers everywhere.  There is also a play area in the corner which I loved playing in! They even had a cool train track with Thomas the tank engine trains (I have never played with those before).

There is also changing facilities for mums to change our nappies too!  And three highchairs!

There is a special kids menu, and I had the vege sticks with hummus….YUM! I loved the bread sticks that came with them.  Mum had the corn fritters with bacon and plum sauce, I didn’t try them cause i was too busy stuffing my face with hummus, but mum said they were simple, no frills, but still nice, and we had a delicious carrot cake for desert! oh la la!

The lady that runs the place is lovely and working on doing some cool things to include mums and bubs, to add to the community events. Her plans include a child gardening day on the weekends, and they have Swap-a-roonie (bring baby clothes, and adult clothes to swap).  She has already started Crop Swap every second Saturday morning locals can bring in excess produce from the garden and swap it with each othe!  So cool ay!  Me and mum had no idea, but will definitely check those out!  If you want more info just ring the Kaipara Garden Centre.

I loved it here and didn’t want to leave – actually had a tantee in the carpark…..cause mum was trying to get me in the car.  I don’t do that often….so must have liked it! 🙂

If you feel like an excursion out of town, this is such a great place for families to come, it’s only 45 mins away from town.  You can walk through the sculpture gardens (one hour of sculptures, then you can add the nature walk which is another hour), then have yummy lunch and a play in the play area!

We will definitely come back!

The cool play area!

checking out the gardens

What is Baby Led Weaning?

Thought we should quickly explain what Baby Led Weaning is.

The upshot of it in a few words is when you basically give me whatever you are eating, or finger food!  You don’t start off with puree’s, or spoon feeding.  You are in charge of what you give the bubba, so give them a variety of food, fritters, veggies, meat etc, and they can just eat what they want and how much they want.  This means they are regulating their own intake.

They eat when they are hungry, and stop when they are full!

Pros:

1.  they learn to eat a variety of food.  I even eat chillies, and curry’s!  yummy.
2.  I have never choked on food. Cause you learn to chew and deal with solids at an early                     age when your gag reflex is more forward (anterior for you medical people), it means that by the time your intake increases, you have already learnt how to swallow and clear your airway if the food goes down the wrong way!  If something goes down my throat, I just cough and bring it up again. No dramas!  People do get worried though that their baby will choke more…. but I certainly didn’t!
3. if your mum is lazy…..like mine is….(sorry mum) then she can give you what she is eating….saves her making another meal! yes!
4. some theory and evidence that it can decrease obesity in later years, this makes sense to me, because you are encouraging your bubba to stop eating when they are hungry, rather than forcing them, or tricking them to eat from a spoon by pretending the spoon is an aeroplane! (really….. are we that stupid?) ha ha.

Cons:

1. messy messy MESSY!  Often to tell the stupid adults that I’m finished, if they haven’t already noticed I’ve started playing with my food, I will throw it on the floor.  It’s especially messy if I’m holding the spoon and it’s mashed potato or something that goes everywhere!
2. mum….. dad……you have to share your food!!!  not good for those who are hogs!  he he

here’s me eating sushi!

Nina’s Cafe – Whitianga

We went to Whitianga when I was about 7 months old.  It is a lovely place. I had a great time as we were staying in a hotel with Nana and Grandad.  Didn’t sleep much though (much to mums despair), cause it was a new place I woke up every 2 hours wondering where I was. oh well.

Anyway we thought we better try out the cafe named after me! Yes…..Nina’s cafe! ha ha

When we got there it was really busy, because it was a holiday weekend, and the staff were a bit stressed out, so didn’t have much time to make friends with me.  Dad even made a joke to the waiter about the cafe being named after me…and he said “oh…that’s the first time I have heard that joke”! ha ha – slapped in the face dad!

The cafe is set in an old little cottage, and it’s just lovely outside, as you feel like you are sitting in the garden.  There were a couple of highchairs there too, which was good.

We had breakfast there, mum and dad had eggs bene. I ate a bit of it too. It was nice.  The coffee was ok.

I would definitely go back there next time we are down there, I’m sure they will be friendlier next time when they are less busy and stressed.

 would get more if they were a bit more friendly.

Roberts Cafe – Silverdale

This is one of the most child friendly cafes I have been too.  It has only recently opened in Silverdale, but sadly this weekend it closed! 😦  I think it’s due to structural problems with the building, but they have opened other cafes in Millwater and Hobsonville.

I have been here quite a few times now, it’s perfect for mums and bubs coffee groups as it’s big and they have loads and loads of highchairs, that are very easy to clean!

I also like it because they have an awesome baby and children’s menu.  You can get puree for $1, and then they have things like fruit, chips, fish etc on a kids menu.  I normally just eat half of what mum has so not much of a drama for me, but good to have the option.

So far we have tried a panini (didn’t like that so much, was pretty dry), the soup of the day which was potato and leek was nice, have had the open chicken sandwich (this is lovely, it’s served on a wooden board and has a little deep fry basket full of chippies), and mum and dad have had breakfast here which they enjoyed.  Dad is pretty fussy and he said he would go again, so that’s a good sign.

AND…. they have the coolest ever play area! There are bean bags, chalk boards, a tv playing movies, and lots of wooden toys to play with.  I have made heaps of friends walking around the toy area, and am always entertained.

Very sad to see it go, but me and mum will look forward to checking out the other Roberts cafes sometime soon 🙂

https://www.facebook.com/RobertsCoffeeBar

Frolic Cafe – Royal Oak

Me, mum and our coffee group (paediatric doctors and their babies…..my friends) meet about once ever couple of months to hang out!

Besides our exciting trip to Langham a few months ago, we haven’t met at a cafe before.  We decided to try Frolic Cafe as it’s close to some of the girls (esp one with a new bubba).

It was very busy on a saturday morning, but luckily an organised mumma booked us a table out the back.  It was so cool to be out the back as there was heaps of space for us to run around, and they even had a toy box!  It was under an awning too, so was nice and warm.

The waiters were very friendly to us 🙂

There was enough highchairs to go around and they were nice and clean.

Mum ordered the Mediterranean Chicken Salad, which I shared with her.  It had some yummy capsicums and the chicken was nice, she said it wasn’t as tasty as she remembered it from a few years ago.  I don’t think she would order that again. For sweets she had the apple crumble…and even gave me a bit….delish!

She said the coffee was good too…..and it was hard for her not to have another one!

Overall very good place to hang out at my age (13 months at that time), would definitely go again.

This is exactly where we sat, but obviously not us.

 child friendly place but a bit disappointed by the food. might improve next time?

Little Bird – Ponsonby

Mum loves Little Bird Unbakery!  Loves it!  I have been here quite a few times now, but it was before I was able to even eat anything, so can’t tell you about the food.

Mum says everything on the menu is raw!  She loves it so much she even bought the cook book! ha ha ha…..dad cracked up as she never cooks!  She has made one thing the Choc Tarte from it which is a hit with her and her friends (not quite family….wasn’t eaten at xmas 😦 poor mum). The rest of the book is very pretty, and she will often get it out to look at it, but hasn’t attempted much of the other recipes as they are a tad too complicated for her.  doh.

The decor in this place is very trendy.  Brick walls are cool,and they have big bench tables.

I think they have a highchair, but the times we went mum used the Phil and Teds Lobster.  Some of the smaller tables are a bit squished together so hard for me to fit in.

The few times mum has been there, she says she is so full she doesn’t need to eat anything else for the rest of the day!  Crazy….. all from raw food??

I’m looking forward to trying this raw food thing next time…… hopefully won’t be too healthy! ha ha

 

 delicious and healthy food, not the most child friendly place though.

Ginger Crunch Cafe – Helensville

Mum and me always like to go for a little treat if daddy is out fishing 🙂

So today we took ourselves to Ginger Crunch Cafe in Helensville, it’s in the old train station and set up next to an art and antique place.  It’s very popular for the older population in the area, but I reckon it’s because it has simple yet scrumptious food.

It was nice, has a little outdoor deck area that i could walk around in.  The lady who did the coffee, was so friendly and talked to me, it was nice.  There were two high chairs, and I managed to guilt a big kid into giving me hers! he he.

Mum had the bacon and vege soup of the day.  It was about $10.  Mum said it was average, could have had more flavour. She was a bit disappointed, esp cause she is having major soup cravings at the moment. I had a lentil roll, which was really yum! It’s not often I will eat most of the meal, but i did that time.  For desert mum had a peach crumble, and mum gave me a tiny bit of peach, which was delicious!  I hope she never gives up sugar 🙂

 ol school, yummy cooked food.

 

Walnut Cafe – Orewa

Walnut cafe is tucked away in a hidden spot in Orewa.  I really like it here.  It has a lovely garden and a sandpit! woop woop! I love eating sand 🙂  The cottage itself is an historic building from the 1800’s, sooo old!  It is family owned and even a cool grandma works here!  They are German, and certainly tell you how it is (especially when you park in the wrong park, the dude is renowned for yelling at people! he has never yelled at us though), they are lovely, and friendly.

I have been here heaps, even when I was asleep in the pram and not eating.

Last time me and mum went, she had the chicken caesar salad and really liked it, actually she pretty much gets that every time, because it’s so good.  Except once she got the soup which was also delicious.

Sadly I have never had my own meal there, once mum was going to get me a mini quiche, but then she quickly realised it was $10, so asked for it to be put back!  doh!  what i have eaten there from mum though, has been nice.

I reckon this place (besides the expensive food for kids), is a really good kid friendly spot.  The sandpit has toys in it, and there are ducks to chase around, plus they even have a changing table in the toilet!

I recommend it if you are up in the coast.

 child friendly, but doesn’t have good child stuff on the menu, which let them down.

The Green Grocer – Kumeu

We came here looking for some yummy organic food.

I was pretty grumpy after travelling from our village, but happy to walk in.

Mum had a hard time choosing what to get, but we ended up getting the chicken quiche, which tasted good. Nice bits of chicken in it.  We finished the meal with a lovely lemon slice…. i got a small bite 🙂  For an organic cafe it wasn’t too expensive either, and mum said the coffee was good.

Sadly the cafe doesn’t have any high chairs, but now I’m 14 months I managed to sit in a big persons chair by myself!  They did have some toys in the corner to play with which kept me entertained for about 5 seconds, it was much better when another little kid of 4 years old came in and she played with me.

Overall it was pretty average.

 would come back but only for the coffee.

Sunday Painters – Auckland

My mum is so clever, she works as a Baby Doctor, and while I was hanging around in her tummy, she was studying for her specialist examinations and passed! woop woop!  She did the written but then I was born so she put off the clinical until this year (and passed!!).

Anyway upshot is – when I was 6 weeks old we went out with her study group to celebrate!! It was pretty lovely.  It was the first time I had been out that late at night, and I was really angry to begin with in the car.  I cried all the way into town.  Then when we got there I breast fed like crazy to calm myself down.

I then slept in mums moby wrap while she ate dinner.  It was a long time ago now and she can’t remember what she ate, maybe it was the chicken.

All the staff were really nice to me and one lady even wanted to give me cuddles.

I had a lovely time as my first restaurant experience.

PS – sorry for vomiting on your cushions