Catering to kids

The quality and variety of Prague restaurants seem to improve every year, and the pub and café culture is well-established, but when you've got toddlers in tow, smoky cafés and restaurants with too many "yuck" organ dishes or suspicious leafy green things on the plate are no-go zones.  Then there is the added embarrassment of being glared at by unsympathetic singles when your bored kiddo decides to dump his plate of spaghetti on the floor and serve an unexpected order of temper tantrum to break the monotony. Where can parents with small children enjoy dining out? Prague moms say much has improved over the past decade, and now there are a number of kid-friendly restaurants and cafés, though moms still have to think on their feet.

"Dining out with kids is a bit like boarding an international flight - you've got to be ready for anything, including a quick escape," said Larissa Petryca, an expat mom from Australia. A freelance graphic designer and mother of two children under four, Larissa says she struggled to find information on raising kids in Prague when she first moved here with her Czech husband. She soon sought out other mothers in the same predicament, and she, along with two other mothers with mixed families, started the Kids in Prague website, which has reviews of all kinds of things to do with children in the city, including an extensive restaurant and café section. Petryca and her fellow mothers take turns reviewing restaurants and cafés in different parts of the city, and the site is an invaluable resource for parents desperate for a night out. There are dozens of restaurants reviewed on the website, but Petryca was kind enough to share some of her best dinning with kids tips.

"A big area for a lot of the expats would be the brunches held at hotels," said Petryca. "One that we get a lot of positive feedback on is Zinc."

Brunch at the Hilton Hotel Old Town Zinc restaurant is held Sundays from 12:30 to 3 p.m., and the menu contains a wide selection. Adults will like the smoked salmon, boiled lobster, tiger prawns, fresh oysters, roast station and sushi, as well as the long list of vegetable sides and cold starters. Kids will like the sweets corner, the kid's buffet and the kids' corner, where they can play under the supervision of a babysitter while the grown-ups enjoy their meal and some live jazz. The cost is 990 Kč per person, but kids under 10 eat for free, and kids under 12 get a 50 percent discount.

"It seems like anyone who has done the brunch is amazed with the food - for the kids and the adults, and also for the value," Petryca said.

Similar brunches are also held at Hotel InterContinental, the Golf Yacht Hotel and Hotel Mövenpick.

Petryca said often the easiest thing to do with kids is go for pizza. One of the kid-friendly places she recommends is Pizzeria Gusto in Prague 2 because of the children's play area with toys, rocking horses and art supplies for children to play with. And as for the food, well, pizza is always a hit with kids.

Vegetarian, on the other hand, is not usually popular with the pint-size chicken McNugget crowd, but Petryca says moms like vegetarian restaurant Lehká hlava in Prague 1 because of the imaginative ambience in the back room (small, fiber-optic lights punch through the ceiling painted as the night sky), the small suitcase of toys and coloring materials the staff bring to the table and the kids menu, which includes the favorite of Petryca's daughter, rice pudding with apples, raisins and cinnamon.

"Of course, if you've got kids with you, you're going to want to go someplace where they have a kids menu and can bring out some toys to keep them occupied," Petryca said.

For outdoor dining, the consensus among the expat mom community is that Vozovna in Prague 7 is one of the best. The outdoor dining area overlooks the play area, which has a trampoline, a jungle gym and a sandpit, along with other play equipment.

"And the food there is actually really, really good," added Petryca. She warned though, that parents should always inspect the outdoor play equipment before they relax with their meal and let the kids go for it. She explains that often times the workmanship is shoddy with exposed broken boards or nails, or the slides are just too steep, making it hectic for parents who have to pay constant attention to the kids.

"You can also tell by watching the other parents - if they have to be constantly going over to the play area to help their kids down because they've gone too high," she said. 

For cafés, Petryca says there are many, but one of her favorites is owned by her friend Simona Angelis called Kafe Kakao in Prague 2. Angelis is also a mother, and she says that around the time she had her child, options for cafés you could bring your kids to were limited.

"I often had to face problems finding nonsmoking and baby-friendly areas," said Angelis. "I knew that most other young parents felt there was also a problem."

Finally in 2008, Angelis opened the café, which is an ideal spot for moms to meet up for an afternoon coffee fix. There is a large play area with a variety of toys to keep kids of all ages occupied, as well as a play kitchen, a train set, cars, puzzles and books. Sweet treats for kids are served in colorful bowls with big cutlery kids can manage.

"Our goal is not only to serve coffee and cakes, but also to offer a kind and friendly atmosphere," said Angelis. Kafe Kakao can be rented for children's birthday parties, and Angelis regularly organizes other special events for kids, like fairytale readings.

"Prague may look like a nightmare for parents with young kids, with all of the small streets and small entrances, but there is actually a lot for families to do," said Petryca. "Prague is definitely a kid-friendly city."

Emily Thompson can be reached at
ethompson@praguepost.com