First off, we paid for our meal, no freebies of preferential treatment was had by us. It’s possible if there had been we may have had better service. Uh-ohhhh….

It wasn’t bad – in fact there were some cool things – H got her first temporary tattoo which she quite liked, and a decent goody bag which meant I could teach her dominos (or rather, Nandominos) – although she got a bit bored. Fortunately for children under 3 (like H) there’s also some colouring in to keep them occupied – and plenty too. The back of each picture has another frame to draw things which kept her busy, anyway.

So, food options? Same old fare, although looking at it with toddler eyes, we went for the junior meal deal they do – around £5ish for a burger (choice of five, two veggie options) and one regular side (H chose mash). Not the most healthy of options, but a safe bet. I got a veggie pitta and chips, Shaun got a chicken and some chips. Tomorrow we’re eating lots of vegetables…

They arrived, and while they were tasty, I was a bit surprised that the child portions were almost as big as mine – had we ordered H’s in a pitta our meals would have been identical – hers possibly with slightly more.

She’s not quite three yet, so takes her time eating – so while I’d finished first, Shaun ploughed through his animals and took quite a while, H slowly went through hers – with me taking half of her veggieburger in the end (I was hungry).

Our table was right under a speaker which didn’t help my tinnitus and lack of hearing very much, annoyingly – though we didn’t ask to be seated elsewhere which is our own fault.

Once H had finished, the final part of her meal deal included an ice lolly or some bottomless yoghurt. We opted for the lolly when paying for it (at the start), but when the time came they’d run out – so we went for the frozen yoghurt, only to be told that they’d also run out of that but were re-filling the machine. All good, but when you’ve a tired toddler getting slightly more cranky it’s not great. We were told they’d bring us the yoghurt (BIG mistake!) and when they did it was piled up high in the tub. Probably too high… we’d have only put a tiny bit in, as we know how slowly H eats – so a bonus point to them for finally delivering, even if it was too much.

Not to worry, we’ll go and get two more spoons and help her eat it – except they’d run out of spoons.

I did actually resort to sticking my fingers in the yoghurt at one point, if only to get home sooner (try taking some food from a toddler who is possessive about what she eats, it’s not easy, thank god for the distraction technique).

Anyway, we eventually left, the whole thing came in at a very reasonable £25, but I kind of wish there’d been better portion sizes for me vs H – and that we hadn’t had such a long wait. Also, I wish I’d asked to move tables, which was an issue when we first got in and it was quite full. Our table was clean (or rather, cleaned when they realised it was still mucky and we were being seated), and the food was good.

What would we change if we go back? Rather than mash we’ll do a side salad. H didn’t want her beanburger in the end. If we do take the burger route it’ll be in a pitta bread as it’s easier to pick up when you’ve only got little hands. I’d probably order something I could share side-dish wise with H so she doesn’t spend too long on just one part – which would definitely be a salad as I felt we ordered quite stodgy things.

So yes, 6/10, could do better.