Until I had children, going out for a meal and a few drinks with my husband was one of my favourite things.

But  if you have young children with, you will know that going out for a meal is not always a relaxing occasion (to say the least).

There have been many times that we have taken the kids out for a meal and it has ended up being a completely stressful experience. I find it difficult trying to keep the kids sat down throughout an entire meal, not to mention downright stressful trying to keep them from making too much noise/fighting with each other/crawling under the table when there are other people around.

So it made a welcome change to be able to go out and enjoy a few drinks and some delicious food while my kids were kept thoroughly entertained for the whole evening when we went to a Tapas Evening at Playful Cafe in Bishopston.

The idea is that parents can relax and enjoy a few drinks and some delicious food while their kids are entertained, not only by the plentiful toys, dressing up costumes and activities at Playful, but by singing, music and craft activities provided especially for the children that evening.

You can either book your table at the Tapas Evening at Playful Cafe at 5pm or 6pm. Parents can also stay on following an afternoon at Playful as there is no break in service.

On arrival, all grown-ups were treated to a complimentary glass of Sangria. You could bring your own wine to the Tapas Evening and Playful Cafe donated all proceeds from the corkage to Smile with Siddy, a charity which raises awareness, funding and treatment of neuroblastoma.

Nico Ferrentino, who runs Playful Cafe along with Kate Ferrentino, is the chef at Playful and the Tapas menu enabled him to showcase and share his culinary talents with the happy customers.

There were four courses on the menu which included a huge variety of delicious food, with lots of veggie options too, plus a gluten-free dessert.

We tried everything on the menu; this is the beauty of Tapas, you can try lots of new and different food at one time.

My favourites included Kate’s foraccia with marinated olives, parma ham, melon and rocket with a balsamic glaze, salmon fishcakes with thai puree, peas & parmesan arancini (risotto balls) with salsa, gnocchi with gorgonzola sauce, chorizo & chickpeas in a red wine sauce to name but a few. Feeling hungry?!

The food was plentiful and divine; I love trying new foods and the Tapas evening provided the perfect opportunity 🙂

For hungry kids, there is a FREE kids buffet at Playful Cafe’s Tapas Evenings. My kids tried a lot of our Tapas too. I really like my kids to try new and interesting foods.

My kids had a great time throughout the Tapas Evening…

We ended the Tapas Evening with the best bit of all…dessert!

The desserts on offer were Clara’s Tiramisu and Chocolate & Chickpea Brownie with vanilla ice cream. I recommend you try both 😉

Playful Cafe’s Tapas Evenings end with a kids’ calming bubble session at the end to help wind your kids down after their exciting evening at Playful Cafe.

We all had a great time at Playful Cafe’s Tapas Evening and went home relaxed, well-fed and very happy.

There is another Tapas Evening at Playful Cafe this Friday (27th June). If you would like to book a table, please email info@playfulcafe.co.uk. There are limited places so booking is essential!

You can also visit the Playful Cafe website for more information about Playful Cafe.