Best Themed Restaurants in London for Kids

Having a meal in a restaurant is a welcome departure from the mundane routine of preparing food and having it in the confines of your home. Moreover, kids are mostly fussy about having food at home and as such taking them out for a meal does provide them with a departure from their routine. It gets even better for them if you take them to a themed restaurant that offers something new by way of inventive decoration and innovative food options that will keep them interested in the food. Given below are some of the best child-friendly restaurants in London that offer excellently themed surroundings and tasty food. The themes range from rainforest wonders to medieval courts.

Planet Hollywood

Your kids will love to dine at Planet Hollywood as the place is inspired by the glamour of Hollywood. This innovative restaurant was launched in New York on 22^nd October 1991 and it is the only restaurant of its kind in the world. It has the backing of many Hollywood super stars such as Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Demi Moore. It has had a great run for 16 years at the Trocadero Centre in Piccadilly Circus, London but in 2009, it moved to its new premises on the Haymarket which is just a 2 minute Walk from the Trocadero Centre. It has been based on the Planet Hollywood resort and casino in Las Vegas but its logo was changed. It now offers a large cocktail bar and many themed areas such as the Bond Room, the British room and the trendy Cabana room along with plenty of favourite memorabilia items. Since cinema is the favourite pastime of most people including kids, this place is very popular with all family members irrespective of whether you are dining alone, in small or in large groups, and for throwing small or large parties. Kids are especially attracted to the themed surroundings. At its London premises, there are attractive movie paraphernalia and themed meals are served to different themed menus such as Terminator menu or classic American, Asian and Italian a la carte deals. Located conveniently in West End, the restaurant has an electrifying glamour and it is an ideal place to have your meals with your family before or after a London show.

Guests at Shaftesbury Premier London Paddington can easily reach any of these family-friendly restaurants and other attractions of the city as they are located close by.

Rainforest Café

Located in the heart of the West End and specifically designed for kids, Rainforest Cafe kindles children’s lively imaginations besides providing delicious dishes. It offers wild sights and sounds of the rainforest along with special effects that create loud thunder, sparkling lighting and tropical rain showers. In the midst of all these special effects you will find animated creatures such as gorillas and jaguars suddenly appearing from nowhere. The menus offered have tasty themes and the whole environment has an adventurous touch as you sit among trees and vines in an atmosphere of a jungle and wildlife. You should not be surprised if you find elephants and crocodiles to give you company. The Amazon Rainforest created by the restaurant springs to life with animatronics, tropical fish tanks and waterfalls where you and your family can have an ‘adventurous’ meal. A Retail Village is also available where your kids can buy a cuddly animal toy. The vibrant and exciting atmosphere provides plenty of fun for the entire family and an exciting dining experience.

Visitors to London will find that their best accommodation option is a Piccadilly Hotel London since it is located in a happening place that offers all that they may need.

The Medieval Banquet

If you wish to take your family for a sumptuous medieval banquet that offers a wonderful blend of delicious dishes and innovative theatrical acts, you just have to go to The Medieval Banquet which is located just two minutes from Tower Bridge. You will find yourself being transported back to the exciting and dangerous period of Henry VIII and may find that you are battling with knights in armour with swords while magicians and contortionists are captivating the King. Your kids will simply love the bold action, comic jesters and age-old music while enjoying delicious mouth-watering courses of days gone by. Since the venue encourages interaction, you and your kids can participate in whatever action that is taking place. The best of American & international cuisine including steaks, burgers, past, salad etc are offered at the restaurant.

Margarita Loca

Located at Battersea Park Road, Margarita Loca offers an exciting range of exotic cuisine. This Mexican-Cuban restaurant offers excellent food, great customer service, delicious fajitas, nachos, tacos, buritos, chimichangas, nice cocktails, Mexican beers and a lot more. It has an innovative, richly bright Mexican decor and colourful sombreros. Your kids can eat for free if you visit this friendly restaurant before 7pm on Monday to Thursday. They will get their first taste of authentic Mexican food in a fantastic, lively and playful atmosphere. The innovative drinks include ice-cold soft drink cocktails that have wacky long straws for sharing. Moreover, generous, American-sized portions are served which you can enjoy while listening to lively mamba, salsa and reggaeton music that is always being played at this entirely enticing restaurant.

Ed’s Easy Diner

This restaurant in Soho is a glittering place being neon lit and modelled as an authentic American diner embellished with plush red seats, chequerboard floor and classic kitchen-front bar. It is an ideal place for families as it is lively and welcoming in its design and offers relaxing, yet a merry environment. A tasty selection of classical dishes highlighted by crispy fries and delicious milkshakes that kids will love thoroughly is offered at this restaurant. It is an ideal place for kids as its junior menu offers a wide range of dishes from succulent hamburgers and chicken fillets to sugary Junior Sundaes. Kids will also enjoy the fun activity sheets that they are given to fill out and colour in.

Walthamstow Pumphouse - A Museum Dedicated to Industrial Development

There are not many places in London that offer permanent exhibitions on the history of London’s ports except the Museum of London Dockyards. No doubt, there are small borough museums that have glass cases that provide some insight into various industrial developments but it will be difficult to find out about how Edwin Roe helped in the success of the first manned British plane flight and in the setting up of the Avro company that went on to build the Vulcan, UK’s most important military aircraft.

Similarly, it will be difficult to fish out information regarding AEC that had started London’s thriving bus and lorry manufacturing industry. It will also not be easy to learn more about the Great Eastern Railway’s massive works on the site of the Olympic Park in Stratford that has built about 1,700 steam locomotives, 5,500 passenger carriages and 33,000 goods wagons over its lifetime. However, east London’s industrial history is to some extent secure at Walthamstow’s Vestry House Museum where you can see a restored Bremer car, the first British motor car that was built with an internal combustion engine. Realising this lack of recognition regarding East London’s manufacturing history a group of people are trying to establish a new museum, Walthamstow Pumphouse Museum, on a site on South Access Road near the area’s network of reservoirs. The aim of the museum is to trace the various threads of industrial invention and innovation.

Based in Walthamstow, London the Walthamstow Pumphouse Museum is one of the few museums in London that highlights the important industrial heritage of east London by focussing on stellar achievements in road, rail, air and sea transport in Waltham Forest and the nearby areas including the Lea Valley, from the early 19^th century. One of the objectives of the museum is to showcase how Waltham Forest, the surrounding area and its people were affected by the onset of industrial development. The contents of the museum include various artifacts that include Routemaster buses, a pair of Marshall C class steam engine, which after much restoration work is now fully operational, and different types of fire fighting vehicles.

If you are staying at Shaftesbury Premier London Paddington while visiting London, you will be able to enjoy luxurious accommodation right in the heart of the city and close to its various attractions and to Paddington station.

The museum is housed in and around Low Hall Pumping Station which was a sewage pumping station dating back to 1885 and its buildings are Grade II listed. Previously it operated as The Pump House Steam and Transport Museum Trust and is still being developed. It is open for public viewing only at certain times. Also on the site you can find other historic vehicles and a building known as ‘the Firestation’ that houses various fire-fighting equipment that include the Dennis fire engine that featured prominently in the London’s Burning TV series. You can also find a World War II era trailer pump and a rare 1896 vintage horse-drawn Merryweather hand-operated pump. It is quite possible that this museum will very soon become the only permanent exhibition dedicated to the fire service because the future of the London Fire Brigade Museum in Southwark is uncertain.

Visitors to London usually opt for staying at Piccadilly hotel London as they will be located in the midst of all the action that the city has to offer.

The work of establishing this museum fully is also towards working with the heritage Lottery Fund so that a permanent set of museum buildings can be set up which will be situated around the Pumphouse. The largest of the buildings will house a transport gallery meant to display the museum’s 1968 Victoria Line tube train that is at present a popular place for pop up dining experiences that are organised by the Basement Galley, along with a Routemaster bus and a full-size replica of the Roe aircraft which will hover above the space.

Smaller galleries will also be established that will display other aspects of the industrial past along with a large learning centre/meeting room. Significant transformations are being planned for the outside by giving the bare plot of land an early twentieth century streetscape that will have tram tracks and even a working tram. Along this street, the shop windows will also be cooperating by displaying some of the other artifacts of the museum that will include a ‘toy shop’ featuring many different products of the local toy manufacturer Wells Brimtoy, while a 1920s garage will house many of the other vehicles of the museum.

The Pumphouse Museum is open every Sunday for visitors but it is important to remember that the site is still very much a work in progress and as such you may not be able to find dedicated museum staff to guide you around the various displays. However, if you visit it on the last Sunday of the month you will be able to see the Marshall steam engine in operation or if you visit it on the first Tuesday evening of the month you can be a part of a get-together for enthusiasts.

If you do visit the Pumphouse Museum, you should watch out for a peculiar interloper that has come here from a defunct transport museum in Leicester. The clue to its identity is in ‘diese Art des Verkehrs ist 285 Meilen entfernt von ihrem ursprünglichen Zuhause’…, in case you understand German language.