Child friendly pub

[Donkey]

Hi - which is the most child friendly pub in East Dulwich? I'm organising a Sunday lunch for someone visiting friends in London and there will be quite a few children.. The Herne Tavern will be too far away from the train station.

Thanks!

[Ruth_Baldock]

The Plough, perhaps? Loads of room, about 5 stops from E Dulwich Stn on the 176/185/40.

[Strawbs]

Victoria inn has a kids playroom with CCTV so you can watch but book

[crystal7]

Another vote for the Victoria Inn. Lovely food and great playroom but yes book. Very near P Rye station too.

[Donkey]

Brilliant - thanks for that. I'll try the Victoria Inn.

[crystal7]

Another vote for the Victoria Inn. Lovely food and great playroom but yes book. Very near P Rye station too.

[RhubarbGarden]

A little further afield but The Florence in Herne Hill and The Crooked Well in Camberwell are both good.

[Otta]

Am I the only one who would feel a bit weird about sending my kid in to a playroom with a load of strabge kids she didn't know, whilst I sat down for a nice meal and watched her on TV?

[Ruth_Baldock]

Correction, Otta, a nice meal and a BEER.

[Otta]

In that case she can play out on the road for all I care.

[rachel83]

Kids meet strange kids all the time at the park and quite happily play together. If it means I get to eat and drink in peace, then I'm all for it!

[Otta]

Do the pub have an adult in the playroom staffing it?

[StraferJack]

There is usually at least one parent in there with the kids. Often me

It works pretty well and the kids seem to love it

[Yak]

Otta, I misread your post as asking whether there was an adult playroom in the pub. The mind boggles...

[Otta]

I'm not trying to be negative, I just don't like the idea of dumping my kid somewhere whilst I have dinner. That said, I admit we are very lucky having all the grandparents very close, so kids can be dumped with them instead.

If kids came to the pub with me, I'd expect to be watching them / with them at all times.

Just for clarity, I'm talking about toddler. Would be different if they were a bit older.

[snowboarder]

I agree - I wouldn't leave my 2.10 yr old and his friends in a room together with a load of toys unsupervised. It would a)be carnage and b)toy politics can result in big fights atm!

[StraferJack]

It's not really about dumping a kid tho' - mine is a toddler and she doesn't get dumped in there

More likely we all sit around for some grub or a catch up, toddler included - but instead of after an hour of sitting in a high chair followed by scratchiness, one of the group can take her in to the playroom where she gets to run around, dress up in fancy costume and generally have a ball. Having the Tv means everyone else can see what's going on and join in or swap as needed

And yeah not having family living nearby probaly does play a part

But I do recommend having a look at the reality and seeing how much fun both toddler and parents get out of it compared to a normal couple of hours at home or cafe or whatever

[Otta]

Dumped not a good choice of word, and nothing was being insinuated by it.

The situation you describe sounds ideal, but I bet there are people who go, put kid in playroom, and then go and have a meal, whilst kid spends entire time in playroom.

[Knomester]

We do the same as StraferJack at The Victoria.

We generally try to get there an hour or so before we all want to eat and let Baby Knomester have a good run around in the playroom (taking it in turns to stay in there with him) then he's usually more than happy to sit in his highchair for a good hour or so whilst we all eat together.

I'd never leave him in the playroom - I don't think that's what it's designed for is it? The one at The Florence is probably a bit different because you can see everything going on in there if you're sat outside so you could maybe leave older children to play and watch them from outside.

[crystal7]

Would never leave toddler in there alone, it's just good to have somewhere for her to play if we're there for a meal. We generally take it in turns to stay with her which works well if we're with a group.

[Otta]

Okay, this is sounding better. It was people talking about the CCTV that made me think there were no adults (paid, or parents) in there, and the kids were just being supervised by camera.