Milk & Manolos

Back in the mid nineties when life moved at the speed of sound, and when house parties would not only go on all night but end with the collective viewing of the Hollyoaks Omnibus, my loved up friendship circle would frequently meet for Sunday lunch. A lunch that would roll into another coffee, then perhaps a glass of wine, and then someone would inevitably suggest we order a bottle or two. Our venue, various smokey public houses, sometimes as dingey as can be. As long as we were together what did we care ?

As it does, life moved on. We all met new people, and fell in love. While our friendships remained intact, our now gigantic friendship circle prohibited the cosy Sunday lunches we had all come to know and love. Of course, they still existed, just not in the same form.
Last Sunday we met friends for lunch at Ditto Bar & Restaurant. Albeit, not my original line up back in 1997 it was certainly my husbands. All hung-over and ready for a roast, not to mention accompanied by the Munchkin, we were unaware of the magic that was about to happen.

Lead to our table one of the first things that hit us was the lovely relaxed feel of the place. Stylishly set up for service there was an inviting buzz, neither too busy nor too quite. As we walked to our table the Munchkin squealed with joy. Tucked in a separate room, not entirely noticeable she had seen what we were soon to discover, was the playroom. And not just any playroom. Upon closer inspection we found what can only be described as Eden for any small person accompanying their parents to lunch - a wonderfully equipped soft play area full to the brim with toys.
Comfortably settled at our table I can safely say that we had the best Sunday lunch since being parents. The food was exceptional with true Sunday staples, the staff friendly and efficient. Having arrived at 1 pm our feet didn’t set out on the sad trudge home until 4.30 pm. Not only lunch but a day out too.

It’s so rare that a place can cater to such differing needs, but Ditto have managed to do it so wonderfully. Not once while in the restaurant did we feel that we were in a family restaurant and all children were amazingly behaved. The brightlights and squishiness of the soft play room certainly made for one small but nicely tired and subdued dining companion.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 25th, 2007 at 11:43 pm and is filed under Rainy Days, Food, Days Out. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.