When it comes to childrens’ menus, most restaurants stick to old favourites like chicken nuggets, spaghetti, and fish fingers and chips. They might not be the most exciting dishes but they’re safe choices that most kids will enjoy. However, our recent research shows that children in the UK are developing a taste for gourmet ingredients and an impressive 80% now prefer to order from the adult menu.
The nationwide study revealed that 76% of British parents admit that their children eat a much broader range of foods than they did when they were young. Children now dine out at least twice a month, with an average spend of £12.43 per meal.
The survey also found that children are developing a more sophisticated palate, with almost a quarter of British children having eaten sushi, while almost one in five have eaten lobster, macaroons and scallops. Other surprisingly gourmet dishes proved popular, including soufflé, venison and squid.
Following these findings, French restaurant group Aubaine has redesigned their childrens’ menu to cater to the increasingly sophisticated tastes of Generation Gourmet. From Monday 7th December, children will be able to choose from delicious dishes like lobster spaghetti, superfood salad, and crispy squid.
Aubaine’s founder Hani Nakkach said of the re-launch “We’re increasingly finding that parents order food for their children from the adult menu in order to give them more choice. Often restaurants underestimate the broad tastes of today’s children and therefore we wanted to revolutionise our children’s menu with an offering you’d be hard pushed to find elsewhere. From OpenTable’s research it’s clear to see there is a real demand for innovation in this area and we’re excited to see what people think.”
If your little foodies would like to try the menu, you can make a booking at one of Aubaine’s London restaurants on OpenTable. Tag your tweets and photos with #GenerationGourmet – we’d love to know which dishes were their favourites!
