NOT every restaurant or pub is suitable for small children.
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Luckily for residents of St George and the Sutherland Shire there are options when it comes to eating out with the kids these school holidays.
Taren Point Hotel was recently awarded the title of best family-friendly pub in The Sydney Morning Herald's Good Pub Food Guide.
The children's menu and play room were what secured the reviewers' nod along with the showbags, colouring books and crayons given to each child.
The children's menu includes smaller portions of pub favourites including chicken tenders and chips, cheese and ham pizza, spaghetti bolognaise and calamari.
Licensee Adam Chapman said it was something the pub had been working towards for some time.
"Being a suburban area there are lots of young families around so we are just catering to our demographic," he said. "People keep coming back and they keep bringing their children."
And just across the Georges River, another restaurant is making the most of of the family market.
Carrs Park Cafe and Grill overlooks the picturesque inlet of Kogarah Bay and is a great place to take children for breakfast or lunch.
Co-owner Peter Szamek said the cafe has a lot of regular customers with small children and mothers with prams.
Mr Szamek didn't set out to establish a specifically child-friendly restaurant but the location and near-by playground naturally lends itself to appeal to families. "This sort of environment is great because people want to have their kids nearby but for them to be able to run around away from traffic so the park lets them sit back and watch their children play," he said.
"We have a kids' menu for breakfast and lunch and high chairs and booster."
The breakfast option that is most often favoured by children is the banana bread which is baked fresh on site, followed very closely by the soft boiled egg with sourdough soldiers.
For lunch children can choose between the house's crumbed chicken with chips and salad, pasta with tomato and basil sauce and fish with chips and salad.
THE NUMBERS
How many children live in StGeorge and the Sutherland Shire?
The 2011 census showed the average StGeorge family had 1.8 children and the average Shire family had 1.9 children.
ROCKDALE
6.6per cent aged 0 to 4
5.5per cent aged 5 to 9
KOGARAH
6.0per cent aged 0 to 4
5.6per cent aged 5 to 9
HURSTVILLE
6.2per cent aged 0 to 4
5.7per cent aged 5 to 9
SUTHERLAND SHIRE
6.6per cent aged 0 to 4
6.4per cent aged 5 to 9
■ Which restaurants in your area have you found to be child-friendly?
