When we were pregnant, one of our neighbours told us to enjoy eating out at nice restaurants while we can, because we’d be eating at WhiteSpot for years. We scoffed at that – we were determined to take our child to eat out at other restaurants. Alas, how wrong we were.

Though we do take Aiden to other restaurants, it’s not as often as we expected. We tend to choose restaurants with a “homestyle” dining offering, since Aiden doesn’t seem to enjoy things like sushi or Thai food or fancy meals like seafood yet. He, instead, likes things such as pasta and sausage and burgers and fries.

I told myself pre-baby, “I won’t give my child fries,” but the reality is that any food a toddler chooses to consume is a good thing, and I’ll happily give him fries. We typically order a couple of menu items we know he’ll like which are healthy, and if he wants a few fries, that’s A-ok by me. For the most part, we don’t yet choose restaurants based on kids menus – Aiden prefers to eat our food than anything ordered for him anyway!

So, why do we eat at Whitespot? The menu is diverse, some of it healthy, and you know there’s always a free high chair. The price is decent for the food you receive. More than anything, though, it comes down to service. The food comes quickly, the wait service knows how to deal with kids, and we don’t feel guilty if Aiden needs to walk around before his food arrives. The food isn’t always perfect (sometimes we get lukewarm fries) and going during a shift change is not a good time, but WhiteSpot has made loyal customers of us.

Aiden is more interested in sorting sugar packets than in colouring, but I know that the kid-friendly atmosphere, and someday the pirate packs, will keep us coming back for years.