Nadège

Another stroller fit class, another restaurant! This time I decided to enjoy a quiet lunch alone with the baby.

Restaurant: Nadège
Location: Trinity Bellwoods
Meal: Lunch
Day: Tuesday
Son's Age: 11 weeks

This was my first time sitting down here ever. Usually I grab a box of macarons and go on my way. I noticed that they have sandwiches though, so I thought I'd give it a try.

Accessibility: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
I guess a lot of people think similarly to me about eating in, because based on what I could see, there was really only one table where I could viably park a stroller, and even then I felt like I was slightly blocking anyone who wanted to use the patio.

As I have previously come here for macarons, I know that their washroom is in the basement down a set of stairs. I can't remember how big it is, but as I mentioned, I was here alone with my son, so I didn't want to just leave my stroller upstairs and lug my baby downstairs, especially since I wasn't sure how much space there would be. This might be a different story if I had been here with someone. Between the single table available to park my stroller and the inaccessible washroom, I would say it's not impossible to bring baby, and at this particular visit I didn't have any trouble (especially since, luckily, he did not require a diaper change during my lunch), I'd say it's not convenient to bring a baby but it's doable.

Service: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Nadège has counter service, so you order your food first and then they give you a number. You choose your own table and then someone brings your food to you. On that note, service was fine - I got what I ordered and they heated up my sandwich for me. There was nothing particularly outstanding - everyone was polite but nothing outstanding.

Food: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This is a difficult place to rate. I ordered a turkey sandwich with cranberries and brie as well as a cappuccino.

The cappuccino was fine and the sandwich was fine. As with service, there was nothing particularly memorable to me about either of these items, so alone I would rate it 3 stars. I did also order a box of six macarons to go, though, and these are some of the best macarons in the city. If you have not tried their macarons, you need to get over here ASAP. I wasn't sure whether to include that as part of my visit, but my husband also likes the macarons and insisted that I take them into consideration. Between the lunch itself and the dessert I brought home, I give the food a rating of 4 stars.

Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️½

If you are actually coming for dessert, and especially if you are accompanied by a friend, it's fine to take your baby here; however, I would likely not come back here by myself. I should also note that my son was quiet and happy the whole time I was here - not sure how my experience would have been impacted if he had decided to be fussy, as there isn't a lot of noise to drown him out for any other patrons.

SongCook's

When I was pregnant, I had ridiculous cravings for kimchi. I suspect it was my brain's substitute for pickles, since I don't like pickles. It was a very fortunate craving since I spent a week and a half in South Korea where there was an abundance of kimchi everywhere. I felt the need to share this anecdote because while the massive craving has subsided, I still enjoy Korean food and decided to venture to SongCook's with my husband and baby.

Restaurant: SongCook's
Location: Thornhill
Meal: Dinner
Day: Saturday
Son's Age: 10 weeks

We arrived a little after 5 - again, early bird special time. Technically, this restaurant isn't actually in Toronto but I figure we were literally across the street so it still counts. We had initially called to make a reservation but they assured us that this would not be necessary.

Accessibility: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
There was more than enough space to get the stroller to the table without disrupting anyone. We parked the stroller next to the table and sat the car seat on the chair next to me.

The washroom also has a very nice change table so I could easily have changed his diaper if necessary.

They lose points because there isn't really a convenient place for me to put my diaper bag if I did need to change his diaper, but more importantly, if I were here alone, I would not be able to get my stroller in. The washroom itself has more than enough space, but getting to the washroom is another issue.

As you can see, there are a couple steps that I needed to go down, which isn't exactly stroller friendly. That being said, you can also see that they do have high chairs available if my baby was old enough to sit in one.

Service: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
For the most part, service was great. They had no issues accommodating us, and our server was very nice and checked in with us regularly, and service was prompt but not rushed. I took off one star because of the server who was refilling the tea. He seemed pleasant enough for the majority of the meal, but at one point my husband left to use the washroom and I had emptied my teacup. I tried to flag him down to no avail - he refilled cups at nearby table but it felt like he was intentionally avoiding eye contact with me. I wondered if I imagined it, but after we paid and were getting up to leave, our own server thanked both of us whereas this man very pointedly wished my husband a good evening without acknowledging me. Given how wonderful our own server was, I feel a little bad removing a star, but I don't appreciate the disparity in the treatment of my husband and me and it's important that this behaviour is called out.

Food: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
As with all Korean restaurants, our dinner started with some complimentary banchan.

The selection is pretty standard, although I should mention that the kimchi comes in much larger pieces than elsewhere and they provide scissors for you to cut it yourself. What makes the food notable is their fresh handmade noodles. I ordered a combo of ja jang myun and cham pong.

Frankly I don't know how someone finishes this in one sitting; I ended up eating the cham pong and packing the ja jang myun for the next day's lunch. The noodles being freshly made makes such a difference and makes this restaurant an absolute go-to. My husband also ordered a ja jang myun combo but with sweet and sour chicken.

Korean sweet and sour chicken is not the same as Chinese sweet and sour chicken - the sauce is more sweet and less sour. My husband highly enjoyed this while I much preferred the cham pong. On that note, the menu offers a lot of variety, including pork bone soup as well as ssam bap, so it's a great place to go to if you want to try different Korean dishes.

Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️½
I had a generally good experience coming here with my baby. While it isn't perfect, I'm sure I'll come here again with my son.

Ajisen Ramen

I was in the Willowdale area with my baby and craving ramen, but needed to find a place that could accommodate my stroller.

Restaurant: Ajisen Ramen
Location: Willowdale
Meal: Lunch
Day: Thursday
Son's Age: 10 weeks

When I arrived, there were actually already two other families with strollers seated, and I worried that they wouldn't have room for another one, but they were able to seat me near the door. I have to note that whoever was responsible for the soundtrack seemed to be a huge fan of Justin Bieber, as well as parodies of Taylor Swift. I'm not counting this towards my dining experience but in case you feel strongly about music selection, there you go.

Accessibility: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
They were clearly well prepared for patrons with babies. I was seated at a booth near the front and could see that there were also high chairs and booster seats available.

The server kept asking if I was all right or if the baby was perhaps to close to the door. She was actually more worried than I was, so I ended up moving his car seat into the booth next to me.

He was pretty quiet the whole time, although frankly with the music playing I don't think he would have been disruptive even if he decided to fuss. The aisles were wide enough for me to take the stroller to the washroom as well, even with the other strollers in the restaurant.

As you can see, he wasn't happy at this point, but from a functionality standpoint there is room for the strolle and there is a change table available. I was very comfortable maneuvering around the restaurant with baby in tow.

Service: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Service was great! Even though I was comfortable sitting in the booth, the server was very concerned about my proximity to the door due to the draft (which wasn't even that bad), but unfortunately didn't have another table where I could park the stroller next to me without blocking anyone. Also, while the aisles are in fact big enough to fit the stroller, there was a box on the floor near the kitchen that blocked the washroom. When I saw it, I was worried about getting by, but as soon as I approached, someone quickly popped out of the kitchen to move it out of my way and hold open the washroom door. I never felt rushed during my visit, and my food arrived promptly.

Food: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This one was difficult for me to rate. I started with a coconut bubble tea because I saw it on the menu and I'm always in the mood for bubble tea.

This met my expectations, but I love bubble tea so it's rare for me to find one that let me down. As for my meal, I chose a spicy pork ramen.

Here is where I'm torn. I love that you can choose what level of spice you want - I went with 100%, and I like spicy, so they delivered on that front. The broth really hit the spot. Also, the menu has a much wider selection than other ramen places. The pork was pretty much Chinese BBQ pork, which I love, but it's not typically the pork found in ramen dishes so that threw me off a little. The ramen noodles themselves were also thinner than I like and the taste of the noodles themselves were okay but not great. I suppose I would rate the noodles themselves as three stars, but the broth and spice level as five stars, so netting out to four. If you are passionate about ramen noodles (and you don't have to worry about a baby), I would recommend other places, but otherwise this is a decent place to try.

Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️½
Overall, if you have a baby in tow, this place is really easy and comfortable to take your baby to, the servers treat you well, and the food is decent. I suspect that you'll be hard pressed to find a better ramen place that is stroller-friendly, so if I'm out with my son and craving ramen I would probably come here again.

The Drake Hotel

If you haven't noticed by now, I have a tendency to go to restaurants after stroller fit. It's always easier to go out with other people since someone can watch the baby and/or stroller if I need to use the washroom, and I don't have to worry that maybe the staff thinks I left without paying the bill (I have no idea if they would think that, but just in case I wait until I've paid before I use the washroom when dining alone). This time, there were six of us going for lunch, and we decided to hit up the Drake!

Restaurant: The Drake Hotel
Location: West Queen West
Meal: Lunch
Day: Tuesday
Son's Age: 10 weeks

The Drake is doing an amazing series of events on Tuesdays called High Chair Hangouts. There is a prix fixe menu for mommies as well as any babies that can eat solids. They set up high chairs and have a speaker come in to talk about different topics. It is a really neat idea, and I didn't have to feel bad if my baby started crying because the whole restaurant was mommies and babies. You do have to make reservations ahead of time, but they are pretty flexible - two of the mommies had reserved tables for four assuming other stroller fit mommies would want to join, and we ended up with two tables of three (plus babies).

Accessibility: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
They really tried to make the restaurant accessible for mommies, and even created a nifty stroller parking area.

The issue is that the building was clearly not designed for this purpose, so there is actually a step up to get into the restaurant. There was someone at the door to help us move the stroller up the one step and hold the door open for us, but I suspect that would not be typical outside of High Chair Hangouts. They were able to accommodate all babies with high chairs or chairs that we could put a car seat on, which was very convenient.

For the most part, my son was pretty happy with this arrangement, up until his lovely poo explosion. This is another example where the building was not designed for babies - there is only one washroom where you can change a baby.

I love that they put out diaper for the occasion, but as you can see, it's not really a change table so much as a long counter top. It worked fine for my 2 month old, but if your baby is rolling over or particularly wiggly, I feel like there might be a safety hazard. I would still say overall the Drake is reasonably accessible (if you have a decent stroller, that one step up is really no big deal), but it's not perfectly ideal.

Service: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The servers were very patient and clearly prepared for the onslaught of babies, as they were quick to help arrange tables and set up high chairs. With the original reservation, they had prepared two booths side by side, but given the number of car seats required for babies that are too young for high chairs, they were able to move half of us to a proper table. By the way, they have these high chairs that hang on to the table side, in case you're wondering how they can seat mommies and babies in a booth. My only issue was that it was a bit difficult getting a server's attention, and I spent a little longer than I would like searching for the washroom because the main washrooms are actually down a set of stairs and do not have any change tables.

Food: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
For High Chair Hangouts, as I mentioned, there was a prix fixe menu.

I chose the smoked salmon bagel with the asparagus and sprouted grains side. Of course, my son isn't old enough to eat solids yet so I didn't order anything for him.

My lunch companions both opted for the avocado on toast, and we all agreed that the food was quite tasty; however, the portions were smaller than what we expected, even for lunch. That being said, we found out afterwards that we could have asked to order off the regular menu, so that's something we'll keep in mind if we go back. We also got these cute little doggy bags with our macaron-to-go, although I was so excited that I ripped into it immediately before getting a photo. 

Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I would recommend Drake and particularly the High Chair Hangouts if you are bringing your baby, since the food is good and the servers are ready for all the babies so you won't feel awkward if your baby starts fussing. If you are a light eater, the prix fixe is great; otherwise, you should probably order  something else. 

Foggy Dew Irish Pub

After another great session of stroller fit, two of the mommies invited me to join them for lunch. When I agreed, we realized that we had a challenge of finding a restaurant that could accommodate three strollers, which proved to be quite difficult. We wandered around the area for a bit before we ended up at Foggy Dew.

Restaurant: Foggy Dew Irish Pub
Location: Niagara
Meal: Lunch
Day: Tuesday
Son's Age: 9 weeks

We were exhausted not only from our stroller fit class, but also walking around looking for somewhere to eat, so by the time we arrived, we were just famished! We opted to sit on the patio which seemed quite spacious.

Accessibility: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The patio is quite large and has nooks that made it easy for us to keep our strollers at the table without getting in anyone's way. This is unfortunately the photo that I forgot to take (I blame my severe hunger for this brain fart), because we did manage to position three strollers around us, and I don't recall many spaces where this is possible. I did, however, get a photo of the washroom.

Since I wasn't alone, I opted to leave the stroller at the table and just bring my baby in with me; however, the washroom is big enough to bring a stroller in and there is a change table available, so I had no issues changing my son's diaper. 

Service: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Our server was very accommodating, which I found particularly surprising simply because I don't usually frequent pub-style restaurants and would have assumed that they would be less than pleased to have three babies on the premises (my own fault for making assumptions). I ended up breastfeeding during lunch and had no issues; the server seemed completely unfazed. My only quibbles would be that service seemed extremely slow (again, this judgement is probably clouded by the fact that all three of us were starving upon arrival) and that the server did not appear to know the difference between the lunch portions and regular portions, which is what I wanted to know when I was ordering. 

Food: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

I opted for the "light lunch menu" version of the superfood salad, which according to the description, should be kale, quinoa, dried cranberries, sunflower seeds, pomegranate seeds, and green curry dressing. 

As you might have noticed from the picture, that is not kale. The salad still tasted fine, but the description is misleading. Speaking of misleading, I had asked about the difference in salad sizes and the server said that the light lunch menu portion was smaller. I asked how much smaller and he just reiterated that it was smaller. Meanwhile, one of the other ladies ordered the regular size Cobb salad and I couldn't help but notice that our salads appeared to be the same size. In any case, the food tasted fine, and I admit the green curry dressing is a bit unique and adds a small kick to the salad, but otherwise I didn't find my meal to be particularly notable. 

Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This is a great baby-friendly restaurant to go to especially if you are meeting friends with babies and would like to enjoy a nice patio. The food itself is decent albeit unremarkable, but I would feel comfortable coming back with my baby without worrying about interrupting other patrons or inconveniencing servers. Plus, there aren't a lot of places on King West with the real estate to accommodate multiple strollers. 

Cluny Bistro

Happy three year anniversary to my husband! We were determined to have a lovely anniversary celebration and bring the baby with us, and we remembered that Cluny had a large space that could surely accommodate a stroller, so we gave them a call.

Restaurant: Cluny Bistro
Location: Distillery District
Meal: Dinner
Day: Wednesday
Son's Age: 8 weeks

We made a reservation for 5:45 (ah the "early bird special" dinner time - I guess I'm really not in my 20s anymore) and let them know there would be a stroller, since our son was not old enough to sit in a high chair. They told us not to worry and they would have a table for us. Of course, I am feeding my son on demand and his schedule required us to call and move our reservation to 6:15. Luckily, there was no problem in doing so. We found out on our ridiculously long drive home that Beyoncé's concert was the same night so I guess there weren't too many people having fancy dinners.

Accessibility: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
They weren't kidding about the table - we were seated in a quiet corner near the patio so we had a perfect view of both inside and outside the restaurant, and we parked our stroller easily beside us.

There was also plenty of room between tables for me to push the stroller through without interrupting any of the other patrons. The washroom was easy to get to, with one large stall that housed a change table.

From an accessibility standpoint, this was definitely the best experience I have had to date.

Service: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I already mentioned the change in reservation, which was much easier than I anticipated. Everyone was polite and seemed happy to accommodate the baby. This was our first nice dinner since the baby was born, and I had tons of questions about the menu and what to order. Our server was patient and thoroughly answered all my questions.

Food: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This was definitely the perfect place to eat! We started with a fresh bread basket; Cluny has a beautiful display of fresh bread in the middle of the restaurant so you can see your server preparing the basket as soon as your order has been taken.

Okay, I also indulged in a glass of Pinot Grigio. I think I deserved it! It nicely complemented our meal, starting with the ginger chilli fried frogs' legs. 

This is probably a good time for me to mention that my photography skills are not the greatest. The frog legs were succulent with the perfect hint of heat. This was quickly followed by the lobster poutine!

I love the shishito peppers with the lobster. Of course a poutine isn't a poutine unless there are cheese curds, and this did not disappoint!  Even though these dishes were already amazing, the best part of the meal was the seafood tower. 

This consisted of east coast and west coast oysters, crab salad, shrimp, and salmon tartare. I had not eaten raw oysters since before I was pregnant, and let me tell you, these tasted like heaven! People always talk about how you'll miss sushi but no one ever mentions the oysters! The crab salad was really elevated by the mustard grains, and the salmon tartare was fresh. The shrimp was not particularly memorable, but never mind that because did I mention the oysters!

Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Based on this visit, I have to say that Cluny is an excellent restaurant to take your baby! The place is very accessible and stroller friendly, the service is impeccable, and the food is delicious - no need to sacrifice quality to find a family friendly restaurant! I would absolutely want to come back here with my son again. 

The One That Got Away

Before I get into this, I feel I need to make a disclaimer: I did not intend to come here. I had planned on going to the Good Fork and pigging out on red velvet pancakes; however, turns out the Good Fork is packed on a Tuesday afternoon to the point where there is a 25 minute wait for a table. Given that I was meeting my bestie and her 11 month old baby for brunch with my 8 week old baby, there was no way we were going to be able to wait 25 minutes. Since we had both already paid for parking, we went looking for the next viable option, and here's where we ended up!

Restaurant: The One That Got Away
Location: Bloor West Village
Meal: Lunch
Day: Tuesday
Son's Age: 8 weeks

This is primarily a fish and chips spot. You place your order and then you sit down, and someone brings you your food.

Accessibility: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Luckily, there was space for me to park my stroller next to the table without blocking other patrons.

Additionally, there are high chairs available, and since my friend's baby is older, she parked her stroller on the side and put her little one in the high chair provided. That seems good enough, but it was a bit of a struggle just to get our strollers through the door in the first place. More importantly, there is no change table available.

The good news is that the washroom is big enough to fit the stroller if necessary. The foot pedals to operate the sink are also quite handy. That being sad, I was lucky that my son did not require changing because the only viable option here is the floor, and I'm not a huge fan of putting my baby on a washroom floor.

Service: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Credit where it's due: the server was extremely friendly and helped us get set up so that we could enjoy our lunch with the babies. He was very happy to interact with my friend's baby, who was full of energy and crawling around the restaurant.

Food: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Let me preface this by saying I'm not sure what you could do to make fish and chips a mind blowing experience. I had ordered the haddock and chips.

The haddock was fine - as you would expect for fish and chips: satisfying but not memorable. The fries I found were a bit on the soggy side, and also quite bland. I added salt and vinegar which helped a little but didn't fully salvage them. 

Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️½

The service really pulled up the rating on this one. Other than that, the experience was okay. I wouldn't object to eating here again, but based on food and accessibility, it wouldn't be my first choice. 

The Beet

Okay, I'm aware that this second review makes me look like a health nut. I swear I'm not! This is totally a coincidence. I have been eating like a pig at home. Full disclosure though: I have been coming here a lot before baby was born, so I know for a fact that this place is baby friendly. Oh, but this time I took pictures!

Restaurant: The Beet
Location: The Junction
Meal: Lunch
Day: Friday
Son's Age: 7 weeks

It was such a nice day that I decided to take my son out and run some errands all by myself. That's right - for my second restaurant, I went out for lunch alone. I was playing it safe though - I had seen many people come to the Beet alone with a book or a laptop, and I knew they have a baby menu, so I wasn't particularly worried.

Accessibility: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The place is definitely stroller accessible if you are eating inside. I had called ahead and they assured me on the phone that I could fold up my stroller and leave it in the foyer while my baby sat in his car
seat (they offered to provide a high chair but he is not old enough for that yet). Upon arrival, it turns out that they did have a table where I could park my stroller without blocking anyone! Another mother arrived after me with her baby in a stroller and they were able to seat her easily as well.

The washroom was also big enough for me to bring the stroller in, and there is a dresser that could easily be used as a change table, which is extremely convenient.

I took off one star because I can't see how they could have gotten either the stroller or the car seat on the patio, but I could be wrong. Also, it appears I lucked out in getting the table that accommodates my stroller.

Service: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Full disclosure: the service isn't always consistent. But on this occasion, service was excellent. They brought me to a table where I could park my stroller (see photo above), and they were great in answering questions I had about the menu. Service was also quite prompt, but not hurried. In fact, I ended up having to breastfeed after I finished my lunch and even though I felt a bit awkward (still getting the hang of nursing in public), they cleared my plate, asked if I needed anything else, and brought me the bill - all as if I didn't have a baby's face attached to my boob.

Food: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This is my favourite place for healthy eats. My husband hates anything that "tastes healthy" but he likes the Beet. Food has yet to disappoint me, although I will admit the prices are a tad high for what you get. I started with a small omega shake, which is made with mixed berries, banana, flax oil, chia seeds, and vanilla rice milk.

For lunch, I got the fully loaded avocado combo, which includes half an avocado stuffed with brown coconut Thai rice and veggies, topped with spicy peanut sauce, avocado, and sprouts, served with salad, toast with house pesto, and daily soup (in this case it was mushroom soup).

Not going to lie - despite the fact that I know how big avocados are usually, I was a bit surprised to see that the avocado looked so small on the plate. Frankly, it looks like the star of the plate is supposed to be the salad! But I promise that this was actually the perfect amount of food for lunch. The avocado itself was very filling, and the house pesto was delicious and happily not made with pine nuts (I'm allergic)! The mushroom soup was the perfect texture, so you don't need to chew your soup but it isn't puréed down to pure liquid. Plus, I always love the house salad with the cilantro chilli dressing!

Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️½
Based on this particular visit, this is pretty much an ideal restaurant to take your baby to. They even have a baby menu if your baby is old enough to eat solids. I know this place touts itself as catering to vegans and vegetarians, but they also have quite a few meat options on the menu. I will definitely be coming back here again!