Tabule

For those of you who don't know, once your kid starts daycare (or school, if you forego daycare), you will probably end up taking your little one to the doctor a lot. I'm told that after a year, my son wil havethe best immunity system, and I'm seriously banking on that to be true. In any case, I took him to the doctor's office and then realized that I didn't have any lunch plans for him. My mother had decided to accompany me and we tried to find something nearby with food he would eat.

Restaurant: Tabule
Location: Bayview Village
Meal: Lunch
Day: Thursday
Son's Age: 12 months

Tabule is a middle eastern restaurant that has a couple locations in the city and recently opened in Bayview Village. I had been meaning to try it before and figured this was a good opportunity. Despite the fact that it was a Thursday, however, we had to wait. The good news is, you can leave your cell phone number and wander around the mall. The bad news is, other patrons are downright rude. I came back after I was called and I was shown in and an older lady yelled at me, saying that the next table of four should be hers and I don't need a table for four because there were only two of us (excuse me, but my son eats solids now, so yes he needs a spot at the table). I noticed in general that a lot of the clientele seemed very entitled overall, but that isn't really the restaurant's fault.

Accessibility: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The benefit of going to a restaurant at Bayview Village is that the place is full of mothers and seniors, which means it's very accessible. I was given the option to keep my stroller at the table or park it at the front, and I was promptly provided with a high chair for my son.

As you can see, he was very excited and wouldn't sit still, which is pretty impressive considering he was too sick to attend daycare. The washrooms are individual and have a nice counter top.

 No change table, but you can easily change a smaller baby on the counter. If that makes you a bit nervous, the washroom outside the restaurant has a proper change table, not to mention a nursing room.

Service: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The other customers might have been a pain, but the service on all counts was excellent. The host was very open about the wait time and took my number to let me know when a table was available. She helped to bring my stroller to the front after I was seated. The server was very friendly too. When he served water, he would pour from a high distance to create a stream, and he intentionally ensured that my son had a good view every time. He even refilled my son's sippy cup when he finished his own water. I mentioned when I sat down that I needed my appetizer to come quickly as I was feeding my son, and he kindly obliged. I especially loved that he interacted with my son and asked him how he was enjoying the food. I suppose the servers are trained to deal with babies, which I really appreciated.

Food: ⭐⭐⭐
We started with a cold mezze sampler platter, and we chose hummus, baba ganoush, and of course, tabbouleh.

This is served with both white and multigrain pita bread. The dish itself was delicious, and my son really enjoyed the pita with hummus and baba ganoush. I also liked that I was giving him chickpeas and eggplant with his bread, so I had covered off three food groups! My one complaint is that the multigrain pita was quite tough, so I didn't feel comfortable giving it to my son. I was so concerned about feeding him that I forgot to take a photo of the mains, but my mother and I ordered the kefta and tawuk to share. Kefta is ground lamb and beef skewers and tawuk is chicken, and both are served with rice and grilled vegetables. I found the mains to be underwhelming, with the meat being a bit dry. The portion size is generous, though, so my mother was able to pack a takeaway box to bring home. The rice and vegetables were pretty tasty too, although they really aren't supposed to outshine the meat, in my opinion.

Overall: ⭐⭐⭐⭐½
The accessibility and service make this a great spot to bring your baby, and the hummus, baba ganoush, and tabbouleh are fantastic, even if the meat was not impressive. I would recommend this as a good family friendly option.