Remember the days when romantic dinners for two were a regular occurrence, looking into each other’s eyes over the top of a wine glass after sampling the finest food on the menu? Just a distant memory? Looking forward to taking the family to McDonalds at the weekend? Then join the thousands of parents who have changed their dining out habits after the kids came along. Flying Start wanted to find out if it has to be that way and if restaurants have made any major changes in the way that they treat families with younger children.

In the UK we appear to have a completely different attitude to family dining. In many European countries, taking children to restaurants is the norm from a very early age and not just accepted but actively encouraged. Admittedly the climate in France, Italy and Spain may be more conducive to outdoor dining that lasts until the late evening but then again, they don’t appear to want their children in bed by 7pm.

To understand and deal with dining out, children need to experience it and that is where the continental culture differs to that of the UK where it seems that some people still want our children to be seen but not heard, an opinion that prefers families to dine at McDonalds but not the slightly more upmarket options that abound.

Apart from the cultural differences of the clientele, there are also differences in the way foreign restaurants approach the “family dining” scenario. Many of them try to openly participate with waiters and staff assuming pseudo family status by dealing directly with the children and even telling them off if required, something that would be frowned upon in Britain, to say the least.

A modern standard in the UK seems to be based upon new parents taking their first born out with them for the first time to find that throughout the experience, their child decides to decorate the carpet, seating and décor with a fine selection of food from all courses. They then wail to the rest of the restaurant to let them know that he/she would have preferred eggy soldiers and who do they think they’re looking at and tutting disapproval to. At which point parents beat retreat and never venture out again, unless the fast food outlet is close enough, for another few years. It needn’t be the case though.

You can you look for in a restaurant that will offer a greater amount of success for a meal with the kids and here are a few tips on how to do it.

There are a few obvious places to start. Asking around your circle of friends and family is bound to bring out a few suggestions.

Maybe you need to think about choosing places that are bound to be a hive of activity so that if your children do want to complain loudly about the uncomfortable high chair, they will just add to the existing noise and not court the wrath of fellow diners. Of course the opposite could be true as well, as empty establishments don’t have other people to upset.

Dining in booths can be a bonus. It can cut down the noise and also the distance that your children might be able to fling the mashed potato and offers some protection to other diners. Combine this with somewhere that offers very little delay in service and it should keep the kids more focussed on their food and less on playing cops and robbers in and around the tables.

Look online before you book anywhere and see if a restaurant has reviews – www.childfriendly.co.uk is a good place to start as restaurants are listed by your area. If you need to make a booking, ask while you are on the phone if the waiters are trained to deal with children, if children receive any special treatment such as activity packs or colouring in books and what facilities are available in terms of children’s menus and baby changing wash rooms amongst other things.

The Independent listed it’s top five that are found all over the country. Wagamama, Pizza Express, Belgo, Carluccio’s and Nando’s appear to get the backing of many families for half decent food, pricing that remains in the family budget, distractions for the kids and if all else fails, a good mop and bucket!