Although many “kids” friendly facilities are mushrooming here and there, but are they places you would head to every weekend? Are they affordable? If you manage to please the kids the parents will be more than happy. In 2014 this trend is going to grow even bigger making Lebanon witness new innovative ideas where children and their parents alike will just enjoy fun moments together.
One morning, my wife and I decided to spend a full day with our little one who’s two and a half years. Places to take her are limited unfortunately. Let’s see how the day went.
For now let’s focus on the more convenient trend and that is the mall. Today when you think “children”, you think malls and for now this is our best more accessible option. Le Mall, ABC, City Centre (BCC) or City Mall are the options to consider each proposing different activities for your kids – but are they worth it.
Let’s start with ABC Dbayeh.
Come and discover 450 m2 of fun and entertainment at Kidsville, ABC Dbayeh. Your kids will get to choose from four jumbo-sized play units with different themes, slides, tunnels, ball pools and monkey bars. They will also be able to explore their creative side and let their imagination run wild with activities such as arts and crafts, painting and puppet shows. As if that’s not enough, Kidsville is equipped with the latest video and computer games to keep your little ones fascinated by the ever-growing world of multimedia!I like it. It’s fresh The BCC has a whole floor dedicated to kids is proposed for them among with a ceramics lounge on the lower floor, ABC Achrafieh has as well a kids paradise, La Mall’s “up and Away” cannot be missed while City Mall proposes a little carousel where kids will get bored in minutes. I like the ABC Dbayeh kids floor that makes both parents and kids happy. If you are not a Mall person, then go spend your day at Kidz Mondo where adult activities are restructured for the little ones. I will be going there for a complete detailed review soon, when my daughter will reach her third year.
10:00 amSo, our day started at Zaatar W Zeit Zalka where I discovered for the first time the new wide menu while dining in-house. I enjoyed the new choices, freshness and pictures on the menu that has become more of a restaurant and not a bakery anymore serving breakfast, lunch and dinner. Unfortunately we landed in a ghost house where music was like inexistent, the staff is not happy to be working here, not welcoming, not smiling and don’t feel like even working at all. Seeing a kid with us no one proposed to give her something to fill her time. So I called one of the robots moving around and asked for a pen: “Ah, you need colored pencils?” She asked. I looked at her astonished and said: “isn’t know you even have some, please give a box for my kid”. I received a used box of pencils where three were missing and no paper to draw on. Afterwards was ordering time. A kid, -sorry but she doesn’t even deserve the title of waitress- approached us for the order. So unpleasant and so unprofessional she was moving her head and mimicking, the way spoiled kids talk with their parents. Minutes later, we received the food. I liked and enjoyed the Zaatar light with no oil as well as the turkey and cheese sandwich. On another hand the Lahme Beajine is not tasty and the cheese and ham tasteless. Lol, the labneh plate is broken from all sides like in old Lebanese restaurants. Anyway the food was not the main issue today but the bad service and unwelcoming ambiance for kids was. We ate in a dirty place where all the floor was covered with bread crumbs, hair is all over the floor and dirt stuffed in the corners, then left searching for something else that will make Enya smile and maybe a coffee for us since we still didn’t have anything to drink.
11:00 amWe decided to visit the malls starting with City Mall – my least favorite mall in Lebanon. It’s the holidays for God’s sake and sadly their Christmas decoration is becoming worse each year. that’s becoming uglier a year after the other doesn’t have anything for kids.
12:00 pmLe Mall was our next destination hoping to be amazed. I’ve heard for long about a place for kids called “Up and Away”. What a deception! On the first floor of Le Mall is a haunted house. A place handled by kids themselves who know nothing about kids handling. A staff that doesn’t smile, doesn’t say good morning and employees who are not happy, all in a dimmed place with a black ceiling. Exactly like a haunted house -I think the pictures talk for themselves- this place is everything than a real kids paradise. Seeing the nice logo, I imagined to discover something, funky, fresh, professional, welcoming and superb for kids. Inside is a dark, small, dusty, calm and scary place and above all “Super illogically expensive”. We played while sweating from the heat and left in less than thirty minutes.
12:30 pmHere we are after three hours around the country with nothing fun for the kids yet. Le Mall’s kids corner is pathetic, ZwZ is deceiving, City Mall is bizarrely still open since we were alone around the mall so we decided to head for a decent lunch place. Downtown was the choice and we enjoyed it as always.
14:00 pmI’ve wrote many reviews about Downtown that’s still as good as it should be. A restaurant serving its customers for more than thirty years already offering them the same food with the same premium quality since. I don’t know anyone who doesn’t like this place, specially the Kaslik branch.Today, we sat outside and were served by Rabih who has been working here for the last ten years. A basket of bread landed on our table with a plate of black olives tapenade and butter. Rabih made sure to start by our daughter’s meal while we asked for our favorite plates.Duo Japonais, Chicken liver, truffles pizza and hamburger were all exquisite. While drinks were served with the usual carrots and peanuts and popcorn a smile was being drawn on our faces: “I finally met some professional people today” I said to my wife with joy.Lunch was really perfect on all fronts. The chicken liver are extraordinary with their juiciness, freshness and perfect seasoning. The truffle pizza is a piece of wonder as for the burger, it is exactly like it should be or as you expect it to be. Rabih made our lunch memorable before having their mouthwatering Chocolat mow and going back home.Today was the first of a series of “Taking out your kid in Lebanon” that I will be publishing on a monthly basis, trying to discover the best outings for kids in our country. I would love to have your experiences about it hoping one day Lebanon will be a kids friendly country… Hoping for the best.
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