Seeing your cute babies or little siblings after a long day takes all your exhaustion away. Although playing with them challenges your patience, we’re all guilty to the fact that we love to spoil them. It may be a difficulty where to bring your kids or little siblings outside of your home. No need to worry because we came up with a list of kid-friendly restaurants, where the kids (and also kids at heart) can enjoy.
Slappy Cakes
This restaurant with a one-of-a-kind dining experience in a fun and interactive setting originated from Portland, Oregon, in the United States, and was brought to Manila by the Mother of Spice company; the same name behind Mango Tree Bistro, Genki Sushi, and a few other restos. The name “Slappy Cakes” is derived from “slap” and “cakes,” or the manner of cooking the pancakes, and the kind of dish in question. Customers can go wild and create other shapes, characters or design that strikes their fancy. There are numerous toppings available with which to design and upgrade your pancakes, ranging from fruits, all the way to savory treats like bacon. For kids who want to celebrate their party here, Slappy Cakes offers party packages custom-tailored depending on the celebrant’s preference.
Type of kid: Adventurous, creative, and has a huge appetite
Kid-o-meter: Do-it-yourself pancake making and decorating.
Experience: We visited the SM North EDSA branch. The staff was very accommodating and hospitable, so it’s no surprise families flock here with their kids. The place’s interior is stylish, clean, and inviting to any age group.
Before starting off with the pancake making, we were introduced to the different batters that they offer: buttermilk, chocolate, peanut butter, and red velvet. If you wish to enhance the flavor of your pancakes, they also offer fixins in sweet and savory flavors: chocolate chips, mangoes, bananas, bacon bits, chorizo, and cheddar cheese. They also offer additional toppings in the form of creamy peanut butter, and lemon curd, apple sauce, chocolate sauce, whipped cream, hazelnut spread, and cream cheese frosting.
To get started, you need to use the bottle to draw your preferred pancake shape, then while it is being cooked, put your chosen fixins, and wait for the pancake to form bubbles. Check the sides of the pancake, and once they no longer stick, flip the pancake over. You can now put some toppings and devour your creation. I had fun while creating my pancakes because you can literally create any shape you want.
For their regular menu, we were first offered with the dish called Elvis Sandwich. It’s a beast of a sandwich, with peanut butter, bacon, banana, and honey inside. Though it may sound odd to combine sweet and savory, I must say, it works! I loved every bit of it. The sweetness of peanut butter complements the salty taste of bacon, and who doesn’t love bacon?
Next is their Classic Burger, made with beef, lettuce, tomato, and with a side of fried potato chunks. The beef is tender and fresh, and you can really tell that the patty is made up of pure beef without any extenders. I love anything with cheese, so this is a winner for me. As an appetizer, we were offered the Smoked Salmon and Avocado Toast. The dish offered generous portions of smoked salmon, which I absolutely loved! The sourness of the egg salad goes really well with the salmon, and the avocado puree was surprisingly refreshing.
The main course was the D-I-Y Skillet, which lets you choose your meat, sauce and side. We chose roasted beef belly with mashed potatoes. Of all the dishes that they served us, this was the best, by a mile! The beef belly was so savory, and the meat was also tender and had a great mouthfeel. Carnivores should definitely try this dish. They then served us the Carbonara Roll-up, which is the most requested dish by kids. Upon tasting it, I understood why. The cheesy goodness of this dish, paired with a fried egg and huge bits of bacon is enough to satisfy anyone’s dairy cravings. Although the dish was served with generous amounts of cheese, the dish was not salty at all. It had the perfect balance.
Another kid’s favorite, Chicken Poppers—bits of deep fried chicken, with chili-honey and mushroom cream—was also served. This is the dish that you won’t be able to stop munching on.
For dessert, we tasted Sticky Toffee and Walnut Rolls, and Shake ‘Ur Shakes Chocolate D-I-Y. I have a sweet tooth so I enjoyed these dishes a lot. The ice cream on top of the cinnamon rolls was the perfect touch. Another unique experience that I encountered here was the “Shake ‘Ur Shakes milkshake, wherein the staff will create your milkshake in front of you. This milkshake looks deceiving because although it is full of chocolate, it had the right amount of sweetness.
Writer’s tip: Prepare your imagination as you go wild and creative in creating your own masterpiece that you can eat!
Price: PHP 300 and above for pancake making, Php 200 to Php 450 for ala carte items
Tel. no.: +(632) 332-4680