Ambiente Tapas Restaurant, Malton
Eating out with your children can be tricky.
We love food and have always enjoyed eating out, but six years ago we had twins. Since nobody sane will look after twins under the age of two, we faced catastrophe – unless we took them with us.
So, as soon as we could prop them up, we began to take them to cafs and pubs. We've eaten a lot of ham sandwiches since then, but we've also had a lot of fun.
But now we are six and the twins have entered a conservative phase. Worse, they can read, and have discovered the "children's menu" – the realm of "sausages" that no self-respecting establishment would dare serve to an adult, and meals that arrive without any vegetables at all.
So we've decided that it is time to expand the family repertoire – go to a proper restaurant, try something different. Twin one loves anything new, whereas twin two has a smaller appetite and is a bit of an aesthete. Why not try tapas – little dishes, designed to be tasty and attractive rather than to fill you up. There are obvious "safe" options – bread, salami, cheese, omelettes. And finally there are stories to tell – my husband spent his boyhood summers in Spain. It had to work.
We chose Ambiente, a warm, bright restaurant occupying a lovely building on Malton's marketplace. Ambiente is owned by Tim Sinclair and his partner Zoe Plummer, both long-time fans of relaxed Mediterranean eating. Zoe is also a vegetarian, so the menu contains plenty of meat-free options, and the meat on offer is ethically-reared and locally-sourced.
We were warmly greeted at the door by a friendly waitress who offered us drinks and a seat on a huge squashy sofa. The children chose a freshly-prepared fruit smoothie, which I'd like tell you about, but they quickly drained their glasses. Apparently, it contained blueberries, strawberries, pears, bananas and lime juice. According to the twins, it was simply "Yum!"
In order not to outface the children we decided to divide our tapas into two courses, three cold dishes then six hot. To start with, we chose olive and sundried tomato breads, a plate of cured meats and Manchego cheese with quince jelly. We would follow this with tortilla Espanola, patatas bravas (potatoes with spicy tomato sauce) bacalao cocinado con gabanzos y tomate (cod cooked with chick peas and tomatoes), Morisco pollo y patatas (Moorish chicken and potatoes), pan frito judias verdes (green beans with pine nuts) and a dish of the day, fabada (a pork and white bean stew).
Our first course arrived looking beautiful. Of course, our safe options, the bread and the salami, proved the least tasty. A piece of cured ham, however, was substantial and first class – the twins pounced on it and tore it to bits – and the Manchego and quince jelly was equally popular.
Our second "course" contained a number of highlights. The pork stew was delicious: the flavour of high quality pork sang clear as a bell through a very well-judged tomato sauce. And the Moorish chicken – marinated in spices, including fennel seeds, and served with a sweet pepper dip – left us laughing with surprise and pleasure.
The tortilla was nothing to write home about. But it didn't need to be, because the children had discovered the cod cooked with chick peas and tomatoes – a light combination, full of fish and flavour. They wolfed it down (we were allowed a fork-full each).
My husband rated the patatas bravas "excellent". In fact, the only disappointment was the beans. They had not survived the pan-frying and were topped with woody and tasteless sun-dried tomatoes.
By this time Ambiente was filling-up, and the service was slowing down. So we ordered a glass of Crianza from a lengthy and well-priced Spanish wine list and perused the dessert menu.
In the end we ordered poached fruit and a chocolate fix. The flavour of the chocolate truffle tart was not dark enough for me, but it didn't need to be: twin two ate the lot. The fruit, however, was a fresh, subtly spiced and wonderfully festive conclusion to a lovely meal. Altogether, we concluded, Ambiente is an excellent place to eat with children. The twins sang all the way home. But there's a catch.
When I rang later, to check some details, I explained the purpose of this article. There was a pause. Had I seen their children's policy'? No I hadn't: Ambiente's website had been down, and anyway, I hadn't expected a relaxed, friendly Mediterranean-style restaurant to have a children's policy. So here it is: children under 12 are welcome only at the weekends, and before 6pm.
Now, I realise that some readers have just breathed a huge sigh of relief. But I ask you to hear me out. We know, courtesy of UNICEF, that British children are among the most unhappy in the developed world. We know that that they feel anxious, left out and demonised. We know that many of them eat rubbish.
In most countries, eating as a family is seen as essential to the creation of happy, social individuals. But in this country, it seems, we are less ready to eat with our children or anybody else's. How then are our children going to develop the social skills, never mind the love of food, that make for a good and healthy life?
Ambiente Tapas Restaurant, 2-4 Market Place, Malton, North Yorkshire. Tel. 01653 691992; www.ambiente-tapas.co.uk. Tapas and dessert for four, plus soft drinks, coffees and a large glass of wine 50.
Email to a friend
Print this page- Rival chips in with £500,000 to restore the original Harry Ramsden’s
- SportsTalk: Leeds United’s manager search, Super League and Calcutta Cup
- Visit from Princess as Serbian culture celebrated
- Strategic review will lead to job losses at Yorkshire Bank
- NHS spends £20m a year on translators and interpreters
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Yorkshire
Wednesday 08 February 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: -5 C to 2 C
Wind Speed: 9 mph
Wind direction: North
Tomorrow
Light sleet
Temperature: 0 C to 1 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
Wind direction: South
