By Alex Mackrill
Taking young kids out for a bite to eat can be both a pleasure and a pain.
The hope of recapturing memories of romantic meals as a couple are quickly wiped away by a screaming fit, a dropped plate or a knocked over drink. So as much as me and the wife were looking forward to a Saturday evening sampling the highly-rated pizzas at Blunderbuss in Takapuna, we headed there with a little trepidation, wondering whether our little boy (6) and little girl (not yet 2) would allow us to enjoy it.
We needn’t have worried!
We were greeted with a smile and given colouring sheets and crayons straight away, which meant the kids settled right in. It also helped there there was a good kids’ menu which included a drink, pizza and dessert for a really reasonable $12.
We ordered ham and pineapple pizzas for each, assuming that they might not get through the 8-inch pizzas and we’d end up taking half home in boxes.
My wife ordered the Antara pizza (Duck leg, rosemary, leek, fig & onion jam) and I went for the Tirolese (Prosciutto, smoked mushroom, rocket).
With the kids happy the parents could relax, so we took the opportunity to order a rose and strawberry sangria!
Something essential when dining with kids, that so many restaurants overlook, is that they get their food FIRST. Blunderbuss didn’t falter, ensuring the kids were sorted quickly, then the parents’ pizzas followed shortly after. It makes all the difference when you can tuck into your own dinner straight away and without cries of ‘where’s my food?’
And tuck in we did. Little girl, faced with a pizza larger than herself, managed to devour the whole thing, as did little boy. We couldn’t blame them as these pizzas really were worthy of the hype. Thin crisp bases, with quality sauce and cheese, topped with some really nice combinations of flavours. My pizza was as smokey and salty as the mushroom and Prosciutto promised, complimented perfectly with the fresh rocket. Her duck pizza was seriously morish, with that rich tender duck leg offset by the sweet fig & onion jam.
By now it was dark and the courtyard shared by Blunderbuss and The Commons was starting to liven up with a 30th birthday and live music in full swing. Little girl took this opportunity to have a dance in the window, much to the amusement of the revellers outside!
The kids soon got their sundaes, so mum and dad thought ‘why not’ and ordered a round of sangrias and a chocolate mousse with hazelnut ice cream to share. The mousse was delicious, but the icecream and crumbly biscuit were even better.
So we had happy kids, happy mum, friendly staff and just the right amount of buzz in the air for a Saturday evening, and our GrabOne voucher meant I just had to pay $60 on the night … so we all went home happy!