Eating with Kids: Top Museum Cafés in London
by Rhonda Carrier
One of the joys of London is that many of its great sights – the British Museum, the Natural History Museum, and the Tate Modern to name just three – are free to visit. But unless you’re super-organised and pack a picnic (not always easy if you’re staying in a hotel), even a ‘free’ day out can turn into an expensive one if you have to splash out on a sit-down restaurant meal for the whole family. And then there’s the trolling around in search of somewhere decent – again, if you’ve not done your research in advance, you could end up settling for somewhere second-best or worse, and overpriced to boot.
What many visitors (or even native Londoners) don’t realise is that many of London’s best attractions have great family-friendly eating options that allow you to stay on-site without breaking the bank – prices are generally pretty reasonable, with kids’ menus/meal deals helping you to stick to a budget.
A visit to a museum-café can also be part of your overall experience of a venue in that it continues to explore themes you’ve encountered in the galleries. In an art gallery, for instance, there may be art installations and drawing packs relating to the works you’ve seen. A museum about war might offer old-time recipes, while other museums, such as the British Museum, may offer menus themed on current exhibition – food for thought indeed!
Here are some of my own favourites. For more inspiration, and the chance to air your own opinions and talk about your best and worst experiences, see Dea Birkett’s Kids in Museums Café Survey. Please join in the debate!
The Deep Blue, Science Museum
This family restaurant in the vast museum’s Wellcome Wing was narrowly pipped to the post as the Best Restaurant for Kids in the Observer Food Monthly Awards a few years back. Perched amidst the Wing’s high-tech exhibits, ‘little adults’ can munch on good pasta dishes, burgers, pizza or fish-finger sandwiches, or the more sophisticated likes of goat’s cheese with roasted pepper and rocket or chargrilled chicken with spinach, rosemary or mozzarella, with all mains well-priced at £3.95–4.25. Adult fare ranges from pizza, pasta and grills to a ‘superfood salad’. Younger kids get free activity boxes.
Café 2, Tate Modern
One under-12 eats for free for every adult ordering a main course on Level 2 of the fun and funky Tate Modern, otherwise it’s a very good-value £5.10 for two courses including the likes of foccacia and Cornish haddock. Fresh seasonal ingredients in all the sandwiches, salads, snacks, and homemade smoothies served here.
The same offer extends to the Tate Modern Restaurant on Level 7, with its spectacular views, where the kids’ menu is more grown-up – think pumpkin soup with toasted Parmesan bread, or salmon and haddock fishcakes with tomato jam. Indulgences such as brownies are balanced with healthier offerings including fruit salad.
In summer, Café 2 has riverside balconies from which to best soak in the awesome views across the Millennium Bridge to St Paul’s Cathedral. Though the café does offer crayons and drawing and writing activities for kids, you’d do best to check out the Tate’s wonderful shop for its brilliant array of children’s books and art activities.
The Gallery Café, British Museum
One of several cafés on the ground floor of the British Museum’s stunning glass-roofed Great Court, The Gallery is family-friendly while remaining a relaxed, tucked-away and relatively calm spot for snacks or hot meals. Again, pay a visit to the Great Court’s dedicated children’s shop first for colouring and activity books relating to the museum’s incredible collections.
The Court Restaurant up under the glass roof of the atrium is more grown up, serving afternoon teas and modern takes on classic British dishes. Older kids might be tickled to try out menus themed on the latest exhibitions – for instance, the current exhibition on the Egyptian Book of the Dead has inspired a menu that includes fava bean soup, lamb tagine with artichokes, grilled Nile perch and honey-poached figs.
The National Dining Rooms, Café & Bakery, National Gallery
The National Gallery is almost a better place to eat as a family than it is to visit –under the auspices of Peyton & Byrne (see below), it offers eating experiences of various kids, all child-friendly. Though food in the Dining Room is daring and experimental, using the best of organic British produce to concoct the likes of oak-smoked Cornish duck, pea shoots with quince jelly and aval fries, under-12s can opt for familiar comfort food such as macaroni cheese or corn-fed chicken strips with mash (£5.5o–6.50) – served against a backdrop of magnificent Trafalgar Square views. At weekends you can also get ‘Family & Friends Sharing Platters’ – everything from roast beef with Yorkshire pudding to roasted monkfish tail with seasonal salads.
Otherwise, there’s the bakery for excellent breads, tarts, biscuits and pastries, and the partially self-service Café for breakfast, lunch, cream teas and supper, including gourmet sandwiches, charcuterie, tarts and salads, pasta, mains ranging from calves’ liver with sage to Thai green chicken curry with wild rice, and soups and pies. For kids, the Café offers the healthy likes of chicken with steamed green beans or fish of the day with spinach.
And then there’s also the museum’s own Espresso Bar – a great place to bring kids since they can browse the mighty collections on ArtStart touchscreens as they graze on baguettes, pastries or cakes.
Peyton & Byrne, British Library and Wellcome Collection
These self-service café–bakeries – one in the mighty British Library with its permanent and temporary exhibitions and program of family events and activities, the other in the less well-known but equally fascinating museum of medicine and its connections with life and art – have a chic retro feel. Bright funky furniture and free WiFi makes them great spots to linger whether you’re sightseeing or killing time before taking a train out of nearby Euston or King’s Cross, for anything from organic or tuna burgers to salads from a bar or sandwiches with local sourced ingredients, plus cupcakes, tarts, and bottled juices, teas and coffees, all well-priced.
Peyton and Byrne are also in charge of food at both the Wallace Collection, an art gallery off Oxford Street with a fine display of arms and armour plus lots of family events and activities, and at Kew Gardens.
For where to stay and what to do in the capital, see our London destination guide.
Also, take a look at Dea Birkett's blog and discussion on family-friendly cafes in London.
Other interesting articles on eating with kids:
A Fantastically Foul Feast with Roald
Eating with Kids: Museums
Family Holiday Finder
I want to go to....
On this type of family holiday
Explore Destinations
Special Offer
Free Boden Gift Voucher - up to £40
Book selected family holidays with us and receive a Boden gift voucher worth up to £40.
Find out more
