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Business & Tech

Dining with the Kids: 5 NYC Restaurants Worth Trying

Plan a family excursion to lower Manhattan with these fun restaurants in mind.

Looking for an enjoyable restaurant for your next family outing to the city, and can’t stomach the thought of Mars 2112 or The American Girl Cafe?

If you need to be assured of high chairs, booster seats and children’s menus, the following recommendations may not be for you. But, if you are willing to venture beyond chicken tenders and grilled cheese, keep reading.

I have several criteria to be fulfilled when choosing a place to dine with my kids:

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  1. It has to be loud – this  relieves some of the pressure to undertake my role of Sound Police.
  2. The establishment should allow reservations – trying to placate whining kids in the entrance or bar area is nonexistent on my list of life’s pleasures. 
  3. It should be welcoming to children without patronizing them with a special menu – I finally learned that my kids would try new things while traveling with them in Europe and Asia, no kiddie menus to be found. 
  4. Most importantly, the restaurant will hopefully have good food.  Sorry, Jekyll & Hyde… you just don’t make the cut.

5 PICKS BELOW 14th STREET…

DO HWA

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http://www.dohwanyc.com

55 Carmine Street, between Bedford Street and 7th Avenue

Phone: 212-414-1224

Do Hwa takes the intimidation factor out of trying a Korean restaurant.  It is a handsome restaurant in the West Village with delicious Korean barbecue and home-style cooking.  Service is quick and efficient, and the servers are happily willing to offer suggestions for all ages dining here. If possible, try to reserve a table with a tabletop grill - we didn't, and I know the kids would have enjoyed this.

Our group of kids, ages 6 to 13 devoured the Mandu Gui (pan-fried beef dumplings) and Dak Teegim (fried chicken drizzled with a spicy jalepeno-soy sauce, which can be requested on the side.)  The grown-ups loved the extremely flavorful watercress salad, the braised short ribs, the before-mentioned spicy fried chicken (this time with the sauce!), and a delicious seafood-scallion pancake. 

Skip dessert at Do Hwa and walk one block to Bleecker St. to…

PASTICCERIA ROCCO

http://pasticceriarocco.com/

243 Bleecker Street

Phone: 212-242-6031

Rocco’s is an old-fashioned Italian bakery.  They have tables in the back with waiter service, or you can pick out pastries for take-away.  The kids love being able to choose their pastry from the display cases, but make sure your order also includes the specialty of the house – cannoli.  These are divine, and this is coming from someone who doesn’t usually like the typical overly-sweet cream-filled pastry shell dessert. 

The cannoli at Rocco's are filled to order, with a sweetened ricotta filling made fresh daily.  You can also request chocolate chips or roasted pistachios to be added, as well as choosing a shell – plain, chocolate, vanilla, or half-chocolate, half vanilla.  I like to order a coffee with one or two mini cannoli – it’s a great pick-me-up any time of day.  

 DBGB’S

http://www.danielnyc.com/dbgb.html

299 Bowery, between E. Houston and 1st Street

Phone: 212-933-5300

DBGB’s is award-winning Chef Daniel Boulud’s casual restaurant in the East Village.  The name of the restaurant is a play on words combining Daniel’s name and CBGB’s, the famous defunct  new-wave/punk music club located on the same street. 

The restaurant is perfect with kids, especially if you are visiting near-by attractions such as the wonderful Lower Eastside Tenement Museum or the always-entertaining off-broadway show, The Blue Man Group.  Sound level was desirably buzzy, and there are plenty of large tables if so needed.  If you are a smaller party, request one of the comfortable side booths. 

Décor is pleasant – smoky-chocolate walls lined with shelves arranged with either donated copper pots from famous chefs or pantry items whimsically displayed.  The whole place is at once comfortable and chic at the same time. 

Food is very good, though we all agreed that the burgers are why you should come here.  We came at brunch.  Kids loved the waffles; grown-ups enjoyed the Bloody Mary’s and the Piggie Burger. Three hurrahs, or make that "oinks," for this one!

DBGB’s is also known for it’s extensive house-made charcuterie - delicious sausages, bratwurst, chorizo, pate's and more. Don’t bother with the chopped salad or the Cuban sandwich. We broke one of my rules here, since they do have a children’s menu.  But it’s a menu with a Daniel Boulud burger, for goodness sake!

NOM WAH TEA PARLOR

http://nomwah.com

13 Doyer Street

Phone: 212-962-6047

Looking for a good dim sum restaurant in Chinatown?  Nom Wah will fit that bill, minus the banquet-hall setting with the frantic servers weaving through the crowds with their dim-sum-laden carts.  After experiencing dim-sum in Hong Kong, sans carts, I much prefer it made to order as Nom Wah does it.

Nom Wah is Chinatown’s oldest dim sum restaurant. It was recently taken over by a younger member of the family, Wally Tang, after he left his initial career on Wall Street.  Tang revamped the menu and cleaned up the interior without forfeiting its original charm.  Dim sum is ordered by marking a bilingual menu order sheet for the waitress.  

Favorites of our kids included Shrimp Rice Roll, Shanghai Soup Dumplings,  Pan Fried Noodles, and Sticky Rice with Chicken in Bamboo Leaf.  Grown-ups loved these, too, as well as Shrimp & Snow Pea Leaf Dumpling.  But the Roasted Pork Bun was hands-down the favorite offering.  At a price of two for $1.25, they are a bargain as well.

And for dessert?  Pay the bill, and head a few blocks north to…

CHINATOWN ICE CREAM FACTORY

http://chinatownicecreamfactory.com

65 Bayard Street

Phone: 212-608-4170

Rumor has it that ice cream was invented in China over three thousand years ago. Who knew?! 

The Chinatown Ice Cream Factory has been in operation in Chinatown for over 28 years, serving such exotic flavors as Lychee, Black Sesame, Avocado, Pineapple, Wasabi and Ginger.  But don’t worry… they have normal flavors such as Chocolate, Vanilla and Oreo Cookie as well.  The taste and texture of these ice creams are fantastic.

I liked Almond Cookie and Zen Butter, which is a peanut butter-sesame combination inspired by cold Asian sesame noodles. Sounds weird but it works!

Feel free to ask for samples to taste.

 

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