Eating in style, and the kids still eat free....

Lagoon Restaurant
Ground Floor
Marriott Hotel
158 Ferny Ave, Surfers Paradise, 4217
T:  5592 6800

Rating out of 5:  4 child friendly forks

Clean highchairs available? Yes

Pram access? Yes but limited with split level areas.
Kids' menu? No, but it is a smorgasbord and a great range for kids.
Play area? No, but great pool area with caves to go walking after dinner.
Activities at the table? Yes, colouring in.
Room for kids to move around? Not really.  More so after dinner, around the pool area.
Child friendly atmosphere? Yes
Prices? Adult smorgasbord was $69, but the children ate for free.

This restaurant does not tick all the standard criteria above, but for other reasons I really liked the Lagoon Restaurant for a family dinner.  Mainly becasue it was fresh food for the children, and not deep fried, and it was great for the adults too.

We met some family for dinner at the Marriott on the Gold Coast.  We had a choice of the Japanese Teppanyaki where they cook the food in front of you, or the Seafood Smorgasbord.  We chose the latter.  Even though the Japanese option would have been entertaining for all ages, I was a bit concerned about the children reaching the hot grill.  So the decision was made - seafood.

Everything was well set up when we arrived, so there was no mucking around with seating arrangements.  I quickly got four plates happening and filled them with an array of salads, cold meats, a few prawns and some fish.  The kids loved it and sat happily tasting the different options on their plates.  The waitress also brought out some colouring activity packs which was great. 

Mike and I definitely enjoyed our meals with fresh oysters and prawns, salmon, whiting and fresh salads.  There are other choices besides seafood, but we decided to make the most of it.

We all had dessert together - the kids enjoyed ice cream and we indulged in some more decadent options.  It is a high end dinner option, with the adult meal costing $69 and the wine bar another $20.  But children 5 years and under eat free, and are not limited to nuggets and chips like so many other kids menus.  For a family of six (like us) this was actually a very reasonable option.  The other thing I really liked was that I could get food for the kids immediately and did not have to wait 20 minutes in between ordering and bringing the food out.

Afterwards we took the children on an "adventure walk" through the caves that surround the gorgeous pools at the resort.  So they got to run around and wear out, while we got to run off our desserts, or at least a mouthful.

This was a lovely treat that we would definitely do again, and I can highly recommend it to families.