Delicious 100: Victoria’s best family friendly restaurants revealed

Cooking for kids isn’t child’s play at Victoria’s best family-friendly restaurants. See who made the list.

Andy Allen’s Three Blue Ducks is among Victoria’s most family friendly restaurants. Pictured with Hannah, 11, and Lucy, 12. Picture: Mark Stewart

Cooking for kids isn’t child’s play at Victoria’s best family-friendly restaurants.

Three Blue Ducks, The Independent, Big Esso by Mabu Mabu and Levantine Hill are among the state’s best for getting the family around the table, as revealed in this year’s delicious. 100 rankings in V-Weekend.

Andy Allen, Three Blue Ducks co-founder and MasterChef Australia judge, was shocked at how fast his first Byron Bay eatery built a family following.

The Independent is ideal for families, with a kid’s menu and playground out the back. Picture: Josie Hayden

“It kind of took us by surprise. We soon realised that we had this family aspect to our business, and it’s something we’ve adopted ever since,” he said.

Allen and the Three Blue Ducks crew kept this in mind when launching its Melbourne outpost at Tullamarine wave park Urbnsurf.

“The playground wasn’t in the original design and we said we had to have a kids playground, as we’ve seen how much of an impact that has with our diners,” he said.

Allen also made a conscious effort to keep ‘ducklings’ menu flavour-packed and fun, with the food including a creamy tomato pasta showered in breadcrumbs and parmesan, cheeseburgers and honey-glazed roast chicken with potatoes and salad.

“It’s not just your run of the mill nuggets and bowl of chips, although we get some kids will just want a bowl of chips,” he said.

“Kids are stoked when they see the chips and bowl of pasta. That pasta is actually the same as the adult version on our menu, just smaller without the oregano.”

Big Esso by Mabu Mabu is kid friendly. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

Gembrook’s Argentinian restaurant, The Independent, is also family friendly spot with a dedicated kids menu and playground out the back.

While Big Esso doesn’t have a kids-only offering, staff are happy to recommend suitable options and have high chairs, change tables in the bathroom and pram parking available.

Upscale Yarra Valley winery Levantine Hill also has options for tiny mouths.

Managing director Samantha Jreissati said the winery’s sprawling green lawns made it kid and pet friendly.

“We have families who dine with us regularly. It’s not an unusual occurrence,” she said.

Kids aren’t excluded from the winery’s extravagant offering, with a $75 per head option including a smorgasbord of snacks, roast chicken and salad with chips and a dessert.

See Victoria’s best 100-51 restaurants revealed in this year’s delicious. 100 rankings in V-Weekend.