It wasn't hard to find somewhere suitable to review for this special issue. I was holidaying on the Suffolk coast, also known as Boden-on-Sea, where most dining spots aren't so much child-friendly as child-obligatory. The Brasserie at The White Lion Hotel, in the upmarket seaside resort of Aldeburgh, seemed like a promising destination, offering a decent-looking kids' menu, and a great beachfront location opposite The Moot Hall, setting for the opening of Britten's Peter Grimes (though we won't get into that in an article about child-friendly dining).
The White Lion reopened this Easter after a designer makeover which has taken years off it, transforming an old-fashioned seaside hotel whose reception area was dominated by a Stannah Stairlift, into a cool, 38-room boutique hotel. The townhouse-meets-driftwood décor makes the brasserie easily the most sophisticated-looking lunch spot for miles around, if not exactly ideal for the younger customer, with its cream leather chairs and velvet-upholstered booth seating. But the White Lion sailed triumphantly through the first test of child-friendliness, the smiley manageress barely flinching when she realised that our party of six would include four boys aged between five and 10.
Our visit coincided with Aldeburgh's annual carnival, complete with funfair and fancy-dress parade. The White Lion's big windows offered a ringside view of floats, and the hotel was doubling as mission control for many of the participants. A pirate queued next to Robin Hood at the bar, and Charlie Chaplin, or it may have been the Fat Controller, waddled past our table.
Read more at http://www.independent.co.uk/
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