Following a record-breaking 45,000 seats snapped up in its last edition in March, Singapore Restaurant Week (SRW) is back for its ninth edition this month (from Oct 25 to Nov 2) with another first for this now bi-annual event.

We’re talking about children. More precisely, Kids Restaurant Weekend, which makes its debut on Oct 18 and presents families with young children (aged 12 and below) with an opportunity to share and even nurture a growing love of good food.

Participating restaurants will offer specially tailored three-course children’s menus priced at S$15 per child for lunch and S$20 per child for dinner. Adults accompanying kids will enjoy the normal SRW menu at the usual SRW prices — three-course sets for lunch and dinner priced at S$25 and S$35 respectively (although there is a supplement of S$15 for lunch and S$20 for dinner for menus at DiningCity Star-Awarded restaurants). Or, adults can choose to order their meal a la carte.

DiningCity, the organisers of SRW, held its first Little Super Chef Cooking Competition last month as a lead-up to this event.

“Our intention was always to encourage children and their families to take a greater interest in food and cooking, and we hope we have managed to achieve this with Little Super Chef and our Kids Restaurant Weekend,” said Tara Mohamad, general manager of DiningCity Singapore in a statement.

AN INSPIRED FOCUS

There are establishments that found inspiration in this unique opportunity, such as Punjab Grill by Jiggs Karla, which specialises in the cuisine of India’s richly diverse North-West Frontier Province.

“Indian food, especially for the uninitiated child, can be quite challenging as not every child loves spice,” said Javed Ahamad, the restaurant’s executive chef, adding that ingredients such as cheese and chocolate have been incorporated to make dishes more palatable for children.

For example, the chicken appetiser that is usually marinated in yogurt and cashew paste and cooked in a tandoor (murgh malai) will be served with cheese and sandwiched in a mini burger bun. And its fish with ginger will be coated with panko bread crumbs and served just like fish and chips.

“While we have stayed true to our Indian roots, a lot of the dishes have also been packaged in a way that will appeal to kids,” Javed said. “It is a way of introducing a new cuisine in a fun and familiar way that makes children want to be more adventurous with their food. Even our papdi chaat is a choco papdi chaat served with a dark chocolate yogurt, garbanzo beans and pomegranate with a trio of chutneys. Our menu is all about being innovative and ensuring kids can have fun with their food, so they develop an appreciation for dining out.”

Punjab Grill will also provide drawing sets and Play Dough to keep fidgety diners occupied.

Quayside Fish Bar + Bistro, on the other hand, has kept its focus on helping children gain a greater appreciation for healthy eating and quality fresh ingredients. The dinner menu boasts root vegetable fries and a salad mix to start, a Jerusalem mushroom risotto with pickled herring for the mains and dark chocolate-caramel “banana lollipops” to finish.

“Special emphasis has been placed on ensuring the items look, sound and taste great, while being very healthy for kids. We believe an appreciation for fresh quality produce and healthy eating should be cultivated from an early age,” said Crystal Shong, marketing executive of Eleven Concepts Pte Ltd, which manages Quayside Fish Bar & Bistro. “All the items on the menu are made from scratch ... which ensure freshness, quality and no harmful preservatives or chemicals.

“The focus of this menu is also on fresh fish from sustainable sources, as well as a healthy dose of fruit and vegetables. Our pickled herring dish, for example, is pickled in-house, using fresh herring. The fries in the appetiser are not made from potatoes, but root vegetables, which give a crunchy texture and are far healthier. It is a 100 per cent vegetarian appetiser and served with delicious cherry tomato marmalade and raspberry balsamic dressing.”

But while only 13 of the more than 100 restaurants participating in SRW will be offering the set menus as part of Kids Restaurant Weekend, some say it’s better than nothing.

“There are not as many as I would have hoped, but it’s a promising start,” said Cecilia Yee, 43, a counsellor and mother of two girls, aged four and nine. “It’s a welcome initiative despite too many offering rather run-of-the-mill dishes, such as pasta, pizza and, yes, even a grilled ham-and-cheese sandwich (at The Bank Bar).”