Thursday 3 April 2008

Kids running amok

I went to a soft play centre. For those not in the know, a soft play centre is a CENTRE where kids PLAY and everything is SOFT so they can fall and not crack their little skulls open.

This particular soft play is in a distant land called Becken Ham. It's OK. Nothing special. It's a large warehouse space filled with a great big modular soft play framework. There's a small merry-go-round and a very small kart track. No frills and only general ambient lighting. These places should be fantastical and theatrical.

The café. Appalling food!! The sandwiches were dire. Flavourless and bland to look at. I had, what I thought was, a BLT. The bacon was about 97% fat - I expect fat, but really. The tuna ciabatta was just that. The Italian bread was limp and the tuna was straight out of the tin. A little mayonnaise or butter might have been a basic requirement. And this is food which would be served to children. Shame.

It's not a cheap place to visit yet it was very busy, which is not at all surprising as there's very little choice for comparative activities. Shame. Standards have been kept low and this grates me because the visitor experience should be of paramount importance.

I have been to another one though, it's called Kidspace and this is how it should be done.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

My partner and son have been to Crayzee Barn in Sidcup and they enjoyed it.

Friends who've been to both here and Gambardos in Beckenham (I assume this is where you went) say that Crayzee Barn is much better - esp. if you have a young child (under 2) as they have separate areas of the different age groups (unlike Gambardos).

We've not tried the place in Thamesmead so don't know how it compares.

Doctor Pangloss said...

Yes, I was referring to Gambado. I've not been to Crayzee Barn but will give it a go.

Kidspace is better and cheaper than Gambado. There's one in Romford, which I go to, and Croydon. Not nearby unfortunately.