I love to take the two eldest grandsons, Freddie (9) and Ben (6), out for a treat in the holidays – they’re such good company and it’s so much fun to spend time with them. Today we headed into London in the morning for some art again (see last trip) and then lunch. It’s slightly remarkable that it’s taken me this long to try out Joe Allen’s kids’ menu with them, but it was the most obvious place to eat after going to the Courtauld Gallery, and it had been far too long since I’d been there myself … Joe Allen is an iconic restaurant in the heart of London’s theatre land – you will often see the famous there and its walls are decorated with theatre posters. It opened in 1977, a sister restaurant to the original New York restaurant. Serving American all-day menus, it’s just one of the best places to go before or after a show … or, really, any time!

Our first stop was the Courtauld. We’d walked over Waterloo Bridge from Waterloo Station and I’d pointed out Somerset House (where the Courtauld is housed) as we crossed. We weren’t heading there for any reason other than it’s one of Nonna’s (my) favourite art galleries, and very easy to get to from home. It’s quite small, so perfect with two young kids, but also its main room contains some of the most marvellous and famous paintings in the world. The boys’ interest in art has been encouraged at their school and because going to art galleries is one of the things I most like to do, I’m happy to pick up on their interest when it come to outings.

Somerset House is situated on the south side of the Strand, overlooking the Thames. Its name comes from Tudor times when the Duke of Somerset built a palace there in 1547. The current building however dates from 1776 and was extended in Victorian times. The Courtauld Institute of Art, now part of the University of London, is one of the most prestigious art schools in the world and its gallery is particularly known for its wonderful collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings.

Exploring the inside is quite an excitement, especially as you climb the winding staircase up to the galleries.

The boys showed a lot of interest in the paintings; what they liked and didn’t like. They were particularly impressed in the Medieval section to find paintings that were hundreds of years old. After we looked round, we headed down to the basement and the shop where a few ‘souvenir’ treats were bought.

Then, with a bit of time to spare before going for lunch, we walked the short distance to the Covent Garden Piazza to look round. 

As one often finds, there was some free live music in the form of ‘buskers’ – though these are often musicians or music students – and we stood listening for a while.  

We went into Benjamin Pollock’s Toy Shop that’s over 100 years old. It’s small and quite cramped inside, and you have to go up a narrow staircase to it, but it’s great fun and almost like stepping back in time. The boys loved it and, of course, we couldn’t leave without buying a couple of things.

   

Now, we decided it was time for lunch, so we threaded our way through the Covent Garden crowds to Joe Allen.

‘I’ve probably eaten at Joe Allen’s more than any other restaurant in the world,’ I told the boys on the way. I must have been a regular for at least 30 years and for many years I went almost once a month, but then I hadn’t been back since August 2022 – two years ago. There are many reasons for this … but Joe Allen was not forgotten, and as we arrived at the entrance, there was an exciting feeling of coming home. Then, we’d barely stepped through the front door when a shout of welcome came from my left and owner Tim Healy stood up to greet me. Tim bought Joe’s in 2011 with his business partner (click here), but I knew him from his local restaurant at the time in Twickenham, A Cena, so we go back years too. I introduced him to the boys, saying they were son Jonathan’s eldest two – he’s met my son many times. Tim gave me a lot of support when I started the blog, for which I’m always grateful. He took us down to our table, in my favourite area near the bar. I’d looked at the kids’ menu online but Tim told me one kid can eat free when an adult eats from the main menu. 

There was no question about what the boys would choose to eat – Cheeseburgers, of course! The kids’ menu comes with an activity sheet and they both settled quickly down to do puzzles and it really did keep them happily entertained while we waited for our food.

The boys had some juice. I didn’t want alcohol at lunchtime but was tempted by the Mocktails and ordered a ‘No G&T’, Sipsmith Non-alcohol and Fever Tree Elderflower Tonic (£8.50), which was perfect and delicious.

   

When the boys’ burgers arrived, they looked great. Freddie now likes to take photos of his own food for my blog, and he’s very good at it – so this is his photo!

My choice was a Classic Caesar salad (£14) with an extra of chicken (£5). Joe’s Caesar salad has always been one of my favourite anywhere and this was delicious and perfect for a light lunch (I don’t like to eat a lot at lunchtime). Crisp lettuce, gorgeous chargrilled chicken and a fabulous dressing.

Both boys chose Jude’s vanilla ice cream with fudge sauce from the kids’ menu for their dessert (another of Freddie’s photos). I had an Americano and was pleased to find that Joe’s coffee was as good as ever.

It was so good to return to Joe Allen, which happily was as fantastic as ever. The kids’ menu had been great too. From there we backtracked briefly into Covent Garden to go to Santa Nata for some Pastel de Natas. I just can’t resist those when near. We’d looked in while wandering round before lunch and Freddie had wisely suggested we should buy them after lunch.

The boys were delighted to see a chef putting them together in the window – not a great photo because of the reflection on the window from outside – but it makes it all the more exciting to go in and buy some when you’ve seen them being made and coming out of the oven.

Our bag with boxes of pastel de natas in hand, we made our way back to Waterloo Station where a train going to Twickenham was about to leave, so we hurried a bit, got on, and soon were on our way home. What a lovely outing it had been!