YATA is a Japanese department store in a nearby shopping centre in Sha Tin.
I wasn't surprised to see that the store has an excellent "Baby's Room" where parents can breastfeed in peace, change nappies, heat up food or bottles in a microwave, etc. What did surprise me, however, was YATA's "Baby Restaurant" just next door to the parents' room.
The decor is colourful and inviting, though admittedly the artwork may not win any Archibold Prize awards.
The stools are for the parents, and the babies sit in little green seats built in to the table tops. This mother was just getting ready to feed her baby.
And these babies are not fed Heinz from tins! No sirree. Parents can choose between twelve specially prepared gourmet meals for their little ones. If you don't read Chinese or Japanese you may have to just point. ("Yes, I'll have the meal in the second row with the orange squishy stuff mixed with lumpy green things and brown chunks on the side thanks.")
Then your baby's meal is lovingly prepared by the chef behind the counter and served at a lukewarm temperature and texture sure to please your child's palate.
Do you think the parents are ever likely to taste-test the food and send it back if they think it is not up to standard?
I wasn't surprised to see that the store has an excellent "Baby's Room" where parents can breastfeed in peace, change nappies, heat up food or bottles in a microwave, etc. What did surprise me, however, was YATA's "Baby Restaurant" just next door to the parents' room.
The decor is colourful and inviting, though admittedly the artwork may not win any Archibold Prize awards.
The stools are for the parents, and the babies sit in little green seats built in to the table tops. This mother was just getting ready to feed her baby.
And these babies are not fed Heinz from tins! No sirree. Parents can choose between twelve specially prepared gourmet meals for their little ones. If you don't read Chinese or Japanese you may have to just point. ("Yes, I'll have the meal in the second row with the orange squishy stuff mixed with lumpy green things and brown chunks on the side thanks.")
Then your baby's meal is lovingly prepared by the chef behind the counter and served at a lukewarm temperature and texture sure to please your child's palate.
Do you think the parents are ever likely to taste-test the food and send it back if they think it is not up to standard?
Wow! What a concept. How successful do you think this place is Renee? Is it one of a kind? When and how do the parents eat if they are there? Is it a comment on the place of babies/children in that society?
ReplyDeleteJen
Hi!
ReplyDeleteI'm Italian and I would like to read new comments on this baby restaurant? Is it still open?What's happend in these last 2 years?
Tnks!
CIAO
Cristina
It's still there and as busy as ever, mums had to wait for seats to be available when we stumbled upon this place last month.
ReplyDeleteExcellent place, just needs to be a bit bigger to park all the buggies, that me only gripe on an otherwise excellent offering.
Regards ,
Mikes