Image courtesy of Le Bistro Winebeast

Some weekends, you’re a super parent; up before dawn for some Pinterest-worthy crafting, followed by a nutritious breakfast of organic superfoods before a full-day educational excursion.

Other weekends, perhaps your Wonder Woman outfit is in the wash and so you just want to turn up somewhere that’ll keep the kids happy (read: relatively quiet), where they’ll cook for you and serve you booze before 12pm. No judgement here.

That’s why this month, I’m talking about three weekend brunches that are baby-friendly, kid-friendly and (bottom of the list, I know), parent-friendly too. Chin chin, fellow #nofilterparents!

Red Bar and Restaurant
(Kids menu, highchairs, baby changing in IFC)

Image courtesy of Red Bar & Restaurant

Let’s start with an easy one. Red Bar & Restaurant has always been an easy-peasy family fave, due to its straightforward access from IFC Mall, flat, stroller-friendly access, cracking harbour views and huge outdoor space that’s ideal for toddlers who won’t be tamed. Their latest promotion is a family-friendly brunch, where kids under 11 eat for free for every full-priced adult meal ordered during weekends and public holidays. And while the kids’ menu doesn’t offer much in the way of surprises (think pizza, pasta, burgers, fish fingers, etc), it is at least likely to popular with its target audience. In addition to the kids eat free promo, Red are also running a monthly colouring competition where they select three lucky winners to walk away with $1000, $500 and $300 Toys R Us vouchers. I see this as a smart strategic play on behalf the restaurant – give kids something important to concentrate on until the meal arrives and there’s way less chance of them causing mayhem. On behalf of hungover tired parents everywhere, I wholeheartedly salute this idea.

4/F IFC Mall, 8 Finance Street, Central, Hong Kong; +852 8129 8882
pure-red.com

Le Bistro Winebeast
(Highchairs)

Image courtesy of Le Bistro Winebeast

Another great value brunch promotion, this time from Wan Chai wine specialists, Winebeast. We’ve visited a few times in the past for dinner and have always been impressed by the well-priced, high-quality French food and wines (tip – try the wine pairing tasting menu next date night). When we were invited to check out the brand new brunch, we were keen to see how this would translate to a mid-day meal. Starting with a frankly vast selection of pastries, breads and spreads (including the best cherry jam I’ve tasted in Hong Kong), along with free-flow tea, coffee and juice, you then order from a small selection of mains, including a wonderfully citrusy smoked salmon carpaccio, a substantial beef bavette, and a fluffy omelette served with Black Forest ham (there’s also pasta, or you can upgrade to a ribeye to share). As before, the quality was excellent, and as there are no smaller kids’ portions, three meals was more than sufficient to share between four of us. Best of all, the brunch is incredibly reasonably priced at just $180 per adult, with up to two kids under 12 eating for free, meaning we got to spend the difference on some of that extensive wine list.

G/F & 1/F Tai Yip Building, 141 Thomson Rd, Wan Chai, Hong Kong; +852 2782 6689
wine-beast.com/le-bistro
(Our brunch at Le Bistro Winebeast was by invitation)

Armani Aqua
(Kids menu, highchairs, playroom, baby changing in 1/F disabled toilet at Chater House) 

Image courtesy of Armani Aqua

Swisher than your average family-friendly brunch, the Armani Aqua Infinity Brunch is great for kids from crawling up to tweens (who will probably just want to Snapchat the whole thing while rolling their eyes at how incredibly lame you are). Savvy to the fact that parents are likely to want to make the most of the free-flow Veuve Clicquot and cocktails, Armani Aqua have wisely laid on a small kids playroom with toys and padded mats during brunch service, which runs at weekends and public holidays. The brunch, which includes an extensive buffet of starters and desserts, plus mains cooked to order, comes in at $598 (+10%), which isn’t at all bad for a free-flow package, especially as kids under five eat for free. There’s a special Kids Infinity Brunch package at $198 (+10%), including a kids main, with unlimited juices and desserts for the under 12s.

2/F Landmark Chater (Chater House), 8 Connaught Road, Central, Hong Kong; +852 3582 2828
armani-aqua.com