FFT at the Botanics

I was super thrilled to find out that the new Food For Thought (FFT) had opened at the Botanic Gardens, taking the place of the now defunct food court near the Tanglin Gate entrance. Hurray, another casual food option available at the park! And when I heard from D that they had a playground, I knew it would go on my must-visit list.

I think as parents, we all value child-friendly restaurants and cafes. Better yet if it comes with built-in entertainment in the form of an on-site playground or play area. Noey’s all-time favourite place to eat used to the The Tanglin Tree. The food was average, but fish & chips on the menu + a totally awesome playground = best restuarant in the world in Noey’s book. We were all really disappointed when it closed sometime towards the end of last year. Since then, I’ve been on the hunt for a good replacement joint.

Last weekend, after DD sprung the I-have-to-work-this-weekend surprise on me, I decided that I really couldn’t just stone away my precious weekend at home. So after Noey’s Art Class on Saturday morning, I packed myself, both kids and Nomi’s lunch into the car and headed to the Botanics.

I miraculously managed to single-handedly feed Nomi her porridge lunch, while feeding Noey his lunch (fish & chips, no surprises there!) and after that, tuck into my own lunch. Man, did I feel like a super Mum! Haha. Especially when Noey pulled a “I need to pee” stunt on me right after I had gotten everyone nicely settled down. Being on my own meant that I had to bundle everyone and our valuables off to the toilet but well, it had to be done.

And after we were done with the food, it was playground time! In fact, since I had a good view of the playground from inside the cafe, I was able to let Noey go mess around outside while I was eating. I brought Nomi out to join Noey later on and both kids had fun climbing and exploring. I was grateful that it wasn’t crwded so Nomi could make her way around on her own without me worrying that some kid was going to run her over.

Overall, it was a decent place for lunch. The prices were quite reasonable — I think Noey’s Fish and Chips was about $8 and you could add a lime tea for $1. I can’t remember how much my Garlic Prawn Linguine was, but it was an average cafe price. I’m sure we’ll be back, with Papa in tow.