Bertie and Boo Adventure Island - A brave new world

This place is going to do very very well.

But is unlikely to see me again for a year or so.

It is catering for a very specific market and while it is open to all, I really think I (and others) should leave this one to the target market which is parents with kids of a certain age.

I didn't take photos of this place because it's filled with kids and I didn't want to get escorted of the premises (Mrs Spiller agreed taking photos here wouldn't be appropriate). So a brief description - it's a big cafe with a soft play area for kids, and maybe a theatre for kids shows but I didn't see that. The place is totally set up for parents with young kids, here are some of the features I noticed:

Food and drink service in paper/cardboard crockery - no broken stuff for kids to hurt themselves on
Till and food placed up high - kids can't slobber over the sweet treats or grab them and start eating
Lots of healthy food options for kids
Coke was for sale but at the top of the fridge section, fresh juices available at kiddie eye level
Reasonable (although not copious) space between tables
Buggy park (although quite small)

So you can see a lot of thought has gone in to this place.

I didn't go in to the soft play area but from comments I've seen online and from what I could see when we were there it's not huge which causes some problems. That said I'm not sure where the nearest 'full size' soft play area is so I think Bertie and Boo are adding something which will be of great service to the local community.

Dare I say it, Bertie and Boo Adventure Island might free up space in other cafes which have been overrun by young ones in the past (please note I do have a baby and often take up lots of space with a pram in cafes so yes I am being somewhat hypocritical, sorry about that).

So the coffee and food.

It was a decent Bertie and Boo flat white (i.e. good but served in a too big cup).

We had flapjack and cookie as well, they were fine.

I think they'd only been open for a week, there are clearly some teething problems, the service was a bit rough but mainly from not knowing where stuff is, what stuff costs etc. Just the sort of stuff you get with new staff, I'm sure it'll improve. It also wasn't helped by me not understanding the no crockery thing initially leaving me confused when it came to the self service food bit (take one of the cardboard boxes and chuck your food in there - it works and is quite a good idea but just wasn't obvious that I was supposed to do that.)

I'll leave it there but their are some very active conversations about this place online on Twitter and Nappy Valley (see here for one of the Nappy Valley threads...http://bit.ly/I3Oj1z). Also click here for a review on the Made for Mums website

Scores
Coffee
Hot: 7/13
Aroma: 6/13
Flavour: 6/13
Texture: 10/13
Presentation: 7/13

General
Service: 6/13
Food: 8/13
Atmosphere: 4/13 (this is based on me wanting something that isn't a playground/creche when I go out for a coffee and cake - don't let this deter you!)

Overall 6/13.

So not a great score from me, but that's my view at this stage of my life, when Baby Spiller is a bit older I will be spending a lot of time here I'm sure and I will be very happy to do so because Bertie and Boo does it very well. So please, if you've got young ones go along and hopefully you and your kids will have a great time!