Tiny Bites: PICNIC On Forbes Gets Crafty with ActivityBox

Keep your little’s busy with complimentary ActivityBox crafts and their tummies full at PICNIC on Forbes

Having passed PICNIC on Forbes several times before while roaming around Kennedy Town, my family and I were more than happy to try it out. They’ve recently partnered with the monthly craft subscription box, ActivityBox in providing complimentary mini art activities for all their little diners. We jumped at the opportunity to check out the restaurant as well as testing out to see if the hubs and I could actually eat in peace while our kids are occupied with the crafts.

Kennedy Town is probably one of the most hip and happenin’ neighbourhoods at the moment. We’re big fans of so many great restos and family friend spots in that ‘hood. A growing staple and crowd favourite amongst K-Towners is PICNIC on Forbes. The relaxed nature of Forbes Street trickles into the restaurant as you’re greeted by friendly staff, a fabulous buzz of full tables (with plenty of children to boot!) and delicious smells from the kitchen.

Not a huge space, they’ve managed to fit several different table settings around the space from cosy booth seats to larger spots. One of my favourite things about the spot? Their awesome #throwback early 2000’s top hits playlist. I mean, you really can’t go wrong when you have such good taste in music, am I right, mamas?

One of our motivations for checking out PICNIC was that they had recently partnered up with ActivityBox to provide quality crafts to keep the kiddos entertained while dining. We’re not talking about your boring colouring pages and crayons… these activities are solid, mini versions of what you’d usually receive from the subscription box. With a wide range of selections, my little mister, Aiden, was presented with the choice between an elasticated wooden robot, DIY dinosaur pegs, laminated matching cards or a wearable visor to design!

Aiden decided to try all of the activities, leaving the visor for little sister, Everly to enjoy. The crafts were extremely simple to make for my 3.5 year old Aiden and came with the cutest picnic basket full of supplies. I didn’t really have to help him much (to both hubby’s and my relief!) and he was actively engaged. The only qualm I had with the activities was that the craft supplies picnic basket took up some room on the table. However, the intuitive servers saw our problem and quickly brought us a stool so we could alleviate some more table room for the much anticipated food.

Read more: Indoor Arts & Crafts: 7 Rainy Day Activities

Like every parent on the planet, we quickly skimmed the kids menu to order Aiden’s lunch first before perusing the main menu for our dish. Aiden opted for Homemade Mini Fish and Chips ($128) which came with an adorable dessert basket that was full of freshly baked goods, fruit and popcorn. There was definitely more than enough food for our ravenous eater.

While he chowed down and continued to work on his dinosaur pegs, the hubs and I decided to share the Brunch Picnic Basket for Two ($298) and ordered the recommended Quarter Free Range Roast Chicken with Grilled Lettuce and Roasted Potatoes ($120) for Everly to enjoy too. Needless to say, no one went hungry that day.

The brunch basket came with a plethora of crowd favourites, freshly basked pastries, yogurt, fruit parfaits, mango pudding, fresh preserves plus the creamiest scrambled eggs and crispy bacon and mushrooms. It was so nice removing each item from the basket and sampling from the spread. True to it’s name, PICNIC also offers packing up your orders in a rented picnic basket and taking your meal out to the park! We decided to enjoy our lunch in the comfort of the air conditioned resto.

We’ve had our fair share of roast chickens in our lives, but this was one to remember. The skin was perfectly crisp and both the white and dark meat superbly tender. The grilled lettuce and potatoes were great to use to mop up the light gravy. Delightful!

As mentioned before, with all the gorgeous different sized baskets on the table, it got quite crowded. To be fair, we were technically only using half the space because we were dining with a handsy 1.5 year old who will swipe anything that’s close to her. I’m pretty sure our servers could tell as they quickly came in to help remove finished dishes and consolidate some of the food. They were also amazing with Aiden, chatting with him and other children dining that day and checking out the crafts they had made. The staff at PICNIC really pay attention to their patrons and we give them two thumbs for that!

Going out to eat with the kiddos can often be a stressful undertaking… so much so that we usually try to eat quickly and then leave before any major meltdowns. But this time around, I can honestly say that we had none of that while dining at PICNIC. A huge part of that had to do with the amazing staff and the activities! All of us felt so at ease and shared many laughs that day. The hubs and I also got to eat our food hot out of the kitchen which is a huge plus and rarity when dining out with the kids.

If you’re into jazz music, they also have a live jazz ensemble that plays every Sunday. Make sure you check it out! We’re already making plans to go back again as we had such a great time. Great food, attentive staff, awesome ambience and activities… there’s no better combination.

Read more: Kids Eat Free: Family Friendly Dining

PICNIC on Forbes, 38 Forbes Street, Kennedy Town, Hong Kong; 2855 0810, www.picnic-forbes.com