After a few years living in Italy, where children are always welcome anywhere and at any time, I was amazed with how few places welcome children in the evening in London. Unfortunately this limits your choice of restaurants to say the least, but I understand some places are not suitable for 6 year olds and I wouldn’t dream of taking my son to any such venues, however I don’t find it unacceptable to take him to a trendy pub for an early evening meal. Last night we wanted to have dinner in a very nice gastropub in Bloomsbury, but unfortunately children are not allowed after 5pm so we opted to have a light dinner at Carluccio’s Cafe’ at the Brunswick Centre in Russel Square. I was very impressed with their children menu. On arrival we were greeted with grissini and my son was handed a brown envelope containing the menu packed with games and quizzes – all pasta related – and some colouring pencils. The meal was good value and the kids’ menu in particular at £6.25 was great. For that you get a soft drink, a choice of make-your-own pasta or chicken breast with rosemary potatoes or ravioli, followed by a choice of Italian ice cream. The pasta dish in particular is a lot of fun because kids can choose their favourite shape to match the sauce either tomato, pesto, butter or ragu. We’ve had a plate of antipasto with cold meats, vegetables, olives and oven roasted tomatoes served with ciabatta bread to start, then I had a plate of calamari and my husband had a delicious plate of pasta with spicy Italian sausage ragu. As well as a good children menu, most of their dishes are also available in child size portions, which opens up your options. I had been there before for breakfast and if you are big on the caffeine intake, it is a good place for a good cup of coffee, but I had no idea you could also have such a good dinner there too.