Reviewed by B
Overall: OK. Nappy change facilities, high chairs. Not well equipped to cater to needs of children.
Good Points: Gorgeous rural setting. Wildlife enclosure outside featuring emus, kangaroos etc. Nice hard wood high chairs. Big nappy change unit.
Bad Points: No kids menu. High chairs are not padded at all. Nothing provided to help little people enjoy the visit, apart from the animals outside.
Secret Creek is definitely one of the nicest places to eat in Lithgow. It’s a little way out from town centre, in a gorgeous bush setting. Nice and quiet. Good food, BYO alcohol, and friendly staff. For big people it’s great, but for little people….be prepared and BYO entertainment (and food too).
We’ve been to Secret Creek a couple of times now with the little one. This time round, bubs is now 2 and is not content sitting in a chair for an hour or so while the adults eat and chat. Bubs has been when much littler, and the facilities have not changed at all.
As a restaurant, it’s lovely. Good food, reasonable prices, BYO alcohol, lovely building and interior. But for catering to young ones, it really doesn’t work well at all.
First there is the high chair. It looks really nice and well made, but it’s all hardwood without a single bit of padding. And little people need a bit of padding, especially when they’re going to be sitting for a while. On the earlier visit, bub’s head would hit the back of the chair when leaning back…..not comfortable at all. Being much bigger now, the problem is the chair doesn’t adjust at all. The height of the chair, the table part….none of it can be altered to suit your child. On this visit, we ended up bringing over another regular chair and letting her sit on that instead.
Second is the menu. There isn’t a kids menu. We were happy enough to share our orders with bub, but it’s nice to be able to give little people their own plate of food…..or even let them choose something from their own little menu. But not here. Thankfully, bub was happy with sharing what we’d ordered (and so were we).
Going forward, I’ll bring some food from home to give bub.
Third is the lag time between ordering and getting food. The wait wasn’t too long, but long enough to have me begin to feel anxious about how much longer bub was going to last before getting over the whole day. Definitely remember to take a variety of entertainment for your little one. We brought a colouring book, reading book and a couple of My Little Pony’s……..and of course there was the animal enclosure outside (but being mid winter, staying outside is not a pleasant option). Next time we decide to go there and take bub with us, we’ll order ahead so food will be ready when we arrive.
Fourth, the baby change facilities. The baby change unit is in the disabled bathroom. All restrooms are located down the small hall between the front desk and the serving bar. Head through the big Restroom door, and to your left is another door with a big sign on the front of it with a wheelchair sticker, and another sticker underneath saying ‘Baby Changing Area’.
Don’t take the pram in, if you can help it. There’s really not enough room for the pram once you have folded out the change unit.
The door does not close or lock properly.
The change unit is wall mounted and is a great big size. The best bit about it is the thick padded surface. Love it! And there are little compartments in the unit to put nappies, wipes etc in while you are changing bubby. This is a great idea, and there should be loads more units with this feature. Would save parents from having to stick nappies etc between their teeth, legs etc, while trying to change little ones and keep them from wriggling away.
One downside to the change unit is the tough clip at the top. I don’t like it. I needed two hands to undo the thing and be able to fold it out – not so great if you have a baby. Toddlers are capable of standing on their own so you can do this, but with babies….this is not such a great feature. This is where other wall mounted units win out – they’re light weight and easy to open up.
Secret Creek really is a lovely place to eat. But just make sure you really do plan ahead if your bringing your little one with you. Apart from highchairs and a change table, that’s about all there is for kids (except for the animals. Kangaroos and emus really are fun to look at, especially through the eyes of little ones). So bring toys, books etc to keep them entertained, and bring food too.