Plebs with Kids: Melville

We were invited out for breakfast one Sunday morning to a little place in Melville called Bambanani.
Not expecting much, we set off hungrily, and were most pleasantly surprised by what we found.
Having subsequently returned to Bambanani (a xhosa word meaning stand together/unite) on 2 further occasions, I feel adequately qualified to give a fairly accurate review :)
So without further ado, read on...

Date last visited

August 2010

Location and Setting

Bambanani is situated at 85 4th Avenue, in Melville, JHB.

It is fairly central, if a little closer to those in the West / Central areas of JHB. The exterior of the establishment belies what you will find inside...

It was a chilly autumn morning when we visited, and the first thing to greet us upon arrival were several cosy fireplaces churning out a good amount of warmth.

Now I am totally clueless when it comes to fancy interior design terms, but I loved the look and feel of the place - very warm and welcoming.

For the kids...

Bambanani prides itself on a large kiddies play area, situated outside and behind the main restaurant.

There is an astro-turf area where the little ones can scoot about on kiddies motorcycles and clamber up on jungle-jims, and for the more adventurous little tikes out there, there is one of those huge multi-storey scaffolding type maze constructions.

Send your kid in there and you may not get them back for several hours...!

To add to this, dedicated child minders make their presence felt, so you can comfortably leave your precious little ones in their care. Tipping is of course always welcome.

The restrooms were clean and well presented, with very decently equipped changing rooms for those stink bombs that the little ones sometimes produce... :)

For the adults...

The warm, welcoming atmosphere is just awesome at Bambanani. It sure helps that all the staff we dealt with were relaxed and friendly, and fairly prompt to boot.

Food-wise, this being a breakfast, I can testify that several members in our party laid great praises upon the Eggs Benedict... :)

Over and above this, the menu is varied and caters nicely for the kids as well.

All of those in our party loved their meals - a variety of different breakfasts were enjoyed at our table :)

Several cappuccino's and an awesome slice of lemon meringue later, it was unfortunately almost time to go... :)

Anything else?

Not much else to add - an excellent time was had by the adults, the kids had a great time and we will most definitely be back in the near future.

The staff here are superb - you get the feeling that they are really happy to have you in their establishment.

Oh and there is the option to dine inside or outside - the upper outside dining area overlooks the play area, so you can keep one eye on your food, and the other on your offspring playing below :)
The lower outside dining area is neatly spread around the play area, so if you want to avoid the stairs, then this is for you.

Free admission.