Finding a spot that makes families happy is important. It can be hard to strike a balance between what the kids like, and what the parents like. But Ramo has it down, the ultimate happy place for families in the Lido area.
Ramo used to be a hip hutong joint, catering to the young and glamorous, the ragazzi moderni. Now, like their customers, they’re all grown up and moved out to the ‘burbs. Their Lido location has a family-friendly section downstairs, with a kids’ area, and swish nightlife with cocktails and more upstairs. From swing dance and yoga to kid’s parties, Ramo has something for everybody.
On a beautiful day, we take Tess van Damme from the Netherlands, to sample Ramo’s family-friendly menu. Tess is 8 years old and is in Year 4 at The British School of Beijing, Sanlitun. She and her parents have been in Beijing for six years. Tess has a great love of music, dancing, and gymnastics, and is part of the performance choir this year.
Nobody is too old to roll around in the ball pit and make use of the coloring table in the kids’ area. This section has underfloor heating, which is good news with winter approaching. Ramo also cares about fresh air, and has an air filtration system in place. There are many baby chairs and baby changing table, and the washbasins upstairs even have a lower one for kids to reach. Those concerned about food safety will be happy to know that there are cameras in the kitchen that live stream to a screen in the restaurant.
The food is comforting, but still has a few surprises for us. We start off with fresh fruit; watermelon paired with rosemary is a hit with Tess. Paca Lee, the owner and “face” of Ramo, brings us several dishes from the menu, including breakfast pizza (RMB 78), loaded with egg, bacon, and homemade sausage (there’s also onion and rocket, to balance all the protein.) That’s devoured in a twinkling. Next comes a veggie and hummus platter (RMB 65). Ramo has the right idea here – hummus is the king of dips for kids and adults, both healthy and irresistible. The ribs with fries (RMB 158) have a spicy kick, which Tess enjoys but most likely make them unsuitable for very small kids.
Ramo has several kids’ menu items, like pasta (RMB 68), scrambled eggs (RMB 68), and pizza (RMB 68-78), but the adult dishes are mostly suitable for sharing with the little ones too. But when it comes to their range of delicious desserts, including white chocolate mousse with berry ice cream (RMB 48) and Nutella panzerotti (RMB 38), you might want to get the kids their own, so you can have yours all to yourself. After all, grown-ups deserve a bit of fun too.
Ramo
Sun-Thu 10am-11.30pm, Fri-Sat 10am-1am, kitchen closes at 11pm. 9-2 Jiangtai West Road, Chaoyang District 朝阳区将台西路9-2号
This post appeared on the beijingkids October 2018 Mental Health issue.
Photos: Uni You
