In the City: Review of Fiona’s Playdate Café

I’m a Fraser Valley Mom, residing with my hubby and my littles in Langley. Our days are made up of visits to the local community centre tot-romps, spray parks and swing sets on sunny days, and treks up to the local bakery for a cookie. Once in a while we would embark on the long but worthwhile drive out to Port Coquitlam to visit the novel Kinder Café. Never heard of it? It was an ingenious idea from a husband and wife team to create a play space for kids that conjoined onto a coffee shop. Parents come in, drink lattes and chat with friends, while kids play safely and interactively in a fantastic space that included a bouncy castle and a bubble machine, among other fun stuff. Fun for kids and a small break for mom and dad = winning.

But then, all of a sudden, the Kinder Café closed down. To say I was disappointed is an understatement. Trust me, having my toddler and preschooler run amok in a busy Tim Hortons while the elderly patrons cluck their tongues at me DOES NOT have the same appeal as the Kinder Café. And might I mention that Tim Hortons doesn’t have a bouncy castle? And might I ALSO mention that moms need coffee the way a car needs gasoline? No coffee/gasoline – NO FUNCTION. What was I going to do?

But then suddenly one day, while I scrolled through my Facebook feed, I saw a chat string on a local baby swap site saying that a new version of the Kinder Café had opened practically in my back yard! To say I was excited is an understatement – on my next day off, I packed up the littles and off we went to this new play café – called Fiona’s Playdate Cafe, located at 104 -6820 188th Street in the Clayton area of Surrey.

Let me start off by saying that this place ROCKS. Even though the facility isn’t quite as large as the Kinder Café, nor does it have as many amenities (cue my daughter asking me “Mommy, where’s the bouncy castle?”), it has anything your little one might want. Fiona’s Playdate Café was a HUGE HIT with my girls. And might I add, what an amazing location – right smack dab in the middle of a demographic where a huge portion of the residents are moms and dads with small kids.

Admission is reasonable - $5.50 per child, and crawling babies are free. The also offer the following:
• a baby play area, library nook, chalk wall and climbing structures
• a very reasonably priced food menu, including Panini’s, kids meals, salads and specialty coffees
• Private event options for birthday parties, baby showers and other special events
• Registered programs such as mom and baby yoga, stroller fit, family story time and parenting ____classes from Miss Behaviour, a local parenting coach and consultant.
• Plus much more!

My littles and I spent about 2 hours at Fiona’s Playdate café, upon which I was able to have some fun with my girls in a safe and interactive environment, as well as enjoy a hot cup of coffee and read some of my book. In my mothering opinion, that is a successful day!

I’d highly recommend visiting Fiona’s Playdate Café, and I only anticipate it’s going to get busier as the colder months roll in.Visit www.fionasplaydatecafe.ca or call 604-372-3364 for more information.

Come Celebrate their Grand Opening Event September 4th, 5th, 6th, 2015

"Melissa Collins is a coffee loving, lip gloss collecting, mommy blogging mother of 2 little ladies. When she's not busy cleaning up Cheerios and writing about the honest humor in parenting, she can most likely be found curled up in her hammock with a good book. Check out her adventures at www.mellysmommymanual.com