Baulkham Palace Chinese Restaurant - Baulkham Hills

Life certainly changes after having kids doesn't it!? Take for example your wedding anniversary. Pre kidlets you probably would have gone out for a romantic dinner with your loved one, maybe have scored a few roses and returned home for some etc. etc. Then etc. etc. creates some little beings that totally turn your romantic world upside down and a takeaway seems like a far more sensible option than dining out with said little beings on your anniversary. We've just clocked up 9 years and we have normally done the take away option but for some reason this year we crazily decided at the last minute to dine out and take our little beings along with us!

Our romantic destination was to be the local Chinese joint. The Baulkham Palace is a bit of an institution with families in the area and is located in the Stockland Mall. There is a very steep set of stairs to gain access to the restaurant. This will pose a problem for prams, people with dicky knees and inebriates. Once you have negotiated the stairs you walk in a very large and spacious restaurant. We arrived at 6.00pm and had the place to ourselves and the lovely staff fawned over our darling little boys who were very excited to eat at a such a "flash" restaurant!

The restaurant has a small bar and is fully licensed. Most wines on the list come from Robert Oatley owned vineyards. Soft drinks, water and juices are available for kidlets. There is a stack of high chairs for little ones to use and a decent size loo is available but it doesn't have a baby change table. If you are in desperate need of one you can always pop downstairs to the Parent's Room in the mall. As the restaurant is upstairs, you have a view over the CBD of Baulkham Hills and the boys immediately spotted the playground downstairs and wanted to get take away and eat down there!

We were seated at a table in front of a TV and also a small stage. I think it's the first time I have watched a 6pm news bulletin in years! And then Home & Away came on which I don't believe I've watched since I was about 16 and after watching a small bit of it, I totally believe they need to bring Sally back. Just after we were seated, a basket of prawn chips was placed on the table which were devoured by the boys and then, with their angelic little faces, they asked the waitress for some more and another basket magically appeared.

The menu at Baulkham Palace is huge and fairly typical of what you would find in most Chinese restaurants. Our boys are huge fans of spring rolls and fried rice so they were both ordered and when they arrived they were served in the good old fashioned silver service way! One of the specialities of the house is the bird's nest. Your choice of meat comes stir fried with vegetables and served in a deep fried noodle basket. Top marks for presentation and the stir fry was yummy (and perfect for kids to eat) but the basket was quite bland. The honey prawns are another really kid friendly dish and the serve was huge! They serve a lot more spicy dishes but as we had the boys we went for milder options.

My favourite dish of the evening was dessert. They serve Mr Pisa Gelato desserts at Baulkham Palace. The boys love mangoes so they both wanted the Mango Delight and I thought since it was our wedding anniversary that I would order a Baci Kiss for Mr Munch and I to share. Sadly they were all out of kisses so we ended up sharing the boy's mangoes. A gorgeous mango shaped ice cream arrived at the table. It was coated in a thin layer of white chocolate and in the centre there was a knob of dark chocolate that was meant to represent the seed of the mango. It was absolutely delicious and the perfect dessert!

In between eating the boys used the stage for their very own performance of the Tony Abbott/Vlad Putin shirt lifting competition! The stage is used by musicians on the weekend so we were lucky that the boys had full use of it and it also gave both us and the wait staff some entertainment. I had bought along some colouring in for them to do but wrestling seem like a  far more interesting way to pass the time for them.

At the end of our meal, a basket of fortune cookies and mint chocolates arrived. The timing was perfect as it made the boys sit down at the table (they were starting to get the evil eye from some of the other patrons that had arrived). It was the first time the boys had ever seen the cookies and they ripped them apart with must gusto, so much so that their fortunes ended up torn and I think quite a few broken cookies ended up on the floor.

So there you have it my dear Little Munchers, our romantic Wedding Anniversary dinner. It was a bit crazy but also a bit fun and I love my little family to bits! And I totally agree with one of the fortunes we received "The love of a family is life's greatest blessing."

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http://www.baulkhampalace.com.au/
Shop 45, Stockland Mall, 375 Windsor Rd, Baulkham Hills
02 9686 2552
Open 7 days lunch & dinner

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