Park Pole Mokotowskie has long been the perfect place for family strolling. It’s also home to several child friendly restaurants. but unless you live in the adjacent Eco-Park complex you might have overlooked the latest newcomer to Warsaw’s kiddie café scene. The Peek-a-boo café is tucked in between tidy apartment blocks and is still a well-guarded neighborhood secret. But as the name suggests, its owner Katarzyna is out to grab your attention and keen to entice new custom.
Unlike most child friendly zones, Peek-a-boo has taken a more sophisticated, elegant approach to its interior. The pale palette and plush velvet upholstered furniture might not be the first choice of fabrics around sticky, chocolaty paws but every mummy needs a bit of luxury from time-to-time and Peek-a-boo taps into that need.
The café divides its limited square meters evenly between parent and child expectations, creating space to relax, eat and play in: however, the gigantic doll’s house does suggest Barbie got the best deal. The play area has an array of beautiful wooden toys to tease children’s imagination, plus there’s an adjoining room for activities such as cooking lessons, art, crafts and birthday parties (check the FB page as the café closes for birthdays). This area is also perfect for the independent toddler who wishes to test mummy or daddy’s letting go skills! But, thanks to Katarzyna (who really thinks of everything), parents can keep one eye on their coffee and the other on a cleverly placed camera/screen just to make sure World War III hasn’t broken out just round the corner!
The menu echoes the apartment complex’s ethos by focusing on healthy, organic dishes, all of which are freshly made with local produce when available. The Peek-a-boo motto (‘do what you love, love what you do’) is true; there really is nothing our little tots like more than playing with new toys whilst we sip tea, nibble cake, glance at glossy magazines or enjoy a quick gossip. So before the traffic jam of bugaboos builds up, I recommend taking a peek at Peek-a-boo. (GBB)
