A cool place to chill with the kids – Cool de sac, The Pearl, Qatar

I always love a good kid friendly place. What if its a restaurant with a huge play area with lots of toys and activities for kids? That sounds awesome! So after a looong drive to the Pearl Qatar, we arrived at this place called cool-de-sac.

First let me talk about the part I liked – the kid’s activities. As you walk into its colorful, vibrant interiors, immediately you can feel child-like excitement. When we went in the place was almost empty. But still it looked so inviting and fascinating, that  you would wish you were a kid again. But with my kids, its a different story. They need a nice long ice-breaker whenever we visit a new place, especially my 3 year old daughter. (It mostly breaks when it’s time to leave). As soon as we entered we registered our kids and got them their bands and name tags and went into their activities area. They have an indoor soft play center, video games, a tots play area where my younger son went in directly, and an activities area with painting, loads of blocks, dress up, face painting, etc, etc. Access to all these cost 35Qr/- for kids below 3 and 55Qr/- above 3.

The staff are very very friendly and supervise the kids as they play. But for our kids we had to accompany them for most of the time as they are so shy of strangers. So I enjoyed painting and dress up with my girl while the mister helped the little mister in the tots area (Note to self: Make sure you take socks for your kids even if they are wearing sandals / flip flops or else you will have to buy a pricey pair for 10Qr/- each, as its mandatory)

The dress up area. A few more additions would be great. Nevertheless, its fun!
The dress up area. A few more additions would be great. Nevertheless, its fun!
The tiny tots in their socks go here. Ball pool, soft toys and lot more...
The tiny tots in their socks go here. Ball pool, soft toys and lot more…

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My kids absolutely loved playing with these magnetic rings
My kids absolutely loved playing with these magnetic rings

And now about the food. Adjacent to their play areas are the tables lined up where the parents can sit back and relax and order from their restaurant, while keeping an eye on the kids. But when it comes to the food, it was literally a cul de sac. Makes me want to turn around and come back.

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When our kids were finally a bit settled we sat down and went through their menu (on ipads. Hint: you will be paying for those fancy gadgets too) The menu items were quite limited and prices were on the high side too ( not unexpected given the location) I got myself a chicken panini while hubby ordered Arabic meal of the day which the waiter told us was roast chicken with chickpeas. We asked to replace half the chickpeas with rice which they graciously complied with. When the food arrived, it turned out the chickpeas were actually about 3-4 in number. The chicken was served over what looked like savory struffoli or maybe like boondi but not crunchy. The sauce was a tiny bowl of thick broth with a piece of lamb and the chicken was very dry and lacked flavor. The sandwich was a disappointment too. It was dry again, with very little grilled chicken and guacamole. Priced at 70Qr/- for arabic meal and 45/- Qr for the panini, i felt it was not worth it.

Chicken Panini
Chicken Panini
Roast Chicken with chickpeas and rice
Roast Chicken with chickpeas and rice

One tiny bit of redemption was the item we ordered from the kid’s menu. A burger and mac n cheese combo with fries (for 45 Qr/-)  The portions were very small but tasted good. However, my kids are never the ones to complain about small portions. They didn’t even finish the things on the plate except fries (expected). We didn’t order any drinks as they are very very distracting for the little ones. Thought we will when they finish, which never happened. I had to finish off half of the burger for my daughter ( i hate wastage + that burger was better than my sandwich)

The kid's meal
The kid’s meal

The staff are very nice though. When they accidentally cleared the kids plate with fries from the table when the kids had gone back to play, they promptly went in to get a replacement. However, it was about closing time and due to unavailability, they instead very generously got 2 pieces of carrot cake, which was quite delicious. Too bad I don’t have a picture.

My overall rating:

kids activities – 4.5 / 5
cleanliness of play areas – 4.5/5
staff and service – 5/5
Food – 2 / 5
I am rating it 2.5 on zomato just because the other features of this place are great, but  still my zomato rating is supposed to reflect the quality of the meal we had.

Will I be visiting again? Definitely yes, for the kids activities but maybe only for some drinks / coffee with dessert while the kids play. Not for dinner.

They even have camps, field trips, circus and themed events for kids. Also they have some great packages for organizing parties. So mums with little ones, do check out this place for some awesome kid’s activities.

Cool de Sac Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

2 thoughts on “A cool place to chill with the kids – Cool de sac, The Pearl, Qatar

  1. Shahira Reply

    I have been meaning to try this place out for the kids activities. But I think the play area for a tiny tot is small?

    • ayesha Post authorReply

      Yes, the toddler’s area is a bit small. A small ball pool at one end and few soft padded slides, tunnels. But they do have a few toys / activities they can take inside and a magnetic rings things which was a huge hit with my kids. Can keep the toddlers engaged for an hour or so.

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