Waikiki is a great restaurant for Exeter’s fussiest family.

Waikiki is a great restaurant for Exeter’s fussiest family.

As a tribe we are a fussy family. Theirs me, I eat a low sugar, very low meat diet. On the occasions I do eat meat I would really like a full psychological report on the animal, if was happy, I might eat it! I’m not keen on eating in pubs being strictly teetotal. I not keen on menus in a different language, intimidation by waiters and taking my tribe anywhere posh.  My children are easier to please, they like noodles, they make their own lunch most Saturdays, and they can boil a kettle and their experts at getting just the right amount of hot water in the pot. Clever! When we go shopping we often end up in the place advertised by that creepy clown. I hate the food; my kids hate the security guard. I need to watch out for him, I sometimes sneak last night’s dinner in to eat under the table.

 

To solve our problems with food we try Waikiki. This restaurant sits close to another competitor, the place where you “eat fresh”.  They are aware of this and have competitive offers. I have eaten some dead animal there, wild boar burger. It came with a simple salad, chips and tortillas, all for under £7. I assume the pig had a happy life as it was wild! I was happy to eat my food off a plate rather than a table, how civilised.  

 

I took my tribe to Waikiki . The décor is modern with fresh colours, a surf documentary plays on a large screen and pop music plays at a conversation friendly volume. My son who likes his food simple was happy with a familiar ham and salad sub. There was a little too much mustard for his liking but there is a very cheap childrens’ menu. My son liked the bread better than the place you “eat fresh” at, praise indeed. My daughter and I had the tomato and basil soup. The soup was very refreshing and herby like a good pasta sauce. The bread the soup came with was lovely wholemeal bread.  I treated myself to a frozen yogurt on offer at £1.99, you can only have low fat yogurt and it came with a sugary sauce rather than fruit, I do sometimes eat sugar at the weekend and it was lovely.   The atmosphere is very good, the staff wear smart surf dude and dudette clothes, they are genuinely polite and friendly. There is a bar but it is a secondary feature and well tucked away. The restaurant is pleasantly busy without being claustrophobic.

 

Wakikis is a great family restaurant. It has a relaxing atmosphere with real plates and cutlery. The surf theme is not overdone and the documentary give the most stressed out family something to chat about; you can hear each other chat too. There are familiar favourites for fussy children and older people and even a bar. No security gaud is always a good sign in a restaurant. You can’t buy a burger for a quid or salty skinny chips but the food is healthy. Lastly I would like to thank wild boar, you tasted great!

Rant and Write

Fed up with being a kitchen table bloger, YouTube ranter and disillusioned retail worker I started a course at Exeter college. As well as a student I'm also a single mum. I know my life will involve juggling and being skint for the next three years, but I'm up for new experiences and I have to make tomorrow better or die trying.

I spent some of the summer reading, as well as texts on the reading list I've read "Chavs" by Owen Jones. This is a really important book about divisions in society. Single mums are deionized, this is something I would like to write about. I'm only half joking when I tell people I don't spend my child benefit on Vodka and I know who the father of both of my children is!  Owen Jones got there first but he helps make me realise what sort of journalist I would like to be. The book outlines the way some sectors of society are written about because of the background they come from. People do believe what they read in the papers about people they have never met. Flat Earth News was recommended reading. While in the park with my kids I studiously make notes. It makes me cynical about the business I want to be part of. I'm not hugely into cash so I think free lance is the way to go.

The first few weeks were a blur of introductions to introductions. It's great to meet new people, all the time I'm aware of being the old lady of the group. I do have dubstep on my YouTube channel but I'm not 19! Amal was one of the first girls I got to know. It's fun to have girls to go around Primark with. One of our first assignments is to write about another student. Through doing this I get to Know Lottie Fox. I admire her calmness and maturity, at nearly 40 I can't manage that sort of thing.

We get let out of our classroom and go to Crealy, a childrens' animal and adventure park. We go by bus armed with radio equipment, packed lunch and some background information. This man takes those cute pictures of animals doing human stuff. I have to ask him, how to get a pig in wellies We also think up some questions about animal rights. I'm pleased to be in the radio group. I grew up with radio 4 and John Peel. We find there's more to this man than cutesy pictures. He has lots to say about how the newspaper industry is changing and a brilliant picture of a hunt.Then for the bunnies pushing a shopping trolley with baby furry creatures, ahh.   Merlin and I spend the next day editing three hours of material into 2 minutes. I realise how techno old school I really am. We also have editorial decisions to make, cute animals or controversy? We go for the cute animals, I regret that about five minutes later!