Sticky Paws is a hit with TC’s Tiny Tester (and her mum!) #Review

Victoria Hayes
2nd March 2020

Team Taste Cheshire were super excited for the opening of the new Sticky Paws in the Flavour Forest in Baron’s Quay, however we realised that the best person to review it would be the teeniest member of Taste Cheshire Aoife (aged 28 months!) accompanied of course by her Mummy (TC Membership Manager Sarah).

The following review is by Sarah, with kind permission from Aoife. 

After being blown about by the beginning of storm Jorge on our way we found Sticky Paws very easily and we were greeted by friendly staff who explained how Sticky Paws works – we were given an iPad and showed how to use it to order food and drinks.

You can order as much or as little as many times as you like and you can keep track of your bill as you go. Perfect for my walking human dustbin who loves to eat little and often!

The layout is great, a secure entrance which leads you to the seating area, which then follows on to the adventure play area. Clear signage everywhere makes finding your way around very easy, as a mum the first thing I do is look where the baby change is, followed by answering the standard question of “where do I get a coffee?”

Turns out, getting a coffee is very easy. Within a minute of selecting ‘hot drink’ on the iPad and juice for the little one, a lovely gentleman brought over a coffee cup and a plastic cup and explained where the dispensers were and that it was unlimited. Excellent!

Unfortunately, I didn’t get chance to get that coffee as my very excited two-year-old spotted the play area and before I knew it, we were making our way to what we called the Tombliboo house. She honestly didn’t know what to do with herself she was so excited, running here there and everywhere trying to see all the new exciting things to do. My little girl can sometimes be shy around new people, but the staff were really friendly and interacted with her on a level she was comfortable with and understood. 

They also mentioned to me that all the staff are first aid trained – another thing that makes this place so wonderful!

We climbed onto the hill on the way to the bounce area when she spotted the iceberg slide – she actually let out a squeal in excitement and shouted, “slide mummy come on mummy”. In all honesty I was slightly concerned that she was a bit too small, but she was adamant she wanted to go on it so off we went, safe to say she absolutely loved it! She had tights on so it made her go a lot faster than we both expected but it really didn’t phase her, she stood at the bottom and shouted “again mummy” she LOVED it. After many more times going on the slide, we decided it was time for some food and a coffee for me!

The choice of food was great, something for everyone, even the fussiest of eaters! Using the iPad to order food is so convenient and takes away the hassle of having a child clinging to you as you try and order or them having a melt down because they have to wait at the table.

It was that user friendly, my two-year-old ordered her food. 

I read out what each item was, and she then tapped to order. So easy!

You then enter your table number and the food is brought to you.

Plenty of highchairs around and enough space to fit everyone comfortably. We used the self service coffee machine and the juice dispenser, the coffee was lovely and Aoife loved having her big girl juice, I did the standard mum thing of tasting it to ensure it wasn’t too strong and it was actually perfect and cold which was much needed after all that running around!

We opted for the spaghetti with red pepper and tomato sauce, Deeply Dipi (a mix of vegetable sticks, colourful tacos with guacamole, garlic mayo and beetroot baba) and some Ziggy fries. The portions are perfect for children and Aoife especially enjoyed dipping her cucumber into the garlic mayo in her words it was “elicious” (her way of saying delicious) each dish is reasonably priced and is freshly made to order which is another thing I loved about Sticky Paws. The spaghetti dish had lots of flavour and the colourful tacos went down a treat when Aoife realised she could dip them in and scoop up more of the dips! She was practically spooning it in! We had a few minutes after our lunch in which we sat and chatted about her time playing (I use the word chat loosely as she is only two), we drank our drinks and then headed off for another adventure in the play area.

One other thing I feel is important to say, is how well thought-out the baby change area is. Not only did they provide two changing areas – one of those fold down changing units but also a changing table with a mat. They also have a toddler’s toilet seat which is fantastic for those potty training, it is so hard to be consistent with it when you’re out and about but these added bonuses just give me more reasons to want to go back!

When we first arrived, we hadn’t even noticed the enclosed area for smaller children, complete with logs, a hill, slide and some balance testing logs – so we went to check it out!

Aoife absolutely loved this part and found it hilarious to pick up the logs and carry them up the hill to roll them back down! After a while, she decided she wanted to go back to what we had nicknamed the Tombliboo house so off we went but before we got there, the bouncing area had caught her eye and she was now ready to be brave and go up there!

It was quite the climb for a petite two-year-old but she managed it, with a little help from me of course. The physical challenge of climbing along the ropes was a little unnerving for her at first but she soon got the hang of it shouting “look at me mummy” then she discovered the balls moved and they also bounced! She loved it and was laughing so much that other children also found it funny and decided they too wanted to come up and play!

It made me so happy seeing her having such a great time and that’s all I want from our days out, good food and lots of fun and Sticky Paws certainly makes the possible!

Before leaving I promised Aoife some ice cream so we sat down, ordered our favourites and then waited for them to arrive. We were sat quite close to the ice cream counter so whilst we waited we went to have a look at all the different ice creams and again the staff were great with Aoife and were asking her about her day. She was still very excitable and chatty (which was surprising as she was over a hour late for her nap) and told them about the Tombliboo house and that we were going to have ice cream.

We ate our ice cream and then gathered our things to get ready to go home, the only difficult thing about the whole day was getting my little one to leave! 

We thoroughly enjoyed our day and can’t wait to return and take our friends!

The Ice Cream Farm in Tattenhall has partnered with Cheshire West and Chester Council to open a this restaurant and play concept at Barons Quay shopping centre in Northwich, named Sticky Paws in the Flavour Forest. Open to the general public from 2nd March.

BOOK HERE : –  https://stickypaws.net/

This experience was gifted to Taste Cheshire by Sticky Paws but we stand by our comments (and Aoife’s), if you don’t believe us, or even if you do, we encourage you to check it out for yourself.