Correction (2 October 2026): an earlier version of this page listed places and details we could not stand behind. It has been rewritten, and every place below was checked against its own current information.
The family dinner is decided the night before, not at 5:30pm in the car. This guide lists what six places say in their own words about children: a playground, a kids’ menu item with a price, play-session prices, or a child-friendly listing, in that order of how much a parent can act on it. Three are in Kew and three are just over the border in Hawthorn. Only one of the six, The Hawthorn Hotel, has a priced kids’ menu item in what we captured, so this is a short, honest list rather than a long one.
Three things to confirm before you go:
- High chairs and pram access: none of the pages we captured state either, so ring ahead.
- Hours: Origami Play Cafe’s own site says “Check Calendar” for weekends, and the Kew Junction directory lists different hours from its own site.
- Kids’ menus: we captured one (The Hawthorn Hotel). For the other five, ask.
The quick picks
| If you need | Head to | In its own words | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| A playground at the pub | The Auburn Hotel (Hawthorn) | A beer garden “with kids’ playground” | No kids’ item captured |
| A priced kids’ menu item | The Hawthorn Hotel (Hawthorn) | Kids Burger of mini beef sliders, cheese and chips | $16 |
| Play first, coffee for the adults | Origami Play Cafe (Kew) | A “family-friendly space where kids can play and adults can relax” | $14 to $26 per child for two hours; adult free |
| Riverside, with Sunday kids’ sessions | Studley Park Boathouse (Kew) | Mini Explorers and Big Explorers sessions, Sundays | $5 or $10 per child |
| A sit-down dinner with a child-friendly listing | Thai Terrace (Kew) | Listed by AGFG as “Child Friendly” | No menu prices captured |
| A Vietnamese dinner for the whole family | Viet Star (Hawthorn) | “A restaurant for your family, friends, and business associates.” | No menu prices captured |
The Auburn Hotel — 85 Auburn Road, Hawthorn VIC 3122
Kids and play: the site says “Relax in the expanded Beer Garden at Auburn Hotel, an inviting open-air space with kids’ playground.” It adds: “This lively outdoor area is ideal for family gatherings and social meetups, big or small.” Fenced or open: not stated on the pages we read. Its FAQ says “Minors are very welcome but must be with a parent or legal guardian at all times.” We captured no kids’ menu.
Hours: Monday to Wednesday 12:00pm to 10:00pm, Thursday 12:00pm to 11:00pm, Friday 12:00pm to 12:00am, Saturday 11:00am to 12:00am, Sunday 11:00am to 11:00pm.
On the menu: a margherita pizza at $29 and an Angus beef burger at $31 on the Spring 2026 food menu, plus a plant based burger at $31. The venue says its menu “has a range of options that can accommodate for vegetarian, vegan and gluten free diets”. The site writes the suburb as Hawthorn East; we use Hawthorn because that is the locality for postcode 3122.
The Hawthorn Hotel — 481 Burwood Road, Hawthorn VIC 3122
Kids and play: its ordering menu lists a Kids Burger, “Mini beef sliders, cheese, chips tomato sauce”, at $16.00. Sliders are small burgers. Its FAQ says “Minors are allowed with a parent or legal guardian at all times whilst the kitchen is open.” The site mentions an “outdoor beer garden and rooftop”.
Hours: Monday and Thursday 11:30am to midnight, Tuesday, Friday and Saturday 11:30am to 1am, Wednesday and Sunday 11:30am to 11pm. Mind the kitchen: the minors rule applies only while it is open, and the home page lists kitchen hours of Sunday to Thursday 11:30am to 9pm and Friday and Saturday 11:30am to 9:30pm.
For the grown-ups: the beef burger is $30.00 and the beef pie with mash, gravy and peas is $34.00 on the same menu.
Origami Play Cafe — 1/177 High Street, Kew VIC 3101
Kids and play: a paid play space with a cafe, not a restaurant, so we have no food prices for it. The site calls it “a family-friendly space where kids can play and adults can relax.” A two-hour general play session is $14 for 6 to 11 months, $26 for 1 to 5 years and $14 for 6 to 9 years, and the accompanying adult is free. Pram check: the entrance is at the rear of the building via Athenaeum Place.
Hours: its own site lists general sessions Wednesday to Friday 9:30am to 2:00pm (last entry 12:00pm), says “Check Calendar” for weekends and school holidays, and lists Monday, Tuesday and public holidays as closed. The Kew Junction directory lists Wednesday to Friday 9:30am to 3:00pm and Saturday and Sunday 9:30am to 5:30pm, so confirm before you go.
For the grown-ups: its page mentions USB charging ports and free Wi-Fi in the main seating area, and says the espresso is made using Decent Espresso technology.
Studley Park Boathouse — 1 Boathouse Road, Kew VIC 3101
Kids and play: its FAQ says “Our fun & interactive sessions are just $5 per child for the Mini Explorers and $10 for the Big Explorers”. Its FAQ says both run every Sunday, Mini Explorers for ages 4 to 7 and Big Explorers for ages 7 to 12; check the FAQ for session times before you go. The council lists the boathouse inside Yarra Bend Park, and the boathouse says it is “the oldest public boathouse on the Yarra River”. Standard boat-hire sessions are 60 minutes in total; we have no boat-hire prices because they were not in the page text we could read.
Hours: Monday to Thursday 8:00am to 5:30pm, Friday and Saturday 8:00am to 9:00pm, Sunday 8:00am to 7:00pm.
Dogs: welcome in the outdoor spaces, on a leash.
Thai Terrace — 164 Pakington Street, Kew VIC 3101
Kids and play: the AGFG listing for Thai Terrace carries the features “Child Friendly”, “Vegan Options” and “Takeaway”. We captured no working website of its own for the restaurant, so we have no menu, no prices and no kids’ menu to report.
Hours: per AGFG, Tuesday to Sunday 6:00pm to 10:00pm, closed Monday. That makes it a dinner-only plan, not a lunch stop.
Viet Star — 750 Glenferrie Road, Hawthorn VIC 3122
Kids and play: the Glenferrie Road traders’ directory describes it as “A restaurant for your family, friends, and business associates.” That is all it says about families, and we captured no menu, prices or kids’ menu.
Hours: per the directory, Monday to Saturday 11:00am to 10:00pm, closed Sunday. A Sunday family lunch is not an option here.
Pack: hats and water for the riverside, a change of clothes for the play sessions, and the myki for the tram home.
Quick answers
Which Kew restaurants have a kids’ menu?
Of the six places here, only The Hawthorn Hotel (481 Burwood Road, Hawthorn) has a priced kids’ item in what we captured: a Kids Burger of mini beef sliders, cheese, chips and tomato sauce at $16.00. We captured no kids’ menu for the other five.
Is there a restaurant near Kew with a playground?
The Auburn Hotel, 85 Auburn Road, Hawthorn, says its beer garden is an open-air space with a kids’ playground. In Kew itself, Origami Play Cafe at 1/177 High Street is a paid play space with a cafe rather than a restaurant.
How much is Origami Play Cafe in Kew?
A two-hour general play session is $14 for 6 to 11 months, $26 for 1 to 5 years and $14 for 6 to 9 years, and the accompanying adult is free. The entrance is at the rear via Athenaeum Place.
Does Studley Park Boathouse do anything for kids?
Its FAQ lists sessions at $5 per child for the Mini Explorers and $10 for the Big Explorers. Its FAQ says they run every Sunday, Mini Explorers for ages 4 to 7 and Big Explorers for ages 7 to 12. Dogs are welcome in its outdoor spaces on a leash.
Are kids allowed at The Hawthorn Hotel?
Its FAQ says “Minors are allowed with a parent or legal guardian at all times whilst the kitchen is open.” Its home page lists kitchen hours of Sunday to Thursday 11:30am to 9pm and Friday and Saturday 11:30am to 9:30pm, so eat before then.
How we checked
On 2 October 2026 we read each venue’s own site or ordering page and quoted its wording on children, hours and prices. Where a venue has no readable site of its own, we used the AGFG listing (Thai Terrace) or the Glenferrie Road traders’ directory (Viet Star), and we print no prices for those two. We confirmed each address at a second source: OpenStreetMap, the Kew Junction directory, Broadsheet or AGFG. The Hawthorn Hotel’s prices come from its own ordering page. The Auburn Hotel’s menu is a PDF that prints bare numbers, so we have added the dollar sign. The Auburn Hotel’s site and Broadsheet both write Hawthorn East; we use Hawthorn because the postcode list pairs 3122 with Hawthorn. Hours and session prices change, so check before you go. The cover photo is illustrative, from Unsplash: it shows the kind of room, not a venue.
Seen something out of date? Email [email protected] with the page link and what has changed, and we will check it again.
Sources
- The Auburn Hotel: beer garden page, FAQ, contact page, Spring 2026 food menu, Broadsheet and OpenStreetMap
- The Hawthorn Hotel: website, FAQ, ordering menu and OpenStreetMap
- Origami Play Cafe: website, the cafe page and Kew Junction directory
- Studley Park Boathouse: website, FAQs, boat hire, council Yarra Bend Park page and OpenStreetMap
- Thai Terrace: AGFG listing, DoorDash page and OpenStreetMap
- Viet Star: Glenferrie Road directory and OpenStreetMap
