Eating out with children sounds straightforward.

You choose a restaurant. Everyone orders something. Food arrives. Lovely family memories are created.

Sometimes that even happens.

Other times somebody doesn't like anything on the menu, a drink goes over, the youngest needs the toilet just as the food arrives and you discover that “kids eat free” has seventeen conditions written underneath it.

So choosing a Peterborough restaurant for a family meal isn't only about which one serves the nicest food.

Price matters. Children's choices matter. Toilets and baby-changing facilities matter. And sometimes the most important question is simply:

Will everybody find something they'll actually eat?

Here are five Peterborough options for five slightly different family-meal problems.

Watching the bill? Try Bella Italia

Bella Italia at Cygnet Park is worth checking when price is one of your main concerns.

It offers two children's portion sizes and includes vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free choices.

There's also a kids-eat-free promotion running from Sunday to Thursday when an adult orders a main meal, subject to the offer's current terms.

That can make quite a difference to the family bill.

Because children eating free is excellent.

Children eating free while adults somehow spend £94 on drinks, sides and desserts is rather less of a budgeting triumph.

Check the current offer before going rather than assuming it will apply to your particular visit.

Walk-ins are accepted and the restaurant also lists a wheelchair-accessible toilet.

Worth considering if: you're looking for familiar food and want to make use of a family promotion.

Want a central family deal? Look at Middletons

If you're already in central Peterborough, Middletons on Bridge Street has another family offer worth investigating.

Its website advertises kids eating free all year round.

The restaurant also lists baby-changing facilities and disabled access, while its fixed-price options can make the adult side of the bill a little easier to predict.

That's useful info.

A family meal becomes considerably harder to budget when every person has independently decided they need three courses.

As always, check the current children's offer and its conditions before booking.

Promotions can change, and “kids eat free” rarely means that any number of children can wander in, order everything and nominate a passing stranger as their qualifying adult.

Worth considering if: you want a city-centre restaurant with family facilities and a children's promotion.

Bored of nuggets and chips? Try Tap & Tandoor

There's absolutely nothing wrong with nuggets and chips.

For certain children, removing either from the menu would constitute a significant diplomatic incident.

But some families want a bit more choice.

Tap & Tandoor at Queensgate has a children's meal listed at £8.95 including a drink, with choices including seasoned chicken bites, Amritsari fish and chips, tarka daal and butter chicken.

That makes it an interesting option when you've got children who are beginning to explore different flavours or siblings whose opinions about food bear absolutely no resemblance to each other.

A tarka daal, incidentally, is a lentil dish flavoured with spices and a seasoned oil or butter mixture.

The children's menu also gives you a vegetarian route without making it feel like somebody remembered vegetarians five minutes before printing the menu.

Allergen information is provided, but families dealing with food allergies should always discuss their particular requirements directly with the restaurant.

Worth considering if: your children are ready for more variety than the standard children's menu.

Nobody can agree? A buffet might help

Sometimes the problem isn't finding a restaurant.

It's getting four people to agree what they want.

Enter the buffet.

The Bombay Brasserie on Broadway offers a Sunday buffet listed at £17.50 for adults and £8.50 for children under nine, with children under four eating free.

The advantage is choice.

Rather than committing to one large dish, children can try smaller amounts of different foods.

This can be particularly useful for older children who are curious about new flavours but aren't yet prepared to stake their entire dinner on something unfamiliar.

And if they discover they absolutely love something?

Back they go.

If they discover they absolutely don't?

Well, at least you've avoided watching a £14 main course being moved slowly around a plate for 40 minutes.

The adult price means this is more of a planned meal than our cheapest option, especially after drinks and extras.

Families managing allergies should also speak directly to the restaurant about ingredients and cross-contamination risks, particularly with buffet food.

Worth considering if: your family likes Indian food but everybody wants something different.

Different diets in one group? Wagamama is worth a look

Some family meals involve more than simply adults versus children.

You might have a vegetarian teenager, somebody avoiding a particular ingredient, a toddler, grandparents and one person who announces they've “not really got a preference” before rejecting the first six suggestions.

Wagamama on Long Causeway is useful for that sort of group.

It has a children's menu alongside dietary and allergen information, baby facilities, disabled toilets and outside dining.

Groups of four or more can also book.

We're not using it as a direct price comparison here because its strength is less about a particular children's promotion and more about flexibility.

Its central location can also make it useful when the meal is only one part of a day in Peterborough.

Worth considering if: your group includes different ages, diets or access requirements.

Start with whatever usually goes wrong

There's no universal winner here.

Instead, think about your family's usual restaurant problem.

The bill keeps creeping up? Check Bella Italia or Middletons and their current family offers.

Children want something different? Look at Tap & Tandoor.

Nobody can agree on one dish? The Bombay Brasserie's Sunday buffet might make life easier.

You've got several diets, ages or needs around one table?

Wagamama gives you plenty of routes through the menu.

Prices and promotions can change, so check directly with the restaurant before making plans particularly if a kids-eat-free offer is the reason you've chosen it.

And if somebody still declares they're hungry 14 minutes after you've paid the bill?

I'm afraid no restaurant guide can help with that.

Which Peterborough restaurant actually gets family meals right?

We're interested in the places that make eating out with children noticeably easier.

Maybe there's a brilliant children's menu, patient staff, good baby-changing facilities, sensible portions, plenty of highchairs or a family deal that's genuinely worth having.

Tell us the Peterborough restaurant and what it does particularly well.

Please don't include children's names or other personal details.

Comment below