It has been a wild week of weather in Ottawa, with freezing rain and snow flurries, and that means spending more time indoors than usual.  After taking the kids to a number of our regular indoor activities, I was in the mood to try somewhere new. My husband’s parents are visiting us from out west, so after taking them on a quick morning visit to the adorable town of Almonte , we all headed for lunch at Aquatopia.

For anyone who hasn’t been, Aquatopia is a large, glass enclosed water garden conservatory just off the 417 at exit 155. It is the largest indoor water garden in the Ottawa region, and has been a wedding venue destination for years. However, Aquatopia just opened a cafe back in May, open Tuesdays thru Saturdays 9:00-2:30 pm. This was my first visit to Aquatopia (I actually saw their advertisement pop up on my Facebook), and I was pleasantly surprised to discover how kid friendly the cafe is.

PROS:

Aquatopia is lovely. With glass all around you can be sitting in a warm garden while looking out at the snow covered outdoors. It is also open with plenty of room for kids to roam around. There is a large koi fish pond, and my kids were given fish pellets to feed the fish once we arrived. My kids also enjoyed wandering among the different plants and water features. The staff working at Aquatopia were very friendly and accommodating, bringing us a high chair right upon arrival. Another positive was the menu. Although not huge, the menu had some tempting options and once our food arrived it was good.

CONS:

The cafe itself doesn’t have too much seating and it was busy when we arrived. The staff were not prepared for how busy it was, and ordering and getting our food took a long time. Fortunately my kids were entertained by the fish and garden and didn’t seem to mind, but I wouldn’t want to wait that long for food again. If we had just gone for coffee and dessert I don’t think the wait would have been an issue.

In summary, I will go back to Aquatopia again, particularly when we get hit by those inevitable stretches of frigid weather. It’s nice to have a warm and summery space to share a cup of coffee and let the kids walk around.

For more visit Aquatopia’s website at http://www.aquatopiaevents.com