Food meets fun at the newly-opened entertainment centre in Coimbatore

Indulge in pizzas and pastas, sip coffee and burn your calories at the indoor play area featuring wave slides, a ball pool, and interactive games

I enjoy a warm, delicious mug of frothy latte, accompanied by sweet-spicy honey chilli lotus stem for the crunch. Children buzz around an expansive indoor soft play zone that packs as many as 25 games.

It’s a fun-filled evening at the newly-opened Bouncy House, an entertainment centre for families with the main attraction being the play zone spread across 4000 square ffeet featuring wave slides, a ball pool, an interactive projector screen, ball shooting games, and a variety of multi-level obstacle courses. According to the owners, the games not only engage children in physical activity but also provide a welcome break from addiction to screens.

As the children enjoy their time, parents can watch over them while sipping coffee, or pick up a pair of socks and join the fun. Besides a toddler zone, there are options like wave slide and tunnel slide to burn those calories or indulge in a game of hide-and-seek in the maze.

A latest addition is an interactive gaming zone that appeals to all age groups. This zone includes a massive pixel floor game, basketball hoops, target ball games, and air hockey machines. While children enjoy the soft play area, parents can indulge in these activities.

Back to the food. Over crisp onion rings that make for crunchy bites, fries, and chicken tossed in Andhra spices, we await the arrival of the fully-loaded roma pizza. It has grilled chicken, paprika, jalapeño, cherry tomatoes, mushrooms, and green chillies, all covered with mozzarella and baked to bubbly goodness. It’s wholesome and tastes fresh. Pizzas are already popular among regulars to the restaurant and there are as many as 10 varieties to choose from including pollo marzano that comes with lemon oregano chicken, olives, and feta.

While the objective is to make the place a family entertainment destination catering to all ages, there are plans to push the restaurant in the business lunch segment and as a space where parents can also work using their laptops while the children play. The menu is largely Asian and Continental with a smattering of Indian featuring of pastas, dim sums, butter garlic fried rice, garlic bread, sandwiches, and comfort food for children including paruppu sadam and curd rice.

Another new addition to the menu is Apollo chicken and egg fried rice where fried chicken pieces tossed in South Indian style sauces is served with a portion of egg fried rice, which easily turns out to be a favourite for the rich taste. The owners point out that the dish is inspired by Apollo fish, popular in Hyderabad. Among beverages, there are iced teas and milkshakes to choose from while desserts like ice cream are kept out intentionally to help children keep a check on calories.