*AD- The Smoby Chef Corner Restaurant was a gifted product

I’ve written plenty of times about how the boys (and now girl!) love role play, and one of their favourite things to play is cafes or restaurants. I’ve lost count of how many times I have printed or made menus, set up tables of https://coffeecakekids.com/imaginative-play-with-casdon/tins, and been charged £239 for a slice of cake and a cup of tea. You can imagine their utter delight (and Graham’s face when he realised he had to put it together!) when the Smoby Chef Corner Restaurant turned up for testing!

Who are Smoby?

We’ve all heard of Smoby, right? We had the toys when we were little, so it’s a testament to them being good quality and a household name. Smoby has successfully established itself as the designer and manufacturer of innovative and consumer toys both in the playground and role-play and kitchen markets. 

The Smoby Corner Chef Restaurant

So, a little bit about the features of the Smoby Corner Chef restaurant.

• Features a fridge, oven, and hotplate with sound effects
• Sink with real water function
• Espresso machine
• More than 70 accessories
• Calculator with LCD screen
• Height adjustable to grow with children

What did we think of it?

Ok, so first of all, let’s address how big it is.

It’s big. It’s very big. And it’s not the easiest or quickest thing to put together. I got it out of the box and managed to put the stool together before packing it back away and leaving it for Graham. I think he died a little inside seeing it, but actually, it wasn’t as bad as it initially looks. It took him about an hour to put together, and then it took me a little while longer to sticker it all together. If you are planning on buying this for eager kids or a gift, it’s worth spending some time putting it together first.

However, when it’s up, it’s more than worth the hassle because it is quite frankly AWESOME. I mean, I had fun with it and wished I was small enough to play with it properly!

"I had fun with it, and wished I was small enough to play with it properly" – The Smoby Chef Corner Restaurant Click To Tweet

Because it’s so big, all of the kids can play with it together. One of them was being the chef, one was being the waiter and one was the customer. It would be really easy to extend the play with printed order notepads and the such, and really encouraging maths skills when it came to counting out money and so on.

The noises make it realistic – the sound of the hotplate sizzling, for example, just adds to the play of it and makes them feel like they’re in a real restaurant kitchen. There was great attention to detail as well – the coffee pods for the coffee machine, the printed menu, the order cards, the fact that the pasta changed colour in the warm water – it all really made it fun.

In terms of accessories, it was well equipped. My only bugbear is that everything – and I mean everything – needed stickering, even down to the yolk on the boiled eggs. That aside, they were really great. There’s everything from the usual cups and plates and cutlery to a carrot which you can chop up and burgers to assemble.

For sturdiness, it’s an absolute ten out of ten. Even a giant, heavy-handed nine year old is no match for it and there’s little worryy of it toppling over, even with Elizabeth pulling herself up against it. I was a little concerned about the stool, and how much weight that would hold, but again, Harrison can sit on it absolutely fine. In fact, it’s been great having an extra little stool in the lounge!

The kitchen has been outside a lot of the time, with all the neighbourhood kids playing on it. Even the older ones have had fun with it, showing that role play and toys like this never go out of fashion.

Final thoughts

It’s been a real hit, not just with my own kids but with all their friends as well. The size of it means that multiple children can play together, it’s well equipped and sturdy. What more could you want from a toy?

The Smoby Chef Corner Restaurant is available from Amazon and costs around £150.