Family Friendly Lunch at The Balloon Tree, Near York

I’ve always loved our visits to The Balloon Tree at Gate Helmsley, near York.  It’s a farm shop, cafe and pick your own place that is very local to us.  We recently visited for lunch and to have fun picking pumpkins!  First of all, let me tell you about the cafe.  It’s a lovely large and light cafe with plenty of space both indoors and out.  Floor to ceiling windows overlook the children’s play area, where there is a tractor and various other climbing equipment. 

Outdoor play area at The Balloon Tree, York.

Now that my children are older, I can sit in the cafe and watch them play outside.  There is also lots of seating outside which is really lovely on a summer’s day (and they provide cosy blankets if it gets a bit cooler too).

Review of the cafe at The Balloon Tree, York

They have a great menu that changes seasonally as well as a specials board.  They also have a marvellous selection of cakes too!  On my recent visit I chose the ‘The Four Yorkshires’ made up of produce from all different corners of Yorkshire.  There was some excellent quality sliced ham, half a pork pie, salad, sun dried tomatoes, balsamic onions, coleslaw, bread and butter, a crumbly white cheese (Wensleydale perhaps?) and a Yorkshire Blue.  Oh and a cute little Kilner jar pot of apple chutney.  There were so many flavours, it was a complete delight and I loved it!

The Balloon Tree Cafe near York

My friend went for the ‘Naked Lamb Burger’ with salad, flatbread and sweet potato fries.  She complimented the burger especially.

The Balloon Tree Cafe near York

Both children chose the ‘mac and cheese’ (it could come with bacon too).  It was served with peas and garlic bread and was lovely and cheesy as you can see!

The Balloon Tree Cafe near York

For dessert the children chose a Smartie Cookie and a chocolate rice crispie bun (there was three mini eggs on there but I wasn’t quick enough with my camera!).

My friend chose this sizeable scone (though she did pronounce is to rhyme with ‘tone’ for which I roundly mocked her).  It also gave me the opportunity to tell my ‘fastest cake’ joke.  (What is the fastest cake?  Scone’.

Even though I was very full, I could not resist the prettiness of this jam jar trifle!  Delightful!

It’s a lovely place to take toddlers or older children, we’ve had both breakfast and lunch here before and have never been disappointed.  The children are entertained playing and you can relax with a nice cup of tea while waiting for someone to bring you a great quality lunch – perfect!

The Balloon Tree invited us to visit and review – as always all opinions expressed are my own.