Masala Art is a fabulous restaurant but not suitable for a kids' birthday party. Indique Heights would be a better choice.

Like the PP's suggestion of roll your own sushi. Don't need a Japanese chef though and most chefs in the area are not Japanese. You could do it how Japanese families eat sushi at home where you have a large bowl or several bowls of sushi rice and squares of seaweed to use as wrappers for handrolls. Have plates of assortments of fillings such as crab sticks, boiled shrimp, cucumbers, avocado,egg, fish eggs, etc. Could also have some yakitori for kids who don't like sushi, or the idea of sushi.

People do pizza because it is cheap. What you are proposing is going to be a lot more expensive, which is fine if you can afford it, but I don't think people are serving pizza just because they are unoriginal. And personally, I never offer it at parties because I have the one kid in the world who doesn't like it.

It doesn't have to be pizza or ethnic. What about BBQ from rocklands? Also Mexican is always a hit with the kids. That's ethnic.'

Settle, PP, I don't think the OP is "trying to prove people wrong." I'm with OP I'm sick of pizza. Time to think outside the box.

In NW DC:
Masala Art
Meiwah Restaurant
El Tamarindo

In Wheaton, Woomi Gardens for Korean BBQ.

My kids will eat pretty much plain rice or noodles and any grilled meat on the planet. They don't care for sauces, so when we order Indian they usually stick to the tried and true.

Anonymous wrote:In the interest of seeing if it is possible to have a child's birthday party without serving cheese pizza and juice boxes, I have convinced DD to hold her birthday party at a restaurant with interesting cuisine -- Ethiopian, Indian, Thai, Vietnamese -- something like that. Looking for reasonably priced and able to hold a table of about 12 - 15 kids. Would prefer pre-set menu. NW DC area preferred. Any thoughts?

Thank you!

When I'm planning a child's birthday party, I usually do so "in the interest of celebrating my child". I don't set out with an agenda of proving other people wrong.

Having said that, we've had 2 birthday parties at the rotary buffet at Matuba Sushi in Bethesda. All you can eat for a set price, novelty, and the food is satisfying to the kids. Not as much variety as a regular sushi place, but fine. We picked that because sushi is my kid's favorite food.

I've also been a group gathering at Addis Ababa in downtown Silver Spring that was done as a buffet in a private room. Very kid friendly.

I'd have a home party and get a platter from some place like Lebanese Taverna. A sit-down dinner party for six- and seven-year-olds sounds…difficult.

OP here. Turning 7. Thanks for these ideas and any others!

How about getting a japanese chef to teach the kids to roll their own sushi?

India Palace in Germantown

How old are the kids?

Benihana

How old is your daughter?

Lebanese Taverna in Bethesda

In the interest of seeing if it is possible to have a child's birthday party without serving cheese pizza and juice boxes, I have convinced DD to hold her birthday party at a restaurant with interesting cuisine -- Ethiopian, Indian, Thai, Vietnamese -- something like that. Looking for reasonably priced and able to hold a table of about 12 - 15 kids. Would prefer pre-set menu. NW DC area preferred. Any thoughts?

Thank you!