Wine, dine and play lawn games on the green at Mayfield Bowlo's Ingall St Eatery

The family-friendly clubs that welcome children and dogs and are fast becoming a magnet for parents longing for a casual social outing. Anyone is welcome to watch sport at the bar and have a couple of cold ones after work, no question, but these clubs are chasing a broader demographic.

The newly-opened Ingall St Eatery at Mayfield Bowling Club, or Mayfield Bowlo as it is now known, fits hand in glove with this laid-back, family-friendly vibe.

Kathy Zdanowicz had her eye on the bowlo's kitchen for some time. You might recognise her from popular food truck Food By Zed and Mayfield's Mex Club where she ran restaurant Zeds @ The Mex for about 10 months before Hanbury 58 Collective opened there.

"I had the food truck on-site at the Mayfield Bowlo last summer, and when I heard the kitchen was available again I put in a tender," she says.

"I partnered up with Sunil Bishwokarma and we started the business together as Ingall St Eatery. Sunil is from Nepal and has lived in Newcastle since 2013. He's a fully trained chef and has run his own restaurant in the past."

Kathy has a corporate background but "fell into food" when she moved to Newcastle from Perth in 2011 to be closer to her father, who lived at Anna Bay.

"I always loved hosting dinner parties and had friends over for meals, but I didn't turn my interest in cooking into a commercial venture until I started Food By Zed," she says.

At Ingall St Eatery, Kathy and Sunil have created a menu that fits the club or pub genre - burgers, schnitzels, crumbed cutlets - but goes that little bit further. On weekends the bistro is open from noon to 8pm and earlier this month the pair introduced a loaded fries menu, which is available from 2pm to 5pm ("Nibbles for the table or something to share").

Kathy is particularly proud of her nachos ("I make all my own spices, my own pico, do my own beans, so they're bloody good nachos") and Sunil's curries, which often feature on the blackboard specials and have proven popular.

"We hand make our burger patties in the Food by Zed style, so there's no pre-bought or frozen burger patties in our kitchen," she says.

"Sunil hand cuts and prepares our squid, too, so there's no pre-frozen or pre-battered squid. We strive for simple, quality food. I have always believed it's not hard to put a good meal together so I am often disappointed when I dine out and a simple pub meal doesn't hit the mark."

When I visited on a warm, sunny Saturday afternoon, sitting at a table on one of the club's three greens, the vegetarian nachos, glass of Prosecco and the chicken parmigiana definitely hit the mark. A game or two of cornhole on the green was a lot of fun and the music being played was a relaxing mix of indie Australian and reggae.

A dog being walked came over to say hello and enjoyed a pat.

When I was leaving two families arrived with blankets and soccer balls and the kids darted over to the mini soccer net, ready to play.

Kathy says the club is attracting more and more young families from the suburb.

"They way the club is set up, there's three greens, and it's a large area. One is still operational, the middle one is the entertainment green with tables and chairs, music and lawn games, and the third green is where they run a market once a month.

"The kids can run around, kick the ball, and it's dog friendly. You can settle in for the afternoon or evening and just chill. The club does have bowlers and they do have the odd competition day, but it's not the focus. It's more of a community club than a bowling club."

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