Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I never had a play kitchen as a child and now I'm clearly making up for it by becoming an expert on all things "play-kitchen" as an adult... As I mentioned in my review of the Step2 LifeStyle Dining Room Pots and Pans Set, I've seen plenty of pink girly sets (not very realistic) and ceramic ones (an accident waiting to happen with my boy) so I just wanted a nice, plastic and gender-neutral set. Melissa and Doug has another dish set, the Melissa & Doug Let's Play House! Wash and Dry Dish Set and while I really love the drying rack in that one, I can't get past the multi-colored dishes so this set fits the bill nicely for me. Overall, this set is very similar to the Step 2 one. Some of the items such as the utensils, plates and cups are slightly larger than the Step 2 version but both fit well in our IKEA Duktig kitchen. (see comparison pictures: Melissa and Doug is on the left, Step 2 on the right) The cookie sheet is small-ish and flimsy - you're not going to fit a dozen cookies on it (see the comparison photo of it side by side with the IKEA cookie sheet) but it gets the job done and looks just fine in the oven. I doubt there is any kid that's going to notice. The spatulas look almost identical to the IKEA ones so if you have those, they will blend in well. However, the real stand-outs for me are the oven mitt (since we didn't already have one), the kitchen timer (yes, it works!), olive oil bottle (wood) and the salt/pepper shakers which are hands down my FAVORITE! I subtracted one star because of the price given this set is almost double the price of the Step2 set but with the inclusion of the timer, salt/pepper and olive oil it is slightly nicer. You can't go wrong with either set. NOTE 1: Do not be fooled by the one product picture... food is NOT included. It's in small print on the front of the box which I clearly missed when I was ordering. I was a little disappointed that it didn't include that awesome chicken leg and mac n cheese (but it's not like we needed any more play food. IF you need play food, I highly recommend Learning Resources play food). NOTE 2: I paid full price for this item. I take the time to write reviews because I rely on them greatly when I purchase products, so if you found this helpful please click "YES". :)