You can’t get to my age and not have organised a family gathering or two. The last one was for my Mum’s 80th and involved family coming together from various parts of the country. Usually we try to find somewhere central to all of us and we don’t always know the area that well.
Private Dining
I’ve found the new Square Meal site really useful for booking private dining rooms as everything is all on one site. In other words, you don’t need to have a zillion websites all open on the iPad at the same time. It doesn’t matter if you’re looking for a small table in a restaurant, a big table for a work ‘do’, a function room for a 21st birthday party or just a big table for a family brunch in a private dining room. Square Deal seems to tick all the boxes. It feels a bit like being your own concierge, if you know what I mean.
More often than not we’ll just book a big table but if we have lots of young children with us then a private room makes much more sense. Like with all big groups,things can get a bit raucous occasionally and nobody wants to feel they’re disturbing other diners.
At my Mum’s 80th, there were children from 12 months to 13 attending. Cousins who hadn’t seen each other for a while meant lots of laughing, shouting, catching up, party poppers and balloons popping. We all had an amazing time but I can imagine other diners in the restaurant probably found our party a bit loud! As a family we’ve decided that we’ll just book a private function room next time the whole family get together!
Sometimes we go the formal route but more often than not, we want something casual and relaxed. And that’s another brilliant thing about Square Meal. The site has all different kinds of restaurants, wedding venues and eateries etc. listed. All under one roof too. Can’t beat it to be honest. Although it’s particularly useful if you live in and around London as there are so many venues listed for the South East.
I don’t know whether it’s just me, but some websites are terribly confusing. You know when you try to find something that you know is there but you just can’t find it? On some websites you can end up going around in circles trying to complete a task. Well Square Meal’s not like that. The site is super-simple to navigate and unlike a lot of its competitors it’s mobile-friendly and easy to use. The pages aren’t all cluttered either so you can usually see what you’re looking for straightaway. And if you find that you still need help then you can simply call Square Meal for help finding a venue or booking a private room.
It’s still early days I know but I hope they get more restaurants and venues added in the coming months. The concept of Square Meal is great. They should have done it sooner! Will we use it again? You betcha!
