When I used to live in England (Bournemouth, Dartford, London) I used to love heading out to eat and drink in the country’s truly diverse and eclectic range of bars, pubs, restaurants, eateries and clubs. I spent 6 years living there and I still try to pop back once a year, especially to watch my old local football team, AFC Bournemouth. In England, bar crawls were something I made a habit of, especially in London. In 2005, and again in 2015 my friends and I did the famous Monopoly Pub Crawl in London. I organised the whole thing myself and each of my friends had a piece of paper to fill each bar in from a well-devised plan.
Planning the Monopoly Pub Crawl in 2015
I also once organised a “Countries of the World” pub crawl in London, as well as doing similar things abroad. In Poland, Kyrgyzstan, Nauru I have organised pub crawls. Most notably perhaps in Kyrgyzstan, I organised Bishkek’s first ever pub crawl in 2016. All of this needs planning, researching, checking, organising and being punctual and correct. Geographically, I also needed to have suitable restaurants along the pub crawl for decent food stops.
James and I on the Monopoly Pub Crawl in 2005.
On a huge night out – Bishkek’s First Ever Pub Crawl, Kyrgyzstan
I must say that England was the easiest country to do pub crawls in as there was so much information online about pubs and the websites were easier to understand. I use sites such as Beer In the Evening (bite) and squaremeal for finding new bars, restaurants, pubs and clubs. I like the simplicity about them and I trust such sites. They are perfect for finding cool and unique venues for special days and nights out. Recently, I checked out Square Meal again to find it has had a nice new revamp!! Have a look:
The revamped Square Meal website
Squaremeal is useful for finding different food and drink places for a variety of spectrums and you can also of course, book your meals and meetings via the site and platform, with ease. Here are some reasons to use Squaremeal.
1.Easy to Use
The website is incredibly simple and easy to use. As someone who only likes to use basic and simple websites, this is right up my street. There are also not loads of pop-ups and adverts which is something I hate. So head to the Square Meal homepage and check it out.
2.Great for finding venues for group events
Think of staff parties, conferences etc. and think outside the box. Hotels and conference rooms get really boring. I prefer to find a nice bar or restaurant that has a private room with extra quirks that can be booked and used for parties. There are special sections and drop down menus for Events and Party venues, Wedding venues and Christmas parties. This way, you can see easily which places are available to hold such events, rather than have to rely on Google, asking friends, or ringing around / emailing various venues.
Great for finding venues for group events
3.Extensive Range of Venues
Squaremeal has an extensive range of venues listed on its website, so you will be spoilt for choice. For example you can just click on “restaurants” and then type, say, “Bournemouth” and it will find you all the restaurants in Bournemouth.
Bournemouth search on Squaremeal
Bournemouth search on Squaremeal
4.Brilliant on Smartphones and Laptops
I love how it is easy to access both on your phone and on your laptop. Just head to Square Meal when you are on the move and start planning your event on the move.
After my Pacific Islands trip, I plan another trip back to the UK to catch up with friends in London and Bournemouth. I’ll keep you all updated on any pub crawls or parties coming up!