At SquareMeal, we love seeing your opinions on the capital’s restaurants and think that our community of discerning diners deserve some recognition. Each season, we name our amateur Critic of the Quarter in association with Lavazza. This time around, David H has taken the crown as our favourite reviewer of the past quarter, so he’s won a Jolie Lavazza coffee machine and a £200 SquareMeal voucher. Want to be in his shoes next time? Read on to find out how you can get involved.
Latest news from our sponsor
Lavazza are proud to continue their sponsorship of Ascot racecourse and are excited to have launched a brand new Tierra Origins Bar on site.
The Tierra project was launched in 2002 to enhance the living conditions, social development and economic growth of farming communities. Developed in cooperation with Rainforest Alliance, the project is the result of strong commitment and dedication to the improvement of social and environmental conditions.
The bar will be an extension of Lavazza's focus on sustainability and showcases the new Tierra Origins range which have been selected and carefully blended to offer the perfect taste synthesis of a single territory of origin.
The bar will be a permanent installation within the racecourse and will be open for general admission during race meets throughout the year, as well as accessible for guests in the Royal Enclosure during Royal Ascot.
If you'd like to try Tierra at home, you can purchase the A Modo Mio capsules from John Lewis, johnlewis.com and store.lavazza.co.uk for £5.50, as well as the new Single Origin, Cereja Passita, grown in the dry climate of the Cerrado region, on the Brazilian highlands, for £4.20.
Undecided on which model to choose? Meet the newest member of the Lavazza family, the Jolie Plus. The latest in state of the art technology and Italian design, the Jolie Plus brings you peaceful coffee brewing in a super compact package.
This quarter’s winner is David H, who has been part of the SquareMeal community since 2010. Over the years, David has penned almost 100 diner reviews and always delivers informed opinions, and he is unafraid to be critical when necessary. On discovering that he had won a Lavazza Jolie coffee machine and a £200 restaurant splurge, David commented: “I joined SquareMeal because I felt that the standard of review overall was notably higher here than with most other sites. I wanted to contribute to the sort of site that I could look to for informed, experienced opinions about restaurants I might want to visit myself. SquareMeal was the best I could see.”
Here are some extracts from a few of our favourite reviews from David…
Smokestak, Shoreditch
“We focussed exclusively on the meat and veg, and the wild mushroom on toast. Probably best not to take your doctor along as your lunch guest here!”
Le Sacre-Coeur, Bloomsbury
“Offers precisely the sort of food you’d expect from its appearance – rustic and traditional, no pretentions to fanciness or ‘gourmet’ and it does it decently.”
Rök, Islington
“None of the eight dishes we ordered except the lauded scallop escaped being dull in the extreme.”
And not forgetting the runners-up…
As we’re all about sharing the love at SquareMeal, we’ve also picked a small number of runners up. Congratulations to Frank C, Alana F, and Sarah G who all win a bottle of fizz to enjoy at home.
To join in, register with SquareMeal here, search for a restaurant and leave your comments. You too could win a Lavazza coffee machine such as the Jolie (above) and a £200 meal in a restaurant of your choice, if we pick you as our next Critic of The Quarter.
This article was published 27 September 2017