Catering on campus - what's it like?

cjmcork

I'm moving to UCD next week and am not planning on cooking in the evening when I get home - what's the food like on campus (sandwiches, etc)

Stepherunie

Elements is good enough for the evenings and do a good selection.

I've been hearing better reviews about the UCD restaurant of late but I'd still approach with extreme caution, food tends to be recycled from lunch to dinner time.

All the takeaways deliver to ucd, i'd recommend that to be honest, bombay pantry is fierce good.

ant043

Yeah i second elements. good selection of food. Ucd restaurant i definitely would not recommend. I went in two or three times during first year and will not be going back again. Some of the chefs serving food can be really ignorant.

Red Alert

The restaurant is generally apalling. I'd probably recommend only the Pizza or else the breads as they have to be fresh. Overall the food is nothing short of disgusting.

Breezer

That's a very expensive way of living, is throwing pasta into some hot water for 10 minutes really all that hard?

Anyway as Steph said Elements is the best food on campus, and they now do take away pizza delivered to anywhere in UCD. They also have separate breakfast, lunch and dinner menus with a really good selection on each, as well as soups and specials that change every day. You can find them on the bottom floor of the Science Building. But it's pricey compared to the rest of campus.

The UCD Restaurant once provided mediocre food at cheap prices; it now provides mediocre food at high prices (similar prices to Elements anyway, for much lower quality), although I'll need to check it out again if it's been getting good reviews of late. A similar type of canteen has opened on the other side of campus in the Sports Centre, and while I haven't eaten there myself I've poked my nose in and it looked fairly decent.

The Grind in the Student Centre is the best place for sandwiches IMO. As many fillings as you want in a sandwich, baguette, soft roll or wrap for €3.50. O'Briens in the Health Science centre also do sandwiches obviously, along with soups, but you'll be queuing till next week and their prices are far steeper unless you just want plain cheese or something. I've heard good things about the sandwich bar on the ground floor of the main restaurant but I haven't checked it out myself yet. 911 beside the library does sandwiches and muffins and things.

The Centre Club (or Forum Bar, as everyone calls it) in the Student Centre does hot food in the afternoons and is quite good for pub grub, although there isn't a great selection. Expect to pay about €5. They also do cheap sandwiches but the choice of fillings is very poor. There's a thread going here about their pancakes The Student Bar over the other side of campus does similar stuff and from what I hear has also improved of late.

The Student Restaurant, again in the Student Centre does chipper food at very reasonable prices, as well as coffees, muffins, scones etc. Great for dashing to between lectures if you're over that direction.

Insomnia has two cafes on campus - one in the Quinn School of Business and one on the other side of campus in the Conway Institute. Quinn has a better selection and more space to sit down, although if the weather's nice or you're a smoker Conway has a larger and nicer outdoor area. If you're a fan of chunky soup it's without a doubt the best place to go, although the soup is dearer than Elements and they've been getting stingier with the bread every year. They rip you off for sandwiches too.

Stay away from the Arts Cafe (also know as Hilper's by a select few ancient relics - sorry guys ) IMO. Pretty much everything they sell can be got cheaper elsewhere on campus.

Aside from that, you have the various Student Union Shops, all of which sell sweets, chocolate, crisps, etc. 2 of the 3 also do sandwiches and the cheapest coffees on campus (just as good as anywhere else though, unless you're looking for fancy lattes or something), one does ice cream. All the profits they make go back into the Student Union.

And last but not least there's Centra in Merville where you could well be living - for when the funds start running out and that pasta looks mighty tempting

Edit: Can we sticky this? I'm quite proud of this post!

cjmcork

thanks - don't fancy cooking in the evening - bringing in the ole lunch is quickly becoming an option!

Breezer

cjmcork wrote: »

thanks - don't fancy cooking in the evening - bringing in the ole lunch is quickly becoming an option!

Yep, that's what I do. Saves a fortune. Although catered food is great now and again

Tan Princess

The selection in elements in the evening isn't great just burgers and pizzas last time i was there.

Stepherunie

Yeah, you tend to get reliant on specials it must be said.

I was eating there a lot for a good month before exams and it got REALLY repetitive after a while.

There salads are good though.

Breezer

Tan Princess wrote: »

The selection in elements in the evening isn't great just burgers and pizzas last time i was there.

Pastas too, and the specials. It's not gonna win any restaurant awards anytime soon, but for campus it's damn good. I preferred when they did their own pizza though. And don't get me started on them buying into Starbucks - let's just say hot chocolate went way up in price, way down in quality and I haven't bought it there since.

And it beats the old Science Restaurant anyway - who remembers that place? (Oh God I'm turning into one of the Hilper's people!)

Oh and to add to my 'essay' above (cheers Steph) I know someone living in Res who really likes cooking and actually will probably cook for anyone who appears at her door asking for food - better confirm that with her before I give details though!

woop

The Grind in the Student Centre is the best place for sandwiches IMO. As many fillings as you want in a sandwich, baguette, soft roll or wrap for €3.50.

tbh the new place at the restaurant is better rolls are fresher, although the grind has picked up lately