Your College Canteen

ballooba

What's it like in terms of cleanliness, quality of food, variety, friendliness of staff?

How much do you pay for the usuals?
Sausage beans and chips
Spaghetti Bolognese
Lasagne and chips
etc.

angeldelight

Ours is quite expensive, imo (RCSI). I think it's cause the food is mostly very good, and all their meat has to be halal therefore it's more expensive to start with. Breakfast stuff: sausages rashers pudding etc is quite cheap, you could get good fried breakfast for 3/3.50. The daily special, usually something like lasagne/moussaka is 4.65 and that includes chips/potatoes/veg. Otherwise tandoori chicken or curry or stew or something is around 4.20 and then u pay extra for chips or wedges or whatever. Tea is 1.10 and coffee is 1.20

bp_me

WIT: from what i've seen (and gotten) you dont get much change out of a fiver if you get something along the lines of pizza, chips and a drink. I believe a sandwich of some description is two something.

tbh I usually "brown bag" it.

simu

NUIG's canteen sells filth - I wouldn't touch it.

Twas the same when I was at UCC.

Both manged by Campbell's Catering.

dudara

Campbell's are beyond belief for the tripe they sell.

embraer170

UCC: Expensive and nasty. Had a soup there one day back in first year and haven't gone near the place since.

One green soup, one orange soup - both taste the exact same.

Only bad thing about a great college.

ballooba

Anyone ever think of trying a boycott the canteen day?

A boycott Campbells day might be a bit unfair seeing as some of their canteens are good AFAIK.

rainbow kirby

UCD main restaurant? Way overpriced for what you get. I've never had anything nice there.

aidan_walsh

Actual conversation overheard in the ITTralee canteen about two years back:

"I'll have the lasagna there, please".
"Thats not lasagna, love, thats shepards pie".

They've only marginally improved since...

embraer170

At least in UCD it is edible, or so I hear.

But UCC is dire, just dire.

Repli

I think the canteen in DIT Aungier St has very nice food, but its a bit pricey, like €4.75 or something for a lasagne and chips, or for chicken and veg. The food in Kevin St is cheaper , about €3.50 or something for the same food but its horrible muck tbh

ferdi

angeldelight wrote:

Ours isall their meat has to be halal therefore it's more expensive to start with. Breakfast stuf: sausages rashers pudding etc is wuite cheap, you could get good ried breakfast for 3/3.50.

Halal sausages, rashers and pudding, theres a novelty.

arbeitsscheuer

rainbow kirby wrote:

UCD main restaurant? Way overpriced for what you get. I've never had anything nice there.

I concur. Plus, I've been in Trinity's, and their food is both nicer and cheaper... F*ck UCD, I'm switching colleges!

simu

ballooba wrote:

A boycott Campbells day might be a bit unfair seeing as some of their canteens are good AFAIK.

They are? Which ones? Are you sure that's not just an urban myth?

deRanged

simu wrote:

They are? Which ones?

The staff ones. In UCC and NUIG they're much better than the student ones but the one in NUIG is very nice. I think it's the staff one anyway - it's near the the IT building.

It costs a lot more though - I think a main course in the staff in UCC is up around 8 or 9 euro now.

DEmeant0r

deRanged wrote:

The staff ones. In UCC and NUIG they're much better than the student ones but the one in NUIG is very nice. I think it's the staff one anyway - it's near the the IT building.

It costs a lot more though - I think a main course in the staff in UCC is up around 8 or 9 euro now.

Some staff/lecturers also eat in the canteen, dunno I've never really seen many of my I.T lecturers go into the "staff" canteen.

MrPinK

ballooba wrote:

Anyone ever think of trying a boycott the canteen day?

I've been boycotting the DCU canteen for nearly 3 years now. 24c per sachet of ketchup, that's just taking the piss.

ballooba

MrPinK wrote:

I've been boycotting the DCU canteen for nearly 3 years now. 24c per sachet of ketchup, that's just taking the piss.

Despite your high social standing I do think that it would be a bit more effective if EVERYONE boycotted the canteen for a day.

dudara

The staff canteen in UCC is good, but it's after getting very pricey. I've also eaten in Campbell's catering tents at the Ploughing Match, and the food was good.

Why is it so cr*p in the UCC rests?

deRanged

dudara wrote:

Why is it so cr*p in the UCC rests?

'specially seeing as it's the same kitchen for the staff as the rests?

simu

deRanged wrote:

The staff ones. In UCC and NUIG they're much better than the student ones but the one in NUIG is very nice. I think it's the staff one anyway - it's near the the IT building.

It costs a lot more though - I think a main course in the staff in UCC is up around 8 or 9 euro now.

But the staff restaurant's not open to students!

And for that price, in Galway, I'd rather go to one of the nice cafés in town.

MrPinK

ballooba wrote:

Despite your high social standing I do think that it would be a bit more effective if EVERYONE boycotted the canteen for a day.

They're just about to crack, just you wait and see.

Red Alert

The crowd in our canteen wouldn't even notice.

EDIT: Anybody been in the canteen in Earlsfort Tce? Now that's GANK!

deRanged

simu wrote:

But the staff restaurant's not open to students!

Is it open to postgrads? the one in UCC is.

And for that price, in Galway, I'd rather go to one of the nice cafés in town.

I couldn't agree more. You'd get much better for the same price.

ballooba

Red Alert wrote:

The crowd in our canteen wouldn't even notice.

EDIT: Anybody been in the canteen in Earlsfort Tce? Now that's GANK!

I know losing a couple of grand would wake me up pretty sharpish but with Campbell's you'd never know.

Imagine if every college in the country boycotted the canteens for a day. They would probably lose a couple of hundred grand in lost revenue. Then again they probably just wouldn't open on that day.

I agree Earlsfort is a disgrace from what little experience I have of it. Even where it is situated is horrible. Are they trying to depress people into eating their horrible slop???

carbsy

The canteen in CIT is a right farce.Instead of having a set price for meals/specials, you get charged on what exactly you have on your plate.Every portion of onion rings or scoop of mash is charged for.It also depends on who's till you go to, regarding the price as they all charge differently! I had beans,two scoops of mash,few onion rings and a fillet of chicken and was charged €5.20 on Friday.The same thing next week could be anywhere between €3.80 and €5.50!

ir610

the staff canteen in NUIG is in the quad and u weren't in there methinks. its run by cambells also and its not great. the one near I.T. Building is called moffets and its in the NCBES. meant for staff & postgrads but they're easy nuf most of the time.. its pretty sweet

AngelofFire

The restaurant in UCD is woeful. First of all their selection of food is poor, the only food available in the student special, is junk food like chips sausages and egg. Currys and Chicken kormas usually consist of just chicken, rice and an oxo cube.

tSubh Dearg

when i was in ucd I only ate in the restaurant when i absolutely had to, I'd even get a sandwich from 911 before the reataurant!

the college i'm in now doesn't have a canteen (well it has what we call the canteen which contains a microwave and a coffee machine) so Whelan's is my new canteen now they do great soup

Agent Smith

trinity has the world famous buttery.....



the "student special" is somthing that to be tried once"......


i dont trust food thats green and bubbles ever so often...

vector

carbsy wrote:

The canteen in CIT is a right farce.Instead of having a set price for meals/specials, you get charged on what exactly you have on your plate.Every portion of onion rings or scoop of mash is charged for.It also depends on who's till you go to, regarding the price as they all charge differently! I had beans,two scoops of mash,few onion rings and a fillet of chicken and was charged €5.20 on Friday.The same thing next week could be anywhere between €3.80 and €5.50!

There is a client side variable there which could acount for the price variance. Onion rings could be individually prices, and thus the presentation of a greater number could attract a different price.