All Posts Tagged With: "three stars"
University of Calgary – The Den
Sampling the chocolate chunk brownie was like eating the flesh of a diabetic
The Den, just downstairs from the Black Lounge—the other student union-run haunt—is in decor and atmosphere everything you’d ever want in a campus pub: a little rank (stale beer is my personal napalm in the morning!), a little dingy (cinder-block ceilings are big in Manhattan!), but it’s still cleaner than your dorm. Perfect, then, for a little booze-fuelled MIA action. And the food is some of the best, most reasonably priced stuff on campus.
The Den Reloaded, a classic half-pound burger featuring sautéed mushrooms, bacon and a good dollop of cheddar and mozzarella, tasted authentically of the grill (though the bun had wilted by the time it arrived at table and was too soggy for our liking). A spinach salad with goat cheese and strawberries benefited from that potpourri effect of rich cheese and wonderfully fresh, sweet fruit—film majors, you will find it as ephemeral as happiness in an Ingmar Bergman flick—but was too stingy on the orange balsamic vinaigrette.
The chicken Kiev, a special on this day, was an unfortunate H-bomb of herbs and multiplex butter. The innards exploded across the plate like ooze from an Alberta tailings pond. It was accompanied by hardy, green broccoli and a delightful barley risotto that was the best dish of the day.
Yet the Den did not fare well with its desserts. Mother taught us warm apple crumble should be crunchy, so lay off the microwave. New York cheesecake? Coated in a heavy treacle of fruity goo, it had the flavour and consistency of raw cookie dough. Sampling the chocolate chunk brownie, meanwhile, with its thin rivets of raspberry icing, was like eating the flesh of a diabetic. Sweet teeth stay clear!
Mount Royal College – Herb ‘n Market
This may be a food-court mecca, but a discerning eater can still do well
Mount Royal College is a food-court mecca. The school where former Alberta premier Ralph Klein sometimes teaches journalism, it is a place of Subways, Tim Hortons and Edo Japans—a fast-food chain that has as much business claiming its noodles bare a resemblance to the cuisine of the Chrysanthemum Throne as Klein probably has lecturing impressionable youth. But both Klein and the fast-food providers enjoy hostage audiences on this out-of-the-way campus. Still, the discerning eater can do well at the Herb n Market food court, a nicely varied selection of inexpensive meals cooked, for the most part, sur place, courtesy of food-services giant Sodexho (whose appearance in Morgan Spurlock’s Super Size Me we’ll leave unmentioned).
Find real ham on the bone, carved to order, at Stacks, a sandwich station that also offers grilled paninis lathered in a beguiling, if salty, red pepper-infused butter (we had ours with ham and asparagus). The crusts wilt quickly at Pandini’s, a pasta and pizza stop (learn from my errors and do not settle for what’s languished too long on the counter), though the marinara sauce is sufficiently zippy and the cheese provides a wholesome mouth sensation. We fared less well with the lasagna, a dish whose layers ought never to feel like cadaver skin.
At the unfortunately named Mein Bowl, the requisite experiment in Chinese food, real broccoli is available. The Kung Pao chicken boasted processed meat as tender as tofu—a turn-off, in our view—but earned points with its generous heaping of red peppers. Note to the kitchen staff: fried rice must be fried. For no discernible reason, the egg rolls were delicious, though freed of its fried skin the filling tasted not unlike Earl Grey tea.
Best of all, in that it did not leave us in an MSG-induced psychosis, was the Cyclone Salad station, a bar of fresh greens, proteins, bacon bits and dressings slapped together by a server according to taste. Ours, on a foundation of hardy romaine and sprinkled with sunflower seeds and a refreshing wasabi dressing, was the best part of our day.
University of British Columbia-Okanagan – The Cafeteria
Students seem happy enough — perhaps because the next-closest grub is at the Kelowna airport
Considering the entire serving section of this cafeteria could fit into some walk-in closets, UBC-Okanagan’s main dining hall offers a passable variety of chow. In addition to the expected burgers and fries, we had the choice of pizza, semi-made-to-order pasta or stir-fry, the featured entree (turkey dinner was on), pre-made sandwiches and sushi, or a small but fresh-looking salad bar complete with organic alternatives. The students crammed into the compact kitchen during the dinner hour seemed happy enough with the options—perhaps because the closest grub to the isolated campus is at the Kelowna airport.
We steered clear of the shining pre-made sushi after noting an Ontario address on the label and instead ordered small servings of pasta and turkey, which both turned out substantial. The gravy-smothered turkey ($6.99) was good enough, and came with nondescript steamed veggies and surprisingly palatable scalloped potatoes. The tasteless ground beef in my pasta—pre-boiled rotini with rosé sauce for $4.89—seemed like an odd choice in an otherwise acceptable dish. Extra points for real parmesan.
After waiting about 20 minutes while a cook slowly wiped dirty pans and refilled containers with pre-cooked chicken, we were finally presented with a shrimp stir-fry; halal chicken is also available. The red Thai sauce turned out to be the highlight of the dish ($6.99), with its rubbery shrimp and uncooked broccoli and cabbage.
Feasting on a slice of four-cheese pizza ($3.99), I was overcome with a sensation of familiarity. The bready crust and greasy cheese evoked memories of cafeteria meals past. And looking around, I realized that we were all taking in an archetypal dining experience that is reproduced at schools across the continent, by cafeteria conglomerates such as Aramark. The sole selection that lent UBC-O’s offerings distinction was fresh fruit advertised as being from presumably local Gamble Farms, a shout-out to the campus’s Okanagan Valley locale.
Uninspired—but does the job.
McMaster University – Commons Marketplace
What is it with university cafeterias and overpriced produce?
Located in the centre of McMaster’s north residence quad, the Commons is not the easiest place to find, but following the crowd will get you there. After dodging a man in a bunny suit driving a circus-clown bike (ah, engineering rituals), we enter—and find ourselves in the middle of a traffic jam. The problem: a huge lineup at Chef Troy’s popular pasta and stir-fry station.
I decide to check out the rest of the cafeteria’s selection. Immediately after Chef Troy’s, there are four other stations serving sandwiches, Asian food (“Pacific Rim”), grill items (burgers and fries) and “Healthy Choice.”
In the centre of the area is a salad bar, which offers fresh food, but unfortunately at a premium price. What is it with university cafeterias and overpriced produce?
Being on a budget, I set out to cover the government’s food groups at the lowest possible cost. (My preferred food groups, which I will forgo today, consist of grease, sugar, caffeine, and chicken fingers.) That means the sub counter for me. I order up a 12-inch turkey sub with cheddar and veggies for $5.50. It is well stacked, and though the bread is not Subway quality, you get more sub in one here than two there. I walk back to Troy’s, where the lineup is now out the door. I get salad, a fair-sized chunk of salmon and rice for $10. Pricey, but salmon ain’t cheap.
I stop at Pacific Rim and pick up more rice, noodles and chicken balls: $6.
And before leaving, I grab a garlic bread.
The verdict: the chicken balls could use a little more chicken and the garlic bread tasted like it had soaked overnight in a barrel of garlic butter. The beverage selection is also limited; forget about getting not-from-concentrate or without-artificial-flavour. But the noodles, salmon, and rice were great, and the sub was excellent. Overall very good, especially compared to other schools.
University of Waterloo – Mudies
If you’re a vegetarian, eat Halal, or are a chicken-fingers-only type, you’ll leave full and happy
Mudies is tucked away almost cove-like in the community centre of the University of Waterloo’s Village 1 residence. But it is instantly recognizable as an eatery catering to a wide variety of tastes and diets.
Whether you’re a vegetarian or observe Halal; are allergic to gluten or trying to eat healthy; or are a chicken-fingers-only type, there is an honest effort at Mudies to send you away full.
Alongside the usual assortment of dishes cleverly prefaced with the word “veggie,” Mudies serves hot vegetarian specials every day. We opted for the veggie calzone. It was chock full of peppers, mushrooms and onions.
However, it still managed to be excessively doughy, and the pizza sauce was nothing too exciting. More garlic or even more standard pizza spices could have helped—still, it was a solid step up from freezer-aisle pizza pops.
Next to the veggie station were dishes that could be more honestly called healthy. You can order yogourt with your choice of crumbled graham, granola and fresh fruit. We settled on a pita with extra beef and all the (reasonably fresh) toppings that could be crammed in. The cooks are friendly and don’t know the meaning of the word “stingy.” I also ordered a strawberry milkshake: though lacking in thickness, it actually tasted a bit like strawberries.
This being Waterloo, home to the biggest Oktoberfest outside of Germany, we figured we’d see if the city’s reputation for sausage spills into its university cafeterias. Yup. The spicy sausage was juicy and cooked right, crisp but not shrivelled. You could even see the variety of spices after biting into it. Unfortunately, the sausage was served on a bun that was so dry it cut my throat. This is all the more disappointing given that Mudies advertises its in-house bakery!
For the refined palate there was also a lemon chicken dish, not to mention a tuna casserole topped with whole rippled chips. While most desserts at Mudies are covered and kept to the side, they had cheesecake uncovered and on display. Too bad. What might at some point have been a perfectly good piece of cheesecake had developed a thick, chewy skin, leaving us wondering exactly what we were consuming. An unfortunate end to a mostly satisfying experience.
University of Guelph – Prairie Café
Guelph’s worst food can go head to head with many other universities’ best
Guelph has a reputation for food: the Creelman Market Place, for example, has long been seen as a model of what on-campus meals should be: fresh, healthy, hearty. But I wondered: if Guelph’s best is so good, how bad is Guelph’s worst? Waiting for a bus to the university, I informally poll students. Where, I ask, is the worst food? They all answer: “Prairie Café.”
Prairie is attached to the concrete fortress that is South Residence, where over 1,800 students live, most of them frosh. The food service area has no natural light, the ceiling is low and there’s not much room to move around.
Not promising.
There is a “home cooked” counter, a short-order grill, and Pita Pit. The fruit and vegetable selection is basic, and an equivalent-sized space is dedicated to (overpriced) bulk candy. I order fish and chips, and the lunch special, “Lentil Chickpea Casserole.” The fish and chips slide around on the plate and I lose most of the fries. The server gives me a full plate of the casserole. It is huge; I can’t image eating all of it in one sitting. The prices are a bit steep at $6.17 for the fish and chips alone. However, residents pay only $4.94, and that’s a steal.
After paying, we enter the dining hall. What a difference. It is by far the best-looking dining hall of any institution I’ve visited. There are large windows and skylights everywhere. The seating feels upscale, with lots of booths. The materials absorb sound and the lighting is soft. This is definitely the place for relaxing and socializing. We end up staying for an hour and a half.
And the food? It’s not perfect. How much batter can one fish have? The fish was good, once you got to it, but encased in a batter twice its size. The fries were horrible; I can make better fries, and I barely know how to boil water. But the casserole was excellent: it was simply one of the best dishes I’ve had at a cafeteria. Guelph’s worst food can go head to head with many other universities’ best.
University of Calgary – The Alberta Room
Good, honest grub that only occasionally sinks to the culinary doldrums of university eating
The Alberta Room: such a grandiloquent name may leave you—Hey, you there, going through the remand bin at Goodwill!—wondering whether this is a place whose dress code and price range were designed for tuxedoed oil barons. Not to worry. The University of Calgary’s main dining hall, in a tent-like building called, imaginatively enough, The Dining Centre, doesn’t ask you to be anything you’re not. It’s just about good, honest grub. Only occasionally does the food sink to those culinary doldrums so much associated with university dining—a perhaps necessary echo of the Stalinist concrete ennui that surrounds the diner through the windows, i.e. the U of C campus.
Well-organized, with a constellation of food stations across the floor—grill, pasta trattoria, fruit and salad bar—diners have a lot to choose from.
To start off, a gourmet Swiss mushroom burger with fries. The latter aren’t exactly Belgian frites, but the burger is a delight––ful surprise—juicy, with all kinds of fresh tomato and run-at-the-corner-of-your-mouth dill pickle. A veal-stuffed tortellini amatriciana is less successful, with a consistency of dense cake and nothing more than pinhead de––posits of veal buried within. Though bland, it’s not altogether unsatisfying once we add a zing of freshly grated Parmesan. The accompanying spinach salad, with cherry tomatoes and cucumber, is delicious.
The bowl of fish chowder doesn’t exactly exceed expectations. A viscous skin, pallid colour and the vague sense that something has died beneath the surface adds to the effect. An apple lentil curry also missed the mark: at first one’s mouth embraced those earthy curried tones; a second spoonful was less curry, all earth. Side orders of parsley boiled potatoes and veggies still tasted of the cardboard they were packed in prior to freezing.
And so what if the server doesn’t know what a kaiser is? The made-to-order deli sandwich—ham and cheese on a toasted bun—was delicious, full of crunchy-fresh bell peppers. The fruit stick was less so. On the day we visited, this dessert and others fell into the “fish chowder” category: eat it just to say you have—and, for those of us who have lived in Quebec, to recall the engineering feats pioneered by industrial pastry chefs in that province, circa 1962.
University of Victoria – Village Greens and Carboro South
Hits the spot with great prices and enough choices to keep even the most finicky rabbit happy
It’s somewhat fitting that en route to Village Greens, the all-vegetarian cafeteria at the University of Victoria, one must navigate herds of plump bunnies. While the resident rabbits mow down on the campus’s lush lawn outside, the rabbit food being served inside the student residence building is a pleasing introduction to the fare on offer at the school.
The featured item this day is a spicy red Thai stir-fry, and it doesn’t disappoint. A nice variety of fresh vegetables are cooked up and presented on a bed of noodles. The sauce is full of flavour, even if the ramen-style noodles are uninspired. One can chose a protein of either tofu, soy beef or prawns. (A word of warning to carnivores: the one-inch cubes of brown tofu can be intimidating.) At $3.50 (plus $2 for protein) this is one of the best values available.
Upstairs, the Cadboro South Dining Hall is the main food option for most UVic students. Those with a taste for the exotic will be disappointed: pasta is the chef’s favourite ingredient (with alfredo sauce, tomato sauce, or for added zing, linguine with prawns). The only Asian dish on offer, prepackaged sushi wrapped in plastic, should be avoided. But there are some cafeteria staples that come out ahead. The majestically named Baron of Beef sandwich from the grill should satisfy any hungry meat eater, especially when dipped in the accompanying jus. The featured item is chicken Parmesan; the side of veggies was well-prepared, and the breaded chicken got it right with a blend of crispiness and tenderness. Tons of cheese and sauce made this a standout.
The dining hall does offer pre-made sandwiches wrapped in plastic that are both dry and, at $3.50, overpriced. For an extra dollar, go to the Caps deli for a delicious, freshly made sandwich that would make Dagwood Bumstead drool.
Despite some rough spots, UVic’s residence eateries hit the spot with great prices and enough choices to keep even the most finicky rabbit happy.
University of Manitoba – Pembina Hall
For those looking to fulfill more debased appetites, the old Pembina Hall is alive and well
Pembina Hall has been long reviled by those living in residence at the University of Manitoba, so we entered cautiously. But thanks to a number of menu enhancements introduced last fall, we were pleasantly surprised.
Dinner was all you can eat for $11.99. The sandwich and wrap bar offered fresh tomatoes, peppers and pineapple, among the many other toppings for your wrap or sandwich. There was a choice of lean meats, and the salad bar offered a dozen or so ingredients ranging from your standard carrots and cucumbers to the slightly more exotic chickpeas and kidney beans. Both the romaine and iceberg lettuce were green and crunchy.
The stir-fry was pan-fried to order, in a Thai and oyster sauce. The slices of chicken breast were adequately tender, though the sauce was over-reduced, leaving the bed of rice especially dry and nearly inedible.
Pembina Hall has become better and healthier; unfortunately for those (like myself) looking to fulfill more debased appetites, the old Pembina Hall is alive and well. The pizza had been under the heat lamp for hours, leaving the cheese hardened and congealed. The macaroni and cheese was runny and flavourless, and only slightly surpassed the quality of the frozen variety.
The roast beef was a bit overdone, though cut to order. Choice of sides included vegetables (slightly undercooked), potato wedges (hashbrown-esque), rice (but no soya sauce) and tofu (decent consistency) soaked in a sweet and sour sauce that lessened the blow of actually eating tofu.
Dessert was mixed. Lemon meringue pie had an odd texture and an odder aftertaste; the Jell-O was runny. But the brownie —perfect consistency chocolate mousse atop a chewy chocolate crust—was delightfully rich.
McGill University – New Residence Hall Cafeteria
Being able to dine in your slippers, and dine relatively well, can’t be beat when it’s -20° outside
The cafeteria serving McGill’s New Res, a former upscale hotel, has to compete with the bevy of student grub spots surrounding the downtown complex. It does so relatively well, largely avoiding the cafeteria cliché of warmed-over gruel and meats of debatable origin and vintage. Visitors first encounter a well-stocked salad bar complete with clementines, crispy noodles, dried red peppers, four different salad dressings and a nice lady who will prepare it all for you with pieces of shaved chicken breast for just under $6.
The cafeteria offers three sorts of sandwiches, all of which are prepared daily—though students can’t choose their own toppings. “Humans have been eating bread for 6,000 years” reads a sign on the counter; the sandwiches thankfully aren’t quite that old. The vegetarian selection, stuffed with cheese, cucumbers, tomatoes and veggie pâté, came together nicely once grilled between two thick slabs of 12-grain baguette in the panini machine.
The pizza at New Res is of the thicker crust variety, slathered with mozzarella and baked in a brick oven. It isn’t quite take-out quality, but close: a few more topping choices would be good. The adjacent pasta bar, meanwhile, prepares each order from scratch. The result is a choice of two pastas al dente in a tomato, meat or cream sauce. The accompanying salad is remarkably crisp. The roast beef suffers under an over-eager heat lamp—good luck getting anything but well done—and the rice, beans and sides are a bit limp. Anointed with a tangy red pepper sauce, the potato dumplings were as firm and chewy as they should be.
The grill offers cheeseburgers, steak sandwiches and fries, along with other student staples, ostensibly prepared on order. But the chefs probably shouldn’t be piling leftover cooked meat on the side of the grill: apart from being unsightly, whoever forks over the five dollars for a cheeseburger might not be pleased to get a warmed-over patty that might have first been cooked an hour before.
Desserts are numerous and some are healthy, but you’ll pay for freshness: a small bowl of fruit runs upward of $5 after tax. You wouldn’t come off the street to eat at New Res—you can’t anyway, limited as it is to residents—but being able to dine in your slippers, and dine relatively well, is a matchless advantage when it’s -20° outside.
— Martin Patriquin
Ryerson University – Hub Cafeteria
I bought a banana, but I also bought a butter tart. See how that works?
The Hub strikes a nice balance between offering students what they should be eating, and what they want to be eating. For instance, I bought a banana. I smacked down my 89 cents, and wham-o, that banana was mine. But I also bought a butter tart. See how that works?
Aptly named, located as it is in the core of the downtown campus, right across from the boulder-spiked skating rink and George’s hot dog cart, the Hub’s food court is sun-challenged but sparked up with cheery signage, clean lines and a smooth flow. It houses the usual suspects: Manchu Wok, Pizza Pizza, Extreme Pita, but also newbies like Pan Geos—a mamma-mia twist on Made in Japan where you choose “Italian pasta” or “Asian noodles,” then have them tossed to order with your choice of sauce, veg and protein for $5.99.
Montague’s Deli rolls out generous wraps like our veggie on whole wheat with hummus, cheddar, and your standard sub and wrap toppings ($5.19—not cheap). Pre-fab sushi at World’s Fare looks inedible. Our slice from Pizza Pizza tastes two hours old. There’s a big lineup at the coffee spot.
The Grille Works is a real boon, with six-ounce all-beef patties grilled to order. I’m not sure how they handle this à-la-minute flame- broiling during peak hours, because I wait a good while until my cheeseburger($4.59—not cheap)is ready. But it’s worth it all the same (a good burger always is). Nice char, cooked through but still juicy, fresh toppings and an appealing foil wrapper. The fries ($1.79) are that idiotic battered variety, the type with the sticky, salty veneer. (What is that?)
There’s a cereal bar area at the court’s core, and fresh fruit, too. Another wall boasts a dozen varieties of herbal teas, and just about every outlet offers healthier mains at a fair price—should the students decide to choose them.
Bonus: they sell chocolate bars. And every (non-alcoholic) beverage known to man.
— Amy Rosen
York University – Student Centre Food Court
Bonus: you can add a KFC drumstick to your Taco Bell combo for cheap
Located in the outer reaches of Toronto—seriously, Pioneer Village is next door—the York campus feels sprawling, unwieldy and isolated. So with several dining options from which to choose, we go with the first one we can find (and the one that looks the busiest)—the food court within the Student Centre. Students tell us York Lanes is another good choice, which at first confuses us because we think they’re inviting us bowling. (It is, in fact, the York Lanes Retail Centre Food Court, a United Nations of North American fast-food outlets including Falafel Hut Village, Indian Flavours, Popeye’s Chicken, Taco Villa, Mangia Mangia, and Blueberry Hill.)
Inside the sunlit atrium of the Student Centre Food Court, there are two levels for dining, yet more people seem to be clacking away on laptops than are eating, which is perhaps a good thing when faced with options like KFC (even though the chicken is thoughtfully halal) and Taco Bell.
Though we try to keep things on the healthier side, this is basically a fast-food review: the baked potato from Wendy’s is like a trial by tuber, the cheese sauce more like cheese soup; the broccoli soft and sulfuric. The potato itself is lovely—best to go plain next time. The vegetarian special from Pagoda Tree($3.95)is silken tofu stirred into a thick “Asian flavoured” sauce, which is rather tasty if you like silken tofu(which I do), but horrid if you don’t. It’s sided with pea and carrot-flecked fried rice that’s none too flavourful.
A guilty-pleasure spring roll is heavier on the guilt than pleasure. But Jimmy the Greek is Jimmy “the Man”: for just $3.45 the small salad is more big than small, and generous of iceberg, kalamatas, tomato, a touch of feta and good creamy vinaigrette, and Jimmy’s wallet-sized spanakopita is jammed with spinach and feta.
Finishing off at Treat’s, the Swiss chocolate chunk cookie tastes like 1986 all over again.
Bonus: you can add a KFC drumstick to your Taco Bell combo for cheap.
— Amy Rosen
