Day-to-day food in College

If you're anything like me, food always ranks pretty high on the mental list of priorities.
Luckily, Queens’ food has a fair reputation for being some of the best in Cambridge. Most students at Queens’ eat lunch and dinner at the cafeteria (or Buttery as it’s called), especially in first year, and a fair few have breakfast there too! It’s a great way to meet new people, and the food is usually pretty decent. It’s also a lot quicker than cooking a meal, and there’s no washing up to do! You can, however, cook for yourself if you want to – all rooms are near to a kitchen which has a sink, two hobs and a fridge, and most have a microwave and toaster as well. Every room has a kettle. Make sure you bring pans, as well as cutlery, crockery, chopping boards and kitchen utensils if you plan on doing any self-catering. Of course, all these things can be bought cheaply and easily in the centre of Cambridge.

You can check out the menus for the next week on the JCR website (this is particularly useful for distracting yourself from impending essay deadlines). This year I'm also hoping to introduce a page on the website where you can say what you really do or don't like, so I can then feed it back to catering. At lunch and dinner you’ll find a selection of three meals (one of which will be vegetarian) and a couple of different vegetable options. There’s also always a varied salad bar, soup, and jacket potatoes with a good selection of fillings. Puddings are really good too!

A full meal with pudding will not cost you more than £4 (this is very much appetite dependent, but it certainly does me and I’m a big eater!). Part of your college bill goes towards subsidising Buttery food and College does all it can to minimise food price increases for us. There are some really good breakfast deals; you can get a Full English for only £2.30 or a “grab and go” coffee and bap for only £1.30. As a result, more and more students are choosing to get their ‘most important meal of the day’ at buttery as well. You can pay for your food by cash, or with your college card, which can be topped up online (it’s like the Oyster system on the Tube in London). Details of how to use this cashless system will be given to you when you arrive and are also available on the Food page of the JCR website (www.qjcr.org.uk). If you have any special dietary requirements do get in touch with me (pm437@cam.ac.uk) and I can advise you of what you can do - the catering staff are very good at accommodating different requirements.

All meals in the Buttery are self-service and are served at the following times:

Breakfast - 8.15 - 9.15am Mon-Fri (7.45-9.30 and on Saturdays in Easter Term)

Brunch - 11.30 - 1.30pm Saturday (apart from in Easter term), 11.00 - 1.00pm Sunday

Lunch - 12.30 - 1.30pm Mon-Fri (and Saturday as well in Easter term).

Dinner - 6.00 - 7.00pm every day

The bar also functions as a coffee shop and has pastries, sandwiches and paninis (about £2 each) etc throughout the day.

Formal Hall

In addition to the daily evening meal, there are Formal Hall dinners at 7.30pm on
several nights of the week. Formals are table-service sit down dinners and you’ll need to wear smart clothes and your gown (you’ll get one of these when you arrive).
This is a lot more fun than it might sound and people tend to go for birthdays, celebrations, on swaps with other colleges or just for fun. It costs £8.15 and you can bring your own wine (one bottle per Queens’ student) and up to 2 guests. Tickets can be bought online through the same system used to top up the cashless Buttery cards.

Guest Nights

There are a few nights each term where you are can invite family or friends to dine
in College. These meals are known as Guest Nights and are a swankier version of
a Formal. They are held in Old Hall with a dress code of black tie (Dinner jackets and
bow ties if possible) and cost around £18. They're really good for giving your family or friends the ‘Cambridge Experience’! The food is much better than normal Formal – and you’d pay much more for the same quality meal in a restaurant. There are three or four Guest Nights in Michaelmas and Lent, and one or two in the Easter term. There’s a lot more information on the JCR and College websites but if you’ve got any further questions please get in touch by email on pm437@cam.ac.uk, or come visit me in room X12 once you get to
Queens'.

See you in October!