Is the college bar good value compared to canteen etc?

snaps

How many regulary use the college bar for lunch? Is it good value compared to the other catering outlets in NUIGalway?

DEmeant0r

Yeah I think college bar is pretty good value when compared to other restaurants in the campus, but I think Friars' food is about the same price and it's higher quality. I would pick Friars or Moffett's any day over College bar or Smokie's or Canteen as I like good food.

snaps

Must admit now havent tried Friars restaurant, Moffets i found expensive, but perhaps things have changed since the last crew that done the catering there have moved on? Big enough portions in the college bar though, but busy times means bigger Q's!

Campbells (Canteen) seemed to have upped the quality a little recently?

DEmeant0r

No, Moffetts is still pretty expensive for students, it's ~€9 for a meal, but the quality of the food is really nice and it fills you. I have not been in the canteen for two years so I would not know.

leninbenjamin

Friars is definitely the best value on Campus, but they do have some odd days where's no better than the canteen mind you.

Fionn MacCool

More to the point - why are the pints full price? All of my friends who are at uni in England have college bars which serve pints for £1-1.50!

Lockstep

Where exactly is Friar's.

I've never heard of it.

JIZZLORD

it's in the commerce building.
good food there

sharkDawg

kickoutthejams wrote: »

Where exactly is Friar's.

I've never heard of it.

Its in the Cairnes business building

snaps

Fionn MacCool wrote: »

More to the point - why are the pints full price? All of my friends who are at uni in England have college bars which serve pints for £1-1.50!

Thats the difference between the Irish SU & UK (Including NI). The Irish SU are not allowed to promote alcohol as far as i know. Dont think the college bar are allowed to sell cheap pints as a rule (Could be a Irish SU or just a NUIG rule/agreement)

The UK SU are able to bulk buy drink like weatherspoons pubs in the UK to give the customer a good deal as well i assume (I dont know my facts but a guess)

There also could be VAT reductions in the UK on the sale of alcohol in the SU there?

But your right, Ive been in college bars in the UK/NI and have been astounded at the price of pints and how packed the bars always are.

Need to check my facts here, But if i recall many years ago the Irish SU were going to join the UK SU but something happened or was blocked???? Perhaps someone with this knowledge could correct me?

snaps

kickoutthejams wrote: »

Where exactly is Friar's.

I've never heard of it.

Friars is in the Cairns building on the clifden road (Under the underpass of the quincentennial bridge). Bit of a trek from the main building (Especially in the rain)

Sols12

I avoid the canteen like the plague but once in a blue moon i end up eating there for convenience and realise why i dont eat there! The food is muck imo! I prefer the college bar to most of the other places and when its not raining *sighs* Riordans in town is a good place for cheap food. Sandwich, chips & soup for 6quid - cant beat it with a stick!

snaps

Yeah i suppose college bar is a trek as well in the rain!! Perhaps they should build a canopy linking the college bar to the libary/main building????

DEmeant0r

The rain is why I eat in Moffett's a lot nowadays. Being in the IT building and 3 minutes from quality food is damaging to the pocket I tell you

snaps

Perhaps one of the caterers or a new caterer start up a delivery service? Customers could email/ring in their order in the morning and then its delivered to your office to save YOU getting wet!!!!

Could be a nice little earner, Now where is my chopping board and bread knife gone......:)

N1njapirate

I love the college bar for my mash and veg! Canteen is so expensive for what you're getting..
Was in Friars once at the start of 1st year-living in Corrib and hadn't a clue where I was going! I somehow ended up in Friars in the businsess building trying to figure out where that concourse building was!! ha ha... Funny.. :P

paddyreilly

snaps wrote: »

The UK SU are able to bulk buy drink like weatherspoons pubs in the UK to give the customer a good deal as well i assume (I dont know my facts but a guess)

Most UK unions buy through a company called NUS Services which is a purchasing consortium (owned by NUS and the unions). We can buy a pint of Carlsberg for just over 50p which gives a very healthy margin even when sold for £1.50...

snaps wrote: »

There also could be VAT reductions in the UK on the sale of alcohol in the SU there?

Standard rate of VAT in the UK is 17.5% (applied to practically everything; no differentiation between services and goods as in Ireland).

snaps wrote: »

But your right, Ive been in college bars in the UK/NI and have been astounded at the price of pints and how packed the bars always are.

Well you'd probably be equally astounded at how many of them are closing down at the moment because students are drinking at home and want 'fancier' pubs in town.

snaps wrote: »

Need to check my facts here, But if i recall many years ago the Irish SU were going to join the UK SU but something happened or was blocked???? Perhaps someone with this knowledge could correct me?

Um, lost here...?!

DEmeant0r

I'm lost too, when did you move to Ipswitch Paddy?

paddyreilly

Tomorrow, it'll be exactly one year!

snaps

I wasnt sure of my facts, thanks paddyreilly for your in depth replies.

Ipswich, interesting, I was there a few weeks at portman road watching the FA cup match against Portsmouth!! Not a bad area.

spinandscribble

havnt tried moffets in years, will do as a treat 2moro.

DEmeant0r

Yeah do, spinandscribble, the food there is really, really nice!

Jamey

Where is Moffets???

leninbenjamin

Jamey wrote: »

Where is Moffets???

that building beside the IT building, directly behind the microbiology department. Google tells me it's called the Orbsen building.

rainingagain

Hi everyone, Just signed up to boards.ie!

I eat regularly in college bar & canteen, College bar is great place to eat. Recently i feel food is much better (Lasagne & breaded chicken everyday), but the bar side of things has deteriorated. Atmosphere seems dull most times also last week i was told Bar doesn't open till 11.30am by one of the girls? I have always thought the bar opened at 10.30?

Oh well, we went off and brought a few cans at the shop.

Never much on the screens nowadays, They seem always to have adverts running on events? Do they still show sports in the evenings? Is there a good atmosphere?

Will college bar be open for the 6 nations or are they closed weekends?

Oh i try to avoid canteen if i can but if its RAINING i stay close to the main building!

snaps

Hi rainingagain, Nice name, very adapt for today!

Yeah college bar does show sports in the evening, haven't been in there to watch a match for sometime now as the last time a crowd of us went in the picture was jumping around, not really watchable. We ended up in the River inn, they have about 4 screens around the bar and they also have the foreign channels for the football, so a much better choice for viewing.

Not sure about 6nations, think it starts this weekend? Out of all the adverts the bar show on their screens i haven't seen 6 nations advertised.

Ive started to eat more in the college bar now they have changed menu, great to have lasagne or homemade breaded chicken every other day. Sandwich bar seems to have adopted the old Ques the hot food used to have? Talking of which, Last week the Que for hot food was long but we didnt seem to have to wait as long as normal in Que, No more than 10minutes from the middle of the Bar to getting our lunch!!

rainingagain

Yeah Q's do seem quicker now for hot food! I think they have 3 people on servery now so thats possibly why. The reason why the Q's are bigger on sandwich area is that the girls like to talk to the customers, so we get held up while they talk about their washing, weekend, fair city etc:D

snaps

rainingagain wrote: »

Will college bar be open for the 6 nations or are they closed weekends?

Seems they are open this weekend for rugby! Adverts today on the screens.

paddyreilly

snaps wrote: »

Seems they are open this weekend for rugby! Adverts today on the screens.

College Bar calendar

rainingagain

Wonder if pancakes will be available today in college bar????!!!!! Yum yum, I love pancake day!

Cloud

We take a pretty poor view of people signing up for a second account and pretending that the second account is someone else. snaps and rainingagain accounts have been disabled.

Tar.Aldarion

Well that was pretty weird.
College Bar must be bad off...

I never eat on campus, the food is terrible and overpriced when it is ok. Plus, it's not exactly vegetarian friendly. I eat in town most days, riordans, mcCambridges, Finnagans or else over in G&L and Spud House.
At weekends I eat Matar Paneer/samosa/kitchiri from the market.

Usually buy my food and eat it in the place, or in the canteen in nuns Island.

eoiner-galway

cant beet a good doner kebab in charcoal grill though.....