Somewhere to have dinner in UCD?

peepeep

Hi there,

I will be staying late in the library most of this week and I wonder if there's anywhere on campus to have a decent dinner (by 'decent' i mean 'included vegetables and isnt fried'). I'm new to UCD so don't know many places yet. I went to the diner in the Student Centre today and was fairly horrified to find out it's just a chipper, with nothing remotely healthy on offer.

Is there anywhere similar to the Buttery in Trinity, where you can pick from a range of hot meals such as chicken, lasagne, stir-fry etc?

Thanks.

Mr.Nice Guy

The UCD Restaurant is probably your best bet and does vegetable dinners. I had some vegetables with chicken, ham and gravy one evening and found it pretty good.

Korvanica

Also the forum bar usually does decent dinners.

wolfpawnat

The only thing is the restaurants close about 6-7pm

parker kent

I say student bar near Quinn School or Elements in the science building. I think Elements does the best food on campus. To put it nicely, the main restaurant is not my cup of tea!

Plus Elements is open pretty late, 9 or 10 I think they close. It might have changed this year so I am open to correction

AnthonyK16

Elements is by far the best place on campus

WeeBushy

+1 on elements.

Does proper food that actually tastes nice. It isn't the cheapest option but definitely the best. More choice than the restaurant which just mass produces about 3 different meals each day.

Mr.Nice Guy

Never been to Elements. Must give it a look some time.

WeeBushy

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

Never been to Elements. Must give it a look some time.

Their thai chicken curry... deeeeelicious.

convert

Another thumbs up for Elements. Bit more expensive than the restaurant, though, but definitely worth it!

muffinman

student bar is pretty decent

Pride Fighter

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

Never been to Elements. Must give it a look some time.

Same here. But as an arts student I despise the Science block. I hate the smell of Chemistry lab, reminds me of secondary school.

Fad

You dont actually have to go through the Chemistry block to get there.........

elix

I'd definitely +1 on elements.
I remeber going to the restaurant once in my freshers week... 2 years ago (cant remember... all a blur) and it just wasn't a pleasent experience at all.. before, during and after the food :P
But elements has a rep for decent food. and the "starbucks" (franchise stand) isnt too bad either

congo_90

student bar near quinn building is nice. I had a steak ciabetta and potatoes today *drools* very nice!

aliceIW

The last thing I ate in the main restaurant was a pudding with lashings of birds-eye custard. Only thing was the chef forgot to put the sugar in the custard mix and it just tasted like a flowery paste. I haven't been in it since. Been to Elements a couple of times and the food was really really good. It has a nice restaurant feel to it as well which is nice.

The Agogo

plus the people who work on the tills there have absolutely no manners (same with Bravo and the Grind)

I know people will argue that they have to deal with UCD students all day, but quite a few of us have part-time jobs too, and if we were that brash with a customer we'd be fooking sacked!

One instance in the Restaurant:

I buy a plate of chips & curry sauce (poured over the chips). The hag at the till asks me "Do you have any chicken with that?" - Despite the fact that you couldn't see any chicken, she grabs a fork from in front of her and starts pawing though my food in an attempt to find chicken and prove me wrong.

After that I just said "Here, keep your f**king food" and left...never been there since

Notorious

The Agogo wrote: »

After that I just said "Here, keep your f**king food" and left...never been there since

That wasn't at the small bar on the ground floor of the restaurant was it? I saw a similar situation there earlier in the semester and the 'oul one at the till was moaning to everyone she could about it. I wanted to tell her to STFU.

IndigoStarr

The Grind women are such needless bitches! They're always laughing at me and talking in Polish and make me incredibly paranoid. My friend once gave out to them for laughing at him with hilarious consequences.
Agree with The Agogo about the staff manners. If anyone else in a part-time job did that they'd be fired so fast.

The Agogo

Notorious wrote: »

That wasn't at the small bar on the ground floor of the restaurant was it? I saw a similar situation there earlier in the semester and the 'oul one at the till was moaning to everyone she could about it. I wanted to tell her to STFU.

No it wasn't me...but the fact that someone else did it also says that the service is pretty f*cking sh*tty, to say the least.

I mean, to actually go through someone's food... it's beyond reason.

seraphimvc

the one in the sport center,pretty good value compare to the main restaurant i think (you pay about 6euro you get nice main course and you can take watever you want in the salad bar) - last time i went to the main restaurant was about 1 or 2 years ago,horrible food and crazy price.CRAZY

peepeep

Thanks for all the replies. I went to the First "restaurant" the other day, which definitely had more choice than the place in the Student Centre. Have to say the food was disgusting though and really expensive. 5.50 for a plate of bad-quality spagetti bolognese or 'creamed brocolli'? I will check out the Elements place next week, though I'm beginning to think I'd be better off having a bag of popcorn and a piece of cheese for dinner. For shame, UCD!

dyl10

IndigoStarr wrote: »

The Grind women are such needless bitches! They're always laughing at me and talking in Polish and make me incredibly paranoid. .

Maybe they like you?

WeeBushy

peepeep wrote: »

Thanks for all the replies. I went to the First "restaurant" the other day, which definitely had more choice than the place in the Student Centre. Have to say the food was disgusting though and really expensive. 5.50 for a plate of bad-quality spagetti bolognese or 'creamed brocolli'? I will check out the Elements place next week, though I'm beginning to think I'd be better off having a bag of popcorn and a piece of cheese for dinner. For shame, UCD!

I'm sorry you had to experience the restaurant... awful place really. Definitely check out Elements, it's way better. There is something to be said for bringing in your own dinners though!

Oh yeah, what's up with the grind folk? Why do they always have to be so rude? If they weren't so damn talented at making my favourite rap...

The Agogo

WeeBushy wrote: »

If they weren't so damn talented at making my favourite rap...

What are you talking about?!

They are completely talentless at doing anything. I would literally crap a better sandwich than them!

Last time I got a roll there I asked for that pre-mayonaissed chicken stuff and I swear to God it was like drinking a sandwich.

The mayonaisse is supposed to complement the bread, not the other way around!

WeeBushy

The Agogo wrote: »

What are you talking about?!

They are completely talentless at doing anything. I would literally crap a better sandwich than them!

Last time I got a roll there I asked for that pre-mayonaissed chicken stuff and I swear to God it was like drinking a sandwich.

The mayonaisse is supposed to complement the bread, not the other way around!

Their raps are a guilty pleasure of mine...

Mimikyu

This post has been deleted.

ironclaw

The Agogo wrote: »

What are you talking about?!

They are completely talentless at doing anything. I would literally crap a better sandwich than them!

Last time I got a roll there I asked for that pre-mayonaissed chicken stuff and I swear to God it was like drinking a sandwich.

The mayonaisse is supposed to complement the bread, not the other way around!

Its actually beyond belief how much Mayo is in that stuff.... :eek:

remus808

ironclaw wrote: »

Its actually beyond belief how much Mayo is in that stuff.... :eek:

But it's so tasty

I tried getting the Mayonaise and Chicken seperate before, it just wasn't the same..

lizzyvera

IndigoStarr wrote: »

The Grind women are such needless bitches! They're always laughing at me and talking in Polish and make me incredibly paranoid. My friend once gave out to them for laughing at him with hilarious consequences.
Agree with The Agogo about the staff manners. If anyone else in a part-time job did that they'd be fired so fast.

I know! I joked with the Irish guy at the till "ah service with a smile" and he gave me a very sympathetic smile.
I've never encountered such rude staff. It puts me off going there.

There's a mosque just off campus with really nice food if you're willing to walk for ten minutes for a nice dinner.

Chakar

I didn't know the mosque served food? What kind of food do they have on the menu?

RandomName2

peepeep wrote: »

Thanks for all the replies. I went to the First "restaurant" the other day, which definitely had more choice than the place in the Student Centre. Have to say the food was disgusting though and really expensive. 5.50 for a plate of bad-quality spagetti bolognese or 'creamed brocolli'? I will check out the Elements place next week, though I'm beginning to think I'd be better off having a bag of popcorn and a piece of cheese for dinner. For shame, UCD!

Why is nobody mentioning the SU bar? The food there is great!
Centre Bar isn't bad either.

The main thing that the main restaurant has going for it is the great light it has - and ample seating.

The Arts Cafe is an odd beast - surprisingly pleasant and open till quite late, but pricey (particularly since it lost its soup stand) and so many of its sandwiches are mayo mayo mayo. Would you like mayo with your mayo mayo?

Breezer

Does Insomnia in Conway/Quinn still serve soup? I used to be a big fan, although they got progressively pricier and stingier with the bread as time went by.

I have to say I liked the Grind despite the loud staff. It's a lot better value than O'Brien's, but it was still cheaper to make my own sandwich.

TBH I'm glad I don't have to put up with Belfield food anymore. Elements is about the best of a bad lot, but even that isn't great.

Michaelrsh

Go to the fast-food restaurant beside the SU centre, get a take-away, and eat it on the steps of the science building. Subsequently discarding the packaging in the lake.

WeeBushy

Michaelrsh wrote: »

Go to the fast-food restaurant beside the SU centre, get a take-away, and eat it on the steps of the science building. Subsequently discarding the packaging in the lake.

Fantstic, eat sh1te food and contribute to the problem of our polluted lake. Great advice. :rolleyes:

insert-gear

WeeBushy wrote: »

Fantstic, eat sh1te food and contribute to the problem of our polluted lake. Great advice. :rolleyes:

You could eat the tongue in his cheek

WeeBushy

Faux pas...

RandolphEsq

insert-gear wrote: »

You could eat the tongue in his cheek

And you could snack on the almost tangible sarcasm in the reply!

insert-gear

Replying to a tongue in cheek statement with a sarcastic remark negates the sarcasm.

WeeBushy

insert-gear wrote: »

Replying to a tongue in cheek statement with a sarcastic remark negates the sarcasm.

I'm sorry my sarcasm didn't follow the sarcasm formula.