On Campus

Wilfrid Laurier - Fresh Food Company

Thank goodness for ketchup. A wholly pitiful experience

OneStar

Upon walking into the Wilfred Laurier cafeteria, we were greeted with a freshly painted and clean room, welcoming with booths and windows and soft lighting that gave a feeling of home. The mood didn’t last. The dining hall closes at the ultra inconvenient hour of 6 p.m. on Sundays. Our arrival at 5:30 may, therefore, account for our pitiful experience.

At this time of the day, there was little choice. Even the lettuce had left the salad bar with only soupy pasta salad remaining, plus a few vegetables swimming in water. Apples and oranges complete with brown spots and old complexion also deserved a pass. The roast beef, despite its pinkinsh hue, was lukewarm and devoid of moisture; accompanying corn and carrots tasted like they had been microwaved hours earlier. The chef cutting our portions didn’t even acknowledge our thank-yous.

Onto to the grill. For some reason I thought it would be prudent to try the soya burger. It was apparently the last one they had, as they promptly removed it from the menu after I ordered. Now one shouldn’t expect a soy burger to be full of juices (that is a byproduct of eating a real burger), but this had little flavour—a fact heightened by the enormous bun that rendered the patty almost unnoticeable to my pallet. A further contribution was made by a rubbery and brown lettuce. Thank goodness for ketchup.

The sandwich bar was more appealing, with a variety of meats (ham, beef, turkey) and an assortment (though limited) of vegetables. The popular stir fry station offered a vibrant meal, served up by someone who appeared to be the only cook on staff not annoyed that dinner-hour students were interrupting cleaning duties.

But these stations, along with the relatively affordable cost, were the only redeeming qualities that night at Fresh Food Company.

Dessert also got a failing grade. The chocolate cake was soggy, crumbly and the icing tasted like sweetened whipped butter, more suitable for topping pancakes than cake. Finishing shortly after 6:00, we were happy to leave. As we did, hungry students were still entering the cafeteria, only to learn that, tonight, there would be no supper for them.

NextReview

Looking for more?

Get the Best of Maclean's sent straight to your inbox. Sign up for news, commentary and analysis.