Ah... the wonders of campus food. To sum it up in one word: "sucky". Well, perhaps that's a bit harsh, but if you ask any of the current freshmen (aka sophomores by next semester) what they think of meals on campus they'll probably grimance and make puking motions.

Surely its not that bad? Sometimes its bearable and even quite good, but basically after you eat the same thing for the 20th time you'll begin to get sick of it.

Don't let all this discourage you though. You're welcome to try and enjoy the food! You don't really have a choice anyway. ;)

Meal Blocks and DineXtra

As you may have read in the brochures that CMU sends out to enrolling students, the university uses a system of meal blocks and credits (called DineXtra). Unlike some colleges where you eat in big catered dining rooms, CMU's food places more resemble a food court, with various stalls you purchase your meals from. You can either use the block for the current timeslot to make a purchase of a fixed price (dependent on the time of day), or use DineXtra which is just like spending cash. Only one block can be used per timeslot.

Here's a list of what blocks are available:

Lets say you want to buy $10 worth of food at 3:30pm on a Wednesday. If you haven't used up your lunch block yet, you can use that and an additional $3.25 of DineXtra. You could also pay the full $10 using DineXtra, which you'd have to do if your block was used up. Or (even better) you could just wait another 30 minutes for 4pm, and then use your dinner block and $2.50 of DineXtra.

You purchase food using blocks or DineXtra via your CMU card. Hand it to the cashier and they'll generally ask you what you want to put it under. Tell them if they don't ask just to be sure.

Choosing a Meal Plan

This is mostly a no-brainer; unless you really really think you're going to enjoy eating on campus (and we still beseech you to reconsider your stand), get the plan with the least amount of "money" overall, and the highest amount of DineXtra. If the meal plan system doesn't change next semester, that would translate to plan C6. More DineXtra means more flexibility, while less meals overall means you can actually eat off-campus once in a while.

If you are staying on campus, you can choose from 3 classes of meal plans, namely Green (A-?), Blue (B-?) and Red (C-6). Green is the most expensive plan and Red the the least expensive (not that it's very cheap...).

If you happen to get off-campus housing, you can opt off regular meal plans in roughly a month. Details will be provided to you by Dining Services, and you really should do so. This gives you the commuter plan, which costs a lot less and lets you spend more time eating out, or cooking your own meals.

Some people can get off the regular plan due to dietary reasons as well. If you have a weak stomach and can't handle the predominantly oily food that gets served around here, for example, visit Health Services and they may let you change to the commuter plan.

Tips and Tricks

DineXtra is more commonly referred to as "DineX", or just "dine". Don't be confused if the cashier asks you "Block or Dine?"

The seniors used to say that a good way to use up your blocks is to occasionally buy a block's worth of drinks. This works out to around 5-6 bottles of orange juice or iced tea, which you can then bring back and consume at your own convenience. The current freshmen didn't try to do that, but there's rumors that you can do that at certain locations on campus. Try at your own risk!!

Seniors sometimes also offer to "cash-out"; you purchase stuff using your blocks and DineX for them, and they'll pay you the amount owed in cash. Its a good way to recover all that lost money.

If you're wondering if the number of meals is enough for you, don't worry about it. Americans eat a lot of food, so servings are quite large. Even big eaters have problem working through the C6 plan.

Note that the meal plans run on a 2-week cycle. That means that if you have 2 meal blocks and $30 DineX left, you CANNOT recycle into the next 2-week cycle. Therefore, there's an alternative meaning to "cash-out" refers to the second Sunday of the meal plan cycle when everyone goes to finish their DineX. Don't worry, by the end of freshmen year, you would proabably have tasted more Ben & Jerry ice cream, drank more StarBucks? frappucino or dined at Eat n Park than your entire life....

Eating Locations

This is a brief review of some of the places you can spend your credits at on campus.

International Market (UC Second Floor)

This area comprises of several stalls selling various kinds of food, with a single point of payment. One area serves supposedly international food, which basically revolves around sushi, pseudo-chinese food, mexican and other stuff, dependent on the day of the week. Not too great, from what I've heard. Except for the sushi, which is good (it comes from a restaurant nearby called Sushi Too) but expensive.

There's also pizza and pasta, which is okay-ish. Desserts like muffins and cakes are available as well although I don't know of anybody who has actually tried them. And there's a salad bar with less-than-fresh greens which is charged by weight.

The main attraction of the IM (if any) is the array of fridges with lots of drinks to choose from. There's also yogurt, and sushi from the place mentioned above. You can also find snack bars, chocolates, sweets, cerals, as well as peanut butter, jam, ketchup, mayonaise and mustard. If you're on the commuter plan, this is really useful as you can spend your DineX on condiments for your home-cooked meals.

East Street Deli (UC Second Floor)

Just opposite of the IM, the deli offers sandwiches which you can customize. To make an order, grab one of the forms and fill it up with what you'd like in your sandwich, and then hand it to the cashier. You can choose between various types of bread (white, rye, baugette, crossaint, etc.) and fillings (roast beef, tuna, smoked turkey, etc.) and sauces (ketchup, mustard, mayonaise, etc.), and also if you'd like the sandwich grilled.

The sandwiches are surprisingly good, particularly the grilled ones. You can get a set meal with drink, fruit and 2 sides as well, for the price of a lunch block. If you're not feeling sick of bread, give this place a shot.

Si Senor (UC Second Floor)

Mexican food. Some people swear by it, some don't really like it. Taste-wise I'd say its pretty okay, and some of the sauces you can request for are really hot, even by Singaporean standards.

Skibo Café (UC Second Floor)

This is the place where people get Naked. Serious. This is the only place on campus (so far) that you can use your DineX to buy Naked Juice. Naked Juice is a brand all-natural juices, juice smoothies and protein smoothies which has ridiculous Vitamin C content.

Okay, let's get back to the main subject matter. Skibo Cafe is the dining location that stays open till 2am everyday. It serves mainly pizzas, sandwiches and desserts. It's basically more American food. Occasionally, there will be people performing in Skibo, so keep your ears open for events happening there!!

Schatz Dining Room (UC Second Floor)

Schatz offers a full service buffet breakfast and dinner Monday through Friday, and brunch on Saturday and Sunday. You are forced to eat here because Housing and Dining Services allocates 2 blocks specifically to Schatz. While the word "buffet" may have you perking up your ears, to quote Ai Qi: "its good if you go once in a loooong while."

Which is kinda true, because you get sick of the food they serve quite fast, so buffet or not you don't really get your money's worth at the end of the day. The menu changes constantly, so I can't provide a list of what you can get there, but for breakfast and brunch there's always the omelette bar where they chef will make an omelette for you on the spot. Those aren't too bad. Dinnertime includes ice cream, but often the ice cream is in a half-melted state. There's also free flow of drinks.

Sometimes dinner at Schatz begins to look like breakfast, because they run out of food to serve and start rolling out the bacon and ham. This can be quite disappointing.

The best way to describe Schatz food to the guys among you would be "SFI". No comments.

Asiana (Newell-Simon Atrium)

Run by the same people who operate Yum Wok?, Asiana serves "chinese" food in the afternoons and early evenings. The inverted commas are there for a reason: as is much Asian food in this country, the chinese food is quite Americanized and may not be what you'd expect. A standard meal at Asiana is rice and 2 items (meat, vegetable, tofu, etc) plus 2 drinks, for the price of a lunch meal block.

The food is generally quite okay, although nearly everything is rich and either sweet or salty. BBQ chicken is basically siimlar to char siew, the curry chicken is good although it doesn't really taste like curry, and the famed General Tso's Chicken? is okay if you tell the server to put less sauce on it. Some people ask for no sauce and eat it with chilli.

What has to be the best part of Asiana, though, is that you can get chin chow (grass jelly drink) and Yeo's (yes, Yeo's) soyabean milk there. It may not sound like much, but you'll get to appreciate it when you start eating on campus everyday.

Taste of India (OSC, Resnik House)

Its hard to mention Taste of India without many differing opinions popping up. Some people really like it and would go there every other day if they could, while others have long since decided to swear off the pseudo-Indian food they serve. TOI offers a buffet every night, where you have unlimited access to rice, naans, various curries, tandoori chicken, drinks and desserts.

Once again, curry at TOI isn't what you'd expect from home. Its not the slightest bit spicy, and seems more creamy than anything else. But still quite edible. Its nearly always the same few dishes though, which can get boring.

Try to get there(Resnik) early (around 6:30-7pm) on weekdays if you want to make the most out of your dinner block. By 7:30pm most of the food is running out and you may not find that much to eat.

The Taste of India at OSC sells lunch though, and their set lunch is quite worth it I feel. You get two big bottles of drinks of your choice, rice, meat, veg and a piece of nan. -Kevin

Ginger's Deli (Posner Hall, Baker Hall)

Pretty good place to grab a croissant before your early morning lessons. I like their chocolate croissants! But I suspect whether their coffee is really Starbucks coffee, as served in the Starbuck cups... Doesn't taste that fantastic to me. -Kevin

The Underground (Morewood Gardens)

Sandwiches, quesadillas, pasta, to name a few. Every day they have a different special. Generally the food is not bad, making it a good respite from Big O and Asiana, and the location is pretty good too for Morewood Ave (Mudge, Morewood A-E, New House) residents. Known for playing Madonna and also more soulful music. Comes complete with pool table. --TJ

La Prima (Wean Entrance)

Always there when you need that extra caffiene to keep yourself awake during classes. Anyone wants to make a guess why isit situated at WEAN (the computer science building) ? The quality of their coffee can vary alot but on the whole I'm pretty contented with La Prima. Excellent for rushers who chiongs from class to class but need something to fill their tummy because they have no break from 9am - 4pm. Also for people like me who just need so much caffiene to stay awake. -- bobo