University Q&A: Self-catering or meals included?

I have a simple question I will deal with today as part of my university season. I'm sure those of you headed for universities would've already sorted out your accommodation already, but this is useful for those who are still in a position to decide. The question today is this:

"Limpeh, I have the option of choosing to pay for meals at my hostel - I'm wondering if that is a good idea? My parents think that I should go for it, for it leave me with more time to study - but it does look expensive and I'm not sure how good the food will be. What did you do in your time?" 

Okay, in my time, I did endure one term of halls of residence catering and it wasn't bad but I didn't like it. I can tell you about my experience of course, but do bear in mind it may not reflect what you may get at your university. Breakfast is very standard - it is the full English breakfast which I am not keen on at all. Eggs, bacon, sausage, hash brown, baked beans, mushrooms, black pudding and toast. Eugh. I cannot stomach all that in the morning, I would much rather have something lighter like fresh fruit and yoghurt. There was never ever any variation in the morning - it was always the full English. Lunch will never be provided as the students would normally be busy at university and not back at the halls of residence at lunch time.

Full English breakfast!

Dinner would be better - you'll get a three course meal. There was a starter which was either a soup or a salad. Don't get excited, neither was particularly exciting. The soup would be some kind of vegetable soup and the salad would be random vegetables covered in salad cream. These had to be vegetarian of course, as they weren't going to bother to make a vegetarian starter and a starter with meat - so all the starters would be vegetarian.

You would get two options for the main course - meat or vegetarian. There will always be a vegetarian option available for anyone who wouldn't be able to eat the meat option for a range of reasons (not halal, not kosher, etc) but unless you have a significant international student cohort in your halls, don't expect there to be specifically a halal option. The main courses would usually be the typical stuff British people eat: pasta, pizza, curries (very mild ones), fried fish, roast chicken, beef stews etc. Also, be warned: what a British person considers 'spicy' might come across as surprisingly mild to an Asian person. Such is the cuisine we are used to in Singapore!

Don't get me wrong - I'm not the kind of Asian person who only eats Asian food and I've nothing against European food, but you're unlikely to get anything good with such catering. I like strong flavours, I dislike bland food. So even with something like a pasta bake with cheese, I would want a cheese with very strong flavours, like a mature cheddar. However, not everyone likes such strong cheeses so they would always default to the most bland, most mild cheese available and the gooey melted cheese on the pasta bake would be practically tasteless as a result and those of us who want strong flavours end up reaching for the salt, pepper and other condiments. Quite simply, yes you can make a bland dish spicy by heaping condiments on it, but it is quite impossible to make a spicy dish bland - so you're always going to end up with very bland dishes with such catering, you were warned!

Some cheeses are more bland than others - you were warned!

Oh and there's a desert - sometimes you'll get something nice like a fruit salad or ice cream but most of the time, it's cake or trifle. I like cake, but for desert after dinner? I see cake as something one eats for breakfast or maybe as an afternoon snack with a cup of tea or coffee - but a slice of chocolate cake after dinner? A bit too filling, no?

I would highly recommend that you opt for the self-catering option if possible for the simple reason that you get to decide what you eat, rather than it being decided by someone else defaulting to the blandest option possible. You also get to decide what portions you want - I remember when I had eaten starters and deserts I didn't like, but it was like, oh well, I'm not really in the mood for cake but I've paid for it and it is there so I may as well eat it. Not exactly the most healthy approach to meals!

You also get to decide exactly how your meals are made and what goes into them as you are the chef: less salt, more tomatoes, no mayonnaise, more vinegar etc and it is a lot of fun creating your own meals. Oh and here's the best part: it is a lot cheaper as well because you are paying these caterers a lot of money for their service when you pay for the meals at a halls of residence. These people run this as a business - they have to make money. Furthermore, it also frees up your social life - you are no longer compelled to return to the halls of residence in time or dinner, instead you can go wherever you want, whenever you want.

As the chef, you decide what goes into your meal. 

Cooking can also be a very social activity - it can be boring to cook for yourself, so often students in self-catering accommodation would get together and do a pot luck. Everyone makes one dish and it could be a great chance to taste the cuisine of another country. It can be a lot of fun! I have prepared many Singaporean dishes for events like that and my friends have always liked my cooking, especially my unusual, inventive Asian deserts.

I don't actually believe that cooking will take up so much time that you will not have time to revise or do your assignments - after all, you do need a break from studying all the time and how much time you spend cooking really depends on how ambitious your meals are. So if you can spend a few minutes heating up a frozen pizza (virtually no effort involved) or you can try to make a pizza from scratch, ie. making the dough yourself - you get the idea. There are plenty of frozen meals you can get from the big supermarkets and a frozen meal for one costs very little - like £1 to £2. So yeah, you may decide to keep things really simple during the week but make more of an effort during the weekend - it is up to you.

It isn't hard to make delicious, nutritious meals. 

So there you go, that's my take on the issue. I think I do value the luxury of deciding what I want to eat for my meals, rather than allow someone else to make that choice for me. I like my food and I am quite fussy about what flavours I like, but that's just me. Perhaps you're not as fussy as I am but I do think that on balance, it definitely makes more sense to go self-catering unless you're utterly hopeless when it comes to cooking.

For more on my articles on university season, check out the full list of links here. If you have any other questions, let me know! Leave a comment below, thanks.