What's your work canteen like?

[poster342002]

The canteen staff generally make up prices and most often don't know how to use the till

I knew a place like that once. Despite having a list of priced breakfast items next to the till, they could never work out how much to charge for the SAME items from one day to the next. You'd often see a crowd of three or four of them debating how much to charge for the same two-rashers of bacon and fried egg as the day before .. and before that .. and before that... You'd never be charged the same amount two days running for exactly the same purchase.

Heard of another case of this in another place where they actually shouted "why can't you just pay it?!" at a customer who was pointing out the huge discrepancy between the price on the menu and the price they were trying to charge them!

 

[poster342002]

Oh - and an all-time classic one where their idea of Vegetable Lasagne was a few slices of lasagne pasta with a can of cock-a-leekie soup poured over it.

And one where "three bean stew" was taken so literlly that the person serving it would actually fish out THREE beans with the ladle to go with the watery slop on your plate.

 

[Thora]

I used to work in a staff canteen. I did occasionally lie to the one vegan that worked there about what contained animal products cos I couldn't be bothered to check Still, in general it was pretty good food - three meals a day, sandwich bar, salad etc.

 

[becki1701]

I work in a uni so I'm quite lucky, we've got the shops areound which just sell the sandwiches, the Refectory which has an upper crust, mama leonis', free trade cafe section and all the rest of the crap you usually get in a canteen, then the union eateries which are quite good. As you can imagine they sell a lot of burgers though lol!



Edit - Tott court road is but a stones throw away so tis all good anywhoo

 

[Badgers]

Toaster
Kettle
Microwave
Fridge

That is all

 

[geoff64]

mostly full of fuckin students

foods not bad if you can get a seat.

but there's a great little place on Aldwich that does take out curries - the chick pea & rice is to die for; and there's a place on drury lane that does 11" pizzas for £4.00 - sublime. I can take it into the basement and chew away with the paper on my todd, and then browse the books in the Oxfam shop.

Who needs canteens ...?

 

[Poot]

Mine is wall to wall life-size topless page 3 posters and a coffee machine which sometimes works- nothing else. I only go in there to fill the kettle.



The only place nearby is M&S, which is extortionate so I try to take stuff in with me.

 

[dodgepot]

A full, underwhelming, meal at lunchtime will set you back around £7.00. Oh, and randomly charge double for a portion of vegetables when they feel the wish.

Supiciously similar dishes will appear during the same week with different names to them.

i dunno, for some reason i would have thought that you would have a really good canteen that you really liked, with each full hearty meal from a huge selection costing only 50p.

but you have a canteen that causes you to moan

 

[Yu_Gi_Oh]

We have a small kitchen in a damp and mouldy dungeon.

 

[zenie]

aint got one

 

[red rose]

Well I work in a pub so I suppose techincally ours would be the kitchen. We're only really allowed anything free if we work a ten hour shift or more and then its just a sandwich. But quite often the chefs will give us chips, mashed potato, sandwiches, bits and pieces they have left over and cake. Plus the managers will often refuse to let us pay if they see us ordering food.

The food is fantastic, we've got massive meals for a tenner, sandwiches for £6, chips and things for £2 and starters and deserts for £4 or £5.

The chefs are fantastic, they prepare everything from scratch and really take pride in their work. Theres warm camembert, prawn cocktails, salads, jacket potatoes, sandwiches, fish, whitebait, burgers, chicken, pies, steaks, sausage and mash, fudge cake, sundaes...

Mmmmm

 

[moose]

We don't have a microwave cos they don't like the smell of food. There a machine which dispenses chilled and hot water, an elaborate coffee/tea machine, a vending machine full of crisps and haribo and another full of cold drinks. We're on a god-forsaken trading park miles from the shops, with only a Subway for company.

However, an ice cream van comes every day

 

[moomoo]

If you don't get down to our canteen early enough there's nothing left and if you leave it till 1pm they won't even make you a sandwich. For a place where quite a lot of the staff work late shifts, it's pretty poor really.

Todays soup was 'Spicy Cauliflower'. Looked and smelt like wallpaper paste.

They do meals for about £3 but I've not had one yet. Nice baked potatoes and the sandwiches are all fresh. You can get hot drinks from a machine for about 60p.

Oh, they do breakfast as well. I think you can get cereal, toast, bacon sandwiches and stuff but I don't get in early enough for that.

Each floor has it's own kitchen though with a toaster, kettle, fridge and microwave.

 

[wrysmile]

My work canteen is the best - cheap, really yummy food - hot breakfasts, a selection of four cooked dishes for lunch, plus salad bar and sandwich bar. It rawks

 

[chainsaw cat]

We just have a tea room, and rarely have I had more random conversations than I do there.

Today we covered Zimbabwe, toilet seat etiquette (with a discourse on flush - aerosol bacteria spread), funfairs, Lancaster bombers, chocolate fingers, rights of way legislation, decorating, gender stereotyping, exotic tea and fighting techniques to be used if attacked by a scrap metal merchant or a policeman - all in ten minutes. Several of us, me included, almost weeping with hysterical laughter the while.

 

[mentalchik]

I actually run our staff cafe.............


it's not huge but we have a selection of hot food/sarnies/salads and the usual crisps/chocolate/drinks etc......


a dinner is £1.40, a jacket potato with filling 70p, bacon sarnie 35p........tea and coffee is free !

 

[scifisam]

We only have a fridge and microwave too, and the local greasy spoon isn't that great, but it's OK.

The last staff canteen I had, at a secondary school, were really lovely and friendly. They'd actually heard of gluten intolerance and would make things to order. If you didn't have enough money that day, you could pay another day, no problem. It was nice - it meant that people were more likely to have an actual break, sit down and talk together and subsequently end up working better together. My daughter's school is like that, too.

One other school only had one vegetarian option: pasta bake. The same pasta bake every single day. Since I can't eat pasta, I once tentatively asked if they occasionally did other veggie meals. The cook shouted at me 'well what ELSE are you supposed to cook for vegetarians?!?!?' And stormed off.

One other school canteen had only sandwiches three days per week. And they were often made with bread which smelt bad and was stuck to the other piece of bread with butter and pretty much nothing else. The poor free school meals kids looked so miserable on those days.