Leazes: A dining experience to remember

Open for both breakfast and dinner, Leazes dining room offers a tasteful abundance of culinary promise.

Not a catered student? Worry not, the doors allow non-members at enticing prices …even if you’re a Ricky student, so come along.

The possibilities are cosmic and gritty in equal measure.

Majestic, yet modest, the dining room radiates with ambience. With Florescent lighting, purple walls and hardwood floors, the décor provides you with all you could possibly hope for in a dining room.

The enthusiastic serving staff are certainly not to be overlooked. Almost maternal figures, you can depend on them to guide through you the banquets in a military fashion, but still in a fun tidy-the-nursrey-with-Mary-Poppins type way.

Breakfast is a winner for many. Yes, the fry up is the epitome aftermath after a night out. Expect to be greeted in dismissive yet playful fashions by the serving staff as they pile your plate, sparingly.The bacon is delectable, and the tropical selection of grapefruit, bananas and apples are a great way to kick off your 5-a-day. Second helpings are not an option so expect to stay peckish.

Dinner time offers an eclectic range of exotic cuisines throughout the week. It’s always refreshing to see such creative ranges of dry, unclassified textures. From Moroccan beef stew, Chinese stirfy, and even Indian curry, “homesick” is an unlikely emotion to encounter if you’re an international.

The salad bar is an absolute must. The homespun tomatoes, (which are fresh on occasion) are handsomely cut and succulant. Expect to find generous helpings of crushed up nachos on certain days, taylor-made for sprinkling on the chili con carne, my personal favourite knack.

While the salad bar is limited in salad choices, it hallmarks a “carb bar” more than anything else. Tomatoes and leaves aside, the rest of the hampers consist of pasta(s), rice(s) and potatoes(s). To boot, you can also usually expect to find mysterious platters that are hard to identify. Either that, or they’ve not been invented yet.

Desert time gets tricky. Rest assured, the motley variety of yoghurts, cakes and scones will seal the deal before your next microwave meal later on. Hunger always strikes again, so be mentally prepared for the compulsive dip in your overdraft – especially if it’s a cheeky dominoes occasion. More than one desert is pretty much deemed as sacrilege and will result in evil glares from the female staff that would dignify a dementor. You are however, allowed to take two bananas, which is very nice of them.

It’s a usually good idea to start off with a stroll around the serving stands before you make your decision. You can’t get dish combos either, so chose wisely. If you decide you want rice and it doesn’t  go with your primary meal, you’re fucked.

If you’re a foodie like myself, and appreciate good flavouring, bring condiments. Pepper and salt are your only options, and sometimes they forget to leave out the pepper. I know. Sauces are always a good shout. (Tabasco ftw)

Despite these miniscule downfalls, and the funky dinner music that’s always in keeping to the vibes – The dining hall is not just a place of eating. It’s a community. A community that ever so slightly, breaks down the status-quo amongst the different halls in Leazes, but without the shit flash mob. (Kudos if you got the High School musical reference!)

These are just some of the factors that resonate with the fact, that Leazes dining hall is a church emblem for us all.