Going Vegetarian

Meal of the week: a ten second review of dining hall food

Cream of asparagus soup, peanut butter and jelly and honey sandwich. $2.75 for the soup, $1.50 for the sandwich. 
When/where? 2/24, lunch at Pines
Delicious? The cream of asparagus was a tad too heavy on the cream and could use a little more asparagus, but the taste was great, not too salty or too sour. I really like the way Pines offers peanut butter and jelly sandwiches--OVT has the jelly but not the butter.

For the last week I've been eating vegetarian (or more specifically, ovo-lacto vegetarian, where I can consume dairy products and eggs but not meat). One of my suitemates thrives on a largely plant-based diet and I thought it would be a nice self challenge to follow her meal plan for a month. It's a fun experiment in a way, too: what do people with meal restrictions eat in college?

I didn't think I could pull it off, to be honest, because of my dislike of tofu, onions and bell peppers (which are frequently substituted for meat in many dining hall dishes). In the last week I've never walked into a dining hall and found nothing appetizing to get. However, a lot of the offered vegetarian dishes simply substitute meat for cheese--there has to be better vegetarian entrees than that! I'd also recommend, if possible, a different variety of vegetables--a lot of the roasted veggies in the dishes are a random assortment of carrots, what looks like zucchini, and some unidentifiable yellow wedges (which, if you allow me to hazard a guess, also falls under the "zucchini" or "squash" range). Broccoli is a far more popular vegetable and packed with nutritiony goodness. I'm always excited whenever I see the rare broccoli in the dining halls.

In the past week, I have had pasta gorgonzola, cheese quesadillas, vegetarian pasta and a hummus wrap at this dining hall--which are all delicious. OVT also offers yakisoba or other meatless noodles and various tofu-substituted items (tofurkey and stir fry), fruit/parfait bar and the salad bar. The yakisoba was terribly sour in taste, and last week the sandwich station went several days without vegetarian options, which was a huge disappointment. I've also dined at Pines (vegetarian rolls, peanut butter for bread, hummus plate and delicious tofu stir fry for those who like tofu) and Foodworx (possibly the best place for vegetarians, with the yummy salads, waffle bar, nutella wraps and customized vegetarian pizzas). Minus yesterday, I'll hope to continue this vegetarian diet for the rest of this month :)

[On the exception of yesterday: it's hard to turn down free fish tacos! Marshall College had a Gastrotrucks event with food vouchers specifically for Marshall students...yum. That was definitely my kind of event. Baja fish taco aside, I also received a free Corner Cupcake in red velvet with irish cream. It was the most delicious thing in the world--the cake was perfectly moist and crumbled, the irish buttercream frosting not too sweet and not too heavy. It. was. so. good!]

I could do with another one of these right about now...

-Rosanne

A Surprising Discovery: Foodworx

Now, I know Rosanne just wrote up an amazingly comprehensive and detailed review of every single dining hall on campus, but I thought I would throw my two-cents in there to talk about my new favorite place to eat- Foodworx.

I know. It's a bazillion miles away from the main area of campus, down long rows, through jungles, across oceans, but... it's actually worth it.

I literally have stumbled upon Foodworx once before this quarter. I was taking a random midnight walk around campus with a friend my FIRST QUARTER ON CAMPUS. It was a tiny little building, bustling with people and food and we walked right past it without really thinking much except "Oh, this is where Foodworx is." As soon as that moment passed, Foodworx was out of my mind for good.

Until recently.

I've been to Foodworx three times now in the past week. My flatmate and I have been craving pizza and so far OVT's pizza slices have NOT been doing the trick. Neither did a Superbowl Day splurge on Papa John's pizza. Neither did an expensive perfectly cheesy pizza from Borelli's that was such a treat while staying with some nearby family last weekend. Nothing quite did it until... we decided to get off our butts and journey to Foodworx to try the incredible personal pizzas we'd been hearing so much about recently.

Totally worth it. We split between us a cheese pizza and a bbq chicken with garlic pizza. They were absolutely delicious. Now, I am definitely an extra cheese and only cheese pizza kind of girl, but this bbq chicken pizza was to die for. While we waited, we also noticed that there was a waffle bar, so we made a plan to head down there the next morning to try the waffles. Also, delicious and amazing.

Today, we decided to run to Foodworx on our way back from the mall, grab some pizzas, and head to the volleyball game. While three of us waited for three bbq chicken pizzas, our friend went to the other side and ordered a peanut butter wrap with apples and nutella. THIS WAS NOTHING MY TONGUE HAD EVER TASTED. It was AMAZING. It blew my mind away. It was SO GOOD. And plus, we noticed at night, they turn the breakfast waffle bar into a DESSERT waffle bar.

Another cool little tidbit- they have bottled Coke from Mexico. I don't know about you, but soda tastes infinitely better from Mexico. And I love drinking out of glass bottles.

The point is--go to Foodworx. If you're tired of Pines and its dismal selection, or if you're tired tired of the same old same old at Goody's and OVT, or if Cafe V isn't an option and never really was, or if Revelle is just too far away (all of these equal the general opinion of my apartment), then make the trek to Foodworx. It is UCSD's hidden gem of delicious, for sure.

My DH Review Post

I have to admit that I'm a bit of a foodie, though more in the sense that I love the adventure in finding good and new food (and eating it, for course!). For a blog that focuses on housing-dining-hospitality, I think I can ramble on the dining aspect until you're all bored to tears.

Expanding on the fact that I have finally tried all six dining halls (by finally taking the time to visit Foodworx), I thought it would be nice to give a semi-detailed breakdown of them. I remember searching up information for the six different colleges during my application process in high school and a lot of the information on dining halls in particular is outdated. OVT doesn't have late-night anymore. While that wasn't the deciding factor in ranking Marshall College as my first choice, I have to say I was a little disappointed to find that OVT closes at 8pm like the rest of the surrounding dining halls.

Plaza Cafe: Revelle College
First, a disclaimer: I've only been here once, and I don't think one experience allows me to adequately judge the place. My friend recommends the grill here, a recommendation I have to second. The salad bar isn't as happily stocked as Warren's CV. There was a smaller selection of drinks--larger than Foodworx but unable to compete with Pines or OVT. I had a meal of chicken tenders (liked the spicy aspect) and attempted to get a strawberry bagel, which I did not succeed in--the lazy cloud of flies over the box of bagels scared me away.

The lighting was good and I loved the booths offered, but--there was just a conspicuous lack of people during the rush hour of dinnertime that killed the nice ambience. I did go on a weekend, where attendance at dining halls is a lot less. In the spacious dining area, there was only a couple eating by the window; two men got their meals and left, and those were the only people I encountered in Plaza Cafe.

Pines: Muir College
There was a joke passing through our dining halls that all the Muir kids favor OVT and all the Marshall kids favor Pines. Older students told me the newly renovated and opened Pines doesn't compare to the old Summit, but that's not something I can comment on as a first year. The ambience is wonderful at Pines, and while it seems silly I really love the construction of the dish dropoff area. I usually stop by for lunch as my class is just nearby, and besides the everchanging entrees, the sushi and the stirfry/pasta stations always have the longest lines.

As I've mentioned in previous posts, the food here is wonderful but the portions are terribly small compared to other dining halls. After getting stir fry, sushi, or one of the entrees (like the chicken rice bowl a while back that was super delicious), I tend to grab garlic bread or a breadstick on the side lest I feel hungry later in the day. And while their stir fry is good, no dining hall can do stir fry as well as Canyon Vista.

Oceanview Terrace: Marshall College
As a Marshall student who lives two flights of stairs away from OVT, I'll try not to let my biases affect this short review. To start with, the prices at this dining hall have skyrocketed as of late. The trend tends to be that traditionally pricey items like Korean BBQ start at a hefty price of $8.95, then drop as the day goes on when not enough people are purchasing. Stir fry here is $6.95, compared to $5.95 at every other college that consistently offers stir fry. I still live for the "make your own pasta" days and don't mind paying $6.95 for a plate that is not always decently full, but everyone was a little disgruntled when they started limiting the amount of vegetables you can choose to 4. I don't think I've had to debate between choosing mushrooms and missing out on garlic before.

However, OVT knows how to serve breakfast, and serve it well. There are so many breakfast options that I wouldn't mind if breakfast replaced the lunch menu at OVT. The fruit and yogurt bar is amazing. The salad bar is decent, though frequently out of spinach--I'm not a fan of iceberg lettuce. My suitemate loves her quesadillas, and my friend the carne asada fries. OVT is the only dining hall with the full selection of Naked juice varieties. Despite the ups and downs in quality over the past two quarters, you can't deny that there is still good food here. Just watch out for the long lines during mealtimes!

Canyon Vista: Warren College
As mentioned above: their stir fry is consistently delicious. The food here is delicious in general, and they even offer pesto as a regular sauce (compared to the usual meat and marinara at OVT). Their fruit, yogurt and salad bar rivals OVT's. I have very few complaints about Warren with regards to the food and the service. They don't have bottled milk, though (tangent: while I'm all for being eco-friendly, it's a little strange that milk from the dispenser costs more per ounce compared to the milk in not-recyclable bottles). The ambience is also a little upsetting at times: it's a lot quieter than the hustle and bustle of OVT and Pines, and the dim lighting can leave you feeling rather lonely if you're eating alone.

Cafe Ventanas: ERC College
I believe Cafe V was voted for best ambience at the beginning of the year, and that's hard to disagree with. One thing about this dining hall is that like CV and unlike OVT, most (if not all) entree items can be requested a la carte (whereas at OVT, for most items you have to opt for double of one side or get none and still pay the same price). The salad/fruit/yogurt bar is decent, if not a little small. I prefer sushi at Pines instead of at Cafe V (where it is served every Monday, I believe), though that's more of a personal preference than anything. Cafe V also offers fine dining, and as pricey as it is it is definitely worth the meal--once in a while. I still remember the delicious prime rib from my last fine dining excursion...mm.

My friends from ERC always complain about the lack of options offered at Cafe V all the time. I haven't made enough trips to the dining hall to formulate an agreement or a dissent.

Foodworx: Sixth College
In my friend's words: you will get the same thing every time here, but it will always be the best you'll ever get. There's no indoor seating in this small dining hall, and there's only a sandwich bar, a salad section, a waffle/pancake section, a place for entrees and the personal pizza/omelets. All I can say is they have amazingly good food at Foodworx: fresh baked personal pizzas and salads filled to the brim of the container, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and personalized omelets. Of course, I get the same salad order and the same pizza every time, but why ask for variety when you have the best quality?

For downsides: only outdoor seating is available, and if you don't bring the food back elsewhere then you might have to endure the cold if you stop by for dinner. Personal pizzas and orders can take a long time, especially if you arrive at the 'rush hour.' And, of course, there isn't a lot of variety offered here. Foodworx is open the latest out of all the six dining halls though!--it's a nice change from the time where you walk into OVT at 7pm and find they're shutting down stations an hour beforehand. :(

-Rosanne

Canyonview: Is It Just Me or Does Nobody Know There's an Attached Weight Room?

Am I one of the few who know that there's a great little gym in the Canyonview aquatic center's main building?  It's funny because I was talking to my friends and none of them knew about Canyonview.  Most people will know (but if you don't its really not a big deal) that there's a rock climbing room in canyonview, but I think that there's some extra fees involved.  What most people are confused about or simply don't notice is the weight room, but if you like an empty weight room to do whatever you do to get in shape, check out the canyonview center.  Like the other weight rooms, you'll need a towel (for attached rant see earlier post)  but unlike RIMAC, and like I already said, it's pretty empty.  The best part about canyonview is that if you live in Warren or Sixth residence areas, getting to the gym takes no time at all.

Actually I've timed how long it takes me to cruise from my apartment by food works over to the warren lecture hall and usually I end up sitting in the lecture 3-8 minutes before I leave.  It's odd, but I swear that when I skate in that direction, I lose time.  And this is all being timed like a Swiss clock.  Someone needs to read this and try out my route and see if they can manage to take longer on the road than I do.  Usually I wake up at 9:40, get dressed, leave at like 9:50 and get to Warren lecture hall at 9:44 and then wait for fifteen minutes for the professor to arrive.  It's odd.

What you do is start by food works (the little white box to the right of the words "sixth college") and go left on that street until you get to the fork, where you take a right then a left on the dotted road until the next fork, where you continue straight, not left or right, off the road and that's the destination.  

Someone check it out for me.

Stay classy San Diego