In my post about affording London prices I suggested bringing lunches to work, just to save money. No matter how busy I am, I do it most days, thanks to a collection of delicious and ridiculously quick recipes I collected (let me know if you’d like me to post them!). However, sometimes I treat myself to a lunch at Imperial. Where do I go?
At South Kensington campus we have a big choice of catering outlets that serve everything from sandwiches and salads to Japanese and Indian. About 11am they post the menu of the day, which helps to make an informed choice (and procrastinate from work for a few minutes). Based on the dish of the day, I usually venture to one of my favourites.
- Senior Common Room (SCR). It’s just for staff and research students, so we can chat with our friends or supervisors without bumping into undergrads whose papers we’re just grading. They offer 4 main meals a day: 2 meat, 1 vegetarian and 1 vegan. I must admit I used to go to this place much more last year, because they had a great salad bar, which disappeared 🙁
Lunch in h-bar. Source: http://www.imperial.ac.uk. - h-bar. Again, no undergrads allowed. Big, big queues. Here just 2 meat and 1 vegetarian main (no vegan options, I believe), but on the plus side they have delicious salads.
- Fusion. A tiny take-away in the main walkway, gets very busy at lunch time. For vegetarians every day they offer a different curry and pasta. Grab your food and go back to maths department, that’s the deal. My Indian friend claims it tastes like food at home, so if you want to try cheap and authentic Asian cuisine, it’s probably your best bet.
Fusion. Source: http://www.imperial.ac.uk. - Huxley Cafe. My office is just opposite to this common room for maths PhD’s and staff, so it’s usually an emergency feeding point, aka ‘I’m-so-busy-but-my-stomach-is-rambling’. Mostly sandwiches and ready salads. Plus coffee.
This is a non-exhaustive list of places I usually visit. When it comes to prices, for a main meal you’ll pay about £4-5, not too bad. Enjoy!
