One A The Square

A regular haunt for my friends and I, there’s plenty of seating if you get there early enough. Set in the Main Building on campus, it’s warm and cozy with couches and tables and even a fake fire. The food is your typical University Café food, but it’s listed with the Vegetarian Society as being Veg/​Vegan friendly so there are loads of options for non-​meat eaters. The prices are cheap for students which makes it a no brainer when deciding where to eat during class.

I’m embarrassed to say that I only discovered this little place toward the end of my third year at uni. I’ve spent most of my uni career grabbing some pre-​made sandwich from Gregg’s or the like and then gobbling it down quickly, and pretty secretively, while in front of a computer screen somewhere trying to desperately finish an essay/​reading/​something that has an imminent deadline.
So, when I had to brave this new pasture in order to have a coffee and a chat over an upcoming project with a lecturer this was a surprise. It’s in part of the main building so is large, airy and — let’s face it — cold. However, you can see the original brick work, high ceilings and lovely glass windows. It also has a good mix of sofas and traditional table/​chair affairs for when you need a proper sitting at the table position.
The food is miles ahead of union food (The Food Factory is called that for a reason, am I right??) but not quite up there with non-​uni places. Though, for the prices, venue and self-​service elements, it’s better than hiding behind a computer stuffing a sandwich in your gob.

A little-​known eaterie of the Uni, 1 the Square is sitting slap bang on the ground floor of the main building — which makes it odd that quite a few of my friends who’ve been to Uni for four years have never heard of it.
Great for Breakfasts as it’s usually really quiet and you can get a couch to yourself — serving cereal, porridge, cooked breakfasts and the like, so you can hit that after a hungover right before an early tutorial. Hmm, maybe avoid the scrambeled eggs though, I wasn’t too happy with mine when I was last there.
Lunch is somewhat busier, but the food is almost like gourmet fast food, with nicely made up dishes sitting out on the hotplates to be picked up if anyone fancies it — obviously at a price though — reduced for student and staff. Much better than a plate of greasy chips and cheese! Therefore it beats the QMU and the GU by miles, rather on a par with the Hub.