Is it APPE(L)aling?

Since this year, we have a new caterer on the UT: Appèl! Since we from the Vonk were curious about their food, we tried some for you. We have tried a spring roll, a panini, a bagel salmon and a cup of soup. A review for all of this can be found here, but of course you could also try it out yourselves.

First, we would like to start on the appearance of the Waaier (or any other canteen). This part has really been improved. We went from

to

We think this looks better. Furthermore, they added some products. This means that the vegan people also can have their lunch in this canteen. There is still the opportunity to have a warm meal, to grab your baguette or have some soup. The prices are still somewhat high, but when you want to grab a well-filled sandwich, you can go here.

First the spring roll. Everyday, another dish will be presented, just like Sodexo had. Today there was an Asian theme. For €3.50 you could get a spring roll with extra’s (krupuk of course being the most important one). The smell was really nice, though we were a bit hungry. The taste of the spring roll was okay. Compared to the price and size, the filling was little, mostly bean sprouts. Conclusion: not bad taste, somewhat overpriced.

Next the panini. We already know the panini from Sodexo times, but something has changed! They added thetaste ham with brie. Although it was not stated on the label, there was also some sort of tomato sauce on which really improved the panini. For only €3.35 (why the 35 cents? Make it €3.00 or €3.30 or €3.40 or even €3.50), you could enjoy a warm panini for lunch. Overall: nice taste with good filling.

Then the bagel with salmon, the most expensive of the four (€4.10). It looks fancy, but this could be due to the bagel. Although we bought it at the university canteen, there was a thick layer of salmon on the bagel. Together with egg, a bit of salad and a sauce (still do not know exactly what is was, but it was a nice combination), we enjoyed our bagel. Would a small bun with salmon be as nice and less expensive? Probably. But than it would not have the fancy appearance. As a result: if you are willing to pay extra for a bagel, try it. If you just want a fancy lunch, take a baguette which is less expensive and still looks fancy.

Then last, the soup. Since the influenza epidemic is around us, we helped ourselves with some soup (yes we had some sore throat). Despite the fact that it was basic soup, the taste was nice. We filled a cup for €0.80, which surprised us. For only €0.80 you can have the soup that makes your sore throat a bit less sore! And you do not even have to cook it yourself! Whenever the soup was a bit to boring, you can always add some Maggi/spices to it. Correspondingly: great soup for that price.

So did Appèl improve the food on the campus? We could not find something we did not like in taste. The prices, yes those are sometimes a bit high. We have spent €11.75 for a lunch for 2, without drinks. But, we did not try everything in the canteen and we only went to the Waaier. Appèl has all canteens on campus (okay except the canteen in the sports centre) and every canteen has a different theme. The Ravelijn has for example an Italian theme. In UToday, Appèl stated that the Spiegel have a more egg products focused theme and the Horst cafeteria will be the place to get ‘Bliss Bowls’. So we will see whatever Appèl will bring us in the upcoming year.