UNTHINK EVERYTHING YOU’VE EVER THOUGHT ABOUT UNIVERSITY FOOD.

Here at Reading we farm food, we research food, we teach food, we invent food and we make food.
We’re food experts and are passionate about everything from the farm to fork.
And, when it comes to catering, we’re a country mile ahead of every other university in the UK.

Nutritious And Delicious.

Our extensive menus have been expertly devised to be both nutritious and delicious with a plant based option always available.

It’s proven that a healthy and balanced diet can improve academic achievement. And we ensure our menus never stay the same – to keep eating just as interesting as learning. 

We prepare every meal from fresh ingredients, avoiding frozen. And many of those ingredients are sourced from sustainable producers – which even includes beef and produce from our very own farms. We also shop as locally as possible, to keep our carbon footprint small.

Restaurant Grade Chefs

All of our chefs are professional. 

They understand tastes and fusions and are committed to creating and serving interesting meals in the healthiest ways possible – as well as putting their own spins on classic dishes.

They also care about who they are feeding – all ingredients, calories, allergens and dietary requirements are considered, listed and easily available online for every dish.

What’s more, they all work in “Remarkable kitchens at a remarkable University”, as the BBC described us in a recent documentary. 

Introducing Clever Cuisine

Not only is the food we cook for students revolutionary, but so is the way they can eat and pay for it.

Clever Cuisine is our very own meal plan system and another first for a UK university. 

Students can eat what they want, where they want and when they want. With discounts of up to 75% including free drinks, Clever Cuisine is inclusive for all students living in catered accommodation and available to all other students by either term or year. It’s a flexible way to eat that allows students to concentrate on their studies and enjoy University life to the full. Without the hassle of shopping, cooking and washing up.

90% of students using Clever Cuisine say it makes their life easier and 79% say it has a positive impact on their student experience.

Places To Eat

Lectures and events happen all over our two campuses, Clever Cuisine means students can eat wherever University life takes them. It’s available in 5 different large restaurants scattered over halls and our Whiteknights and London Road campuses. 

The Square tables and students dining

How It Works.

It couldn’t be simpler

Meal swipes and/or cash is automatically added to Campus Cards and is then available to spend.

Meal swipes can be exchanged for a meal at any one of our main eateries – Eat at the Square, Park Eat, Wantage, St Patricks and the Dairy.

Clever Cuisine Is Available In Five Different Plan Options:

Student Meal Swipe Blocks

Meal Swipe Block Plans allow you to pre-purchase a set number of meals for a fixed price. Unused Meal Swipes expire on 31st July each year.

Staff Meal Swipe Blocks

Staff Meal Swipe Blocks are replacing the Cost of Living Meal arrangements from 3rd April. 10 meals will be available to purchase for £55 expiring at the end of the next academic year.

Bronze Plan

This offers three meal swipes accompanied by a hot drink with each meal. This plan operates as a block plan, meaning credits can keep rolling over until the end of the academic term.

Silver Plan

This offers seven meal swipes to cover your main meal of the day accompanied by a hot drink with each meal.

Gold Plan

Popular with self-catered students, this plan is designed to cover two main meals of your choice per day. It consists of fourteen meal swipes per week accompanied by a hot drink with each meal.

Platinum Plan

This is by far the most popular plan and is used by around 65% of our Clever Cuisine students. In addition to all the Gold Plan benefits, this plan consists of three meals a day (21 meal swipes per week) accompanied by a hot drink with each meal.

This plan is inclusive of rooms rented in Dunsden Crescent, Wantage and Windsor Halls.

Amazing Food At Irresistible Prices.

Our plans offer exceptional value for money for the quality and variety of food that we offer. Cooking similar meals or buying them outside of a Clever Cuisine Plan would be vastly more expensive.

Let’s do a few comparisons:

For less than the price of a Meal Deal in Greggs (£4.15), a main meal will cost an average of £4.25 – in which some venues can offer All-You-Can-Eat services.

The price of just one Burger with chips at Honest (£13.50) will easily cover three main meals. Our Platinum Plan works out at just £12.27 per day.

This covers three main meals, including up to two ‘all you can eat’ meals with FREE hot drinks. No supermarket or any café could ever match that.

The table below will give you all the details and costs that you need.

2023/24 Academic Year
Weekly Cost£16.80£35.07£65.52£86.03
Autumn Term Cost (12 weeks)
Saturday 16 September to Friday 8 December inclusive
£201.60£420.84£786.24£1,032.36
Spring Term Cost (11 weeks)
Saturday 6 January to Friday 22 March inclusive
£184.80£385.77£720.72£946.33
Summer Term Cost (8 weeks)
Saturday 13 April to Friday 7 June inclusive
£134.40£280.56£524.16£688.24
Annual Cost (31 weeks)£520.80£1,087.17£2,031.12£2,666.93
How many meal swipes do I get?*3 per week7 per week14 per week21 per week provided as 3 per day***
Do I get free Hot Drinks?Yes, with a mealYes, with a mealYes, with a mealYes, with a meal
Included in your rent with Wantage, Dunsden Crescent and Windsor Hall rooms
Included in your rent with selected St. Patrick’s Hall rooms
Available to add on to your rent in Self-Catered Halls when applying to Halls
Huge savings against advertised prices
Fixed Price for the duration – no price rises
Guest Meals per year615
*The Dairy operates as a pub and exclusions may apply to menus e.g Rump Steak and times available e.g. Friday evenings. We try our very best to keep these to an absolute minimum but are sometimes needed to keep prices competitive. In the event of error, weekly price shall prevail.

Meal Swipe Blocks for Students – 30 Meals is currently £149.70

So There It Is.

Amazing nutritious food, cooked by professional chefs, using only the freshest of ingredients and hand made every day. 

And it’s all available for a cost that’s, as you might say, as cheap as chips.

Bon appétit.

Enquiries

Our Clever Cuisine team are available to help, contact us below.

clevercuisine@reading.ac.uk
Buy a plan