Food and Drink
Meals are available at the following times:
Breakfast
Monday to Friday, 8.30-9.00, in the Buttery
Lunch
Monday to Saturday, 12.30-13.30, in the Buttery
(salad option in Hall during Full Term, Monday to Friday)
Dinner
(a) Self-service, 18.15-19.15, in the Buttery
(b) Served, Monday to Thursday in Full Term, 19.30, in Hall
Graduates
Additional information about Friday Formal Hall can be found here.
Meals are charged to your University Card (see details below).
Dietary requirements
Vegetarian options are routinely available. If you have any other special dietary requirements, you should discuss them with the Catering Manager, Mr Lee Corke who will try to prepare appropriate meals if this can reasonably be arranged. We cannot, however, guarantee to fulfil all individual requests. Students who require certain types of diet (eg kosher) which are not provided by the College may apply for exemption from the Kitchen Fixed Charge. The application must be supported by a statement from the relevant medical or religious authority. This does not include vegans.
If you have a serious food allergy, such as an allergy to nuts, you should discuss this immediately with the College Nurse and with the Catering Manager, who will be able to advise you about ingredients and labelling of College meals.
Guests
You are welcome to bring guests into the Buttery or Hall for meals, although you should remember that they will be charged at a higher rate, since they do not pay the Kitchen Fixed Charge. If you wish to invite several guests (eg a visiting team), you must inform the Catering Manager in advance.
It may also be possible to book the Hall or the Small Hall for a private function, such as a Club or Society dinner. If you wish to make such a booking you should apply to the Bursar, though it would be sensible to consult the Catering Manager first, and he will usually make the booking with the Bursar on your behalf.
Paying for Meals with your University Card
Your University Card is not only your University and College library card. It can also be used to purchase food in the Buttery and Hall (including Formal Hall). The card should be presented at the check-out, and your purchases will be automatically charged to your College account. Formal Halls can be booked at machines in either the Old Court Lodge or the Colony Lodge, and again, the charge will go straight on to your account. The charge for food consumed in one term will appear on the next term's bill.
Replacement Cards
You should contact Mrs Dawson in N1, who will then arrange for a new card should yours be lost or stolen - she will also inform the College Bursary, so they can put a stop on the lost card. There will be a replacement charge of £20 for lost cards. Students who have had their card stolen will not be charged if they have a crime reference number.
Dining in Hall
Dining in Hall with the Fellows is an important aspect of University life at Cambridge. Like the other older Colleges, Clare was originally a monastic institution, and eating together has always been the main means of meeting people from other disciplines and of forging a close scholarly community. This community embraces not only those who are currently at Clare, but also – albeit more symbolically – those of previous generations who have lived and worked here.
Dining in Hall is optional, and anybody who chooses to take advantage of this opportunity should recognise the rights of others to a peaceful, collaborative occasion. Many characteristics of Formal Hall have been preserved from the past, although the formalities have been substantially reduced: for example, students are no longer required to wear gowns, although they are welcome to do so. There are, however, some basic conventions of behaviour that all students and fellows are expected to follow in the interests of making dinner an enjoyable experience for everyone.
The beginning of the meal is signalled by the entry of the Fellows, for which everyone stands. This is out of respect for the College’s heritage, not because the Fellows wish to manifest superiority. Before sitting down, everyone should wait until the first Grace has been read in Latin, as required by the College statutes. During the course of the meal itself, Fellows and students are expected to remain in their places, to converse quietly and only with those sitting nearby, to avoid using mobile phones or flash cameras, and to cooperate fully with the serving staff. Alcoholic drinks are served, but in limited amounts and only to those who wish to have them; under no circumstances should anybody be coerced into drinking more than they want, either through pennying games or any other means. At the formal ending of the meal, everybody stands when the Senior Fellow present sounds a gong and says a brief second Grace. Students remain standing quietly while diners at the High Table leave the Hall.
The two Graces are a reminder that the College was originally founded as a Christian community, and students or Fellows who wish to give thanks in this way are welcome to say ‘Amen’ at the end. Irrespective of individual beliefs, the words of the Graces provide a traditional way to start and finish a formal meal, and they can also be interpreted as expressing gratitude for having been welcomed into a community that has been dining together for nearly seven hundred years.
Self Catering
The College is an educational community and undergraduate eating arrangements are intended to be communal. We do not offer self-catering accommodation in College, so all students (apart from very rare exemptions in special circumstances) contribute to the maintenance of the catering department by paying a fixed termly Kitchen Fixed Charge. However, all students have access to small shared kitchens (gyp-rooms) that are adequate for preparing meals or snacks. Remember that others will be using the same facilities, so you should ensure that the washing-up is done promptly and that you leave the gyp-room clean and tidy. The over-use or mis-use of cooking facilities and appliances is amongst the most frequent causes of damage to rooms (for which you are then charged).
In some communal areas (e.g. the Colony Common Room) and larger kitchens, dining tables are provided for students to eat meals at; where possible, please use these facilities rather than staircases and landings, which should be left free for easy access to rooms. If communal areas are used for dining, they must be left clean and tidy once you have finished eating.
For your protection, the College strictly follows Health and Safety regulations. Toasters, hobs and microwave ovens are provided by the College gyp-rooms and must not be used in College rooms. Kettles are also provided in gyp-rooms; however, they are permitted in student rooms provided that they are kept on a tray (fines will be issued for any damage to the room). All other appliances (e.g. sandwich-makers and slow cookers) must be used in gyp-rooms only. In certain circumstances (medical, dietary or religious reasons), and subject to special permission from the Steward, you are allowed to keep your own fridge or freezer in your room. Conventional electric ovens (e.g. Baby Belling), grills with exposed elements, rice or pressure cookers must not be brought into the College.
Drink
There are two Bars in the College: one adjacent to the JCR, the other in the MCR.
The JCR Bar is normally open from 18.30 to 23.30 daily. The bar sometimes opens to serve soft drinks at lunchtimes if a sports match or other TV programme is being shown in the JCR. It is run by the students, under the management of the Assistant Catering Manager. The MCR Bar is run by the MCR Committee.
The sale of alcohol in the College is governed by the Master's and Fellow's licence, which is held by the Steward. The staff have an obligation to refuse to serve those whom they consider to be the worse for drink, to avoid serving multiple orders near closing time, and to enforce a 30-minute drinking-uptime. Alcohol bought outside College is not to be consumed in the JCR Bar or in the JCR itself, except at events notified in advance to the Licensee. The MCR Committee is responsible to the Licence-Holder for all aspects of the MCR Bar's management. Clare students who bring guests to either of the bars are responsible for the guests' behaviour.
Should any student become seriously drunk, report this to the Porters', who may advise on appropriate action. Drunkenness can be extremely dangerous and should be taken seriously. Apart from the danger of choking on inhaled vomit, drunkenness can hide less obvious injuries and conditions, eg head or neck injury, diabetes, substance misuse.