The Gown Student Newspaper at Queen's University Belfast

Shouldn't they avoid these glum faces to hold onto whatever few jobs are left..?

The staff are not consistenntly rude and useless. However, 'indignant person 369' is right - They have every damn reason to be glum.

"Oh let's cut the hours of all our bar staff because not enough coins and notes are coming into my hands and my bosses across the road will shout at me."

I'll not say who that is I was impersonating there. But you get the idea.

forewarning? When Scrooge McDodge is roaming the corridors they shouldn't need forewarning, they should expect that CEO Shane Brogan will do nothing to prevent Dodge from cutting their hours.

maybe the reason for such glum faces on the staff is because they got their hours cut recently without any forewarning?!

actually before they turned the bunatee into a pretentious impractical eyesore the food down there was great, even if the kitchen only received a three star hygene rating from Belfast City Council.

You ordered your food, the person took your order and gave you a ticket. When it was ready, normally in less than five minutes, Paddy called your number in a warped comedic voice and you went and got it at the bar.

Of course "your" students' union management thought that putting new covers on the seats and giving you an honestly unneccesary Michael Caine mural was top priority.

To hell with the students, sure what do students need decent affordable food for? Sometimes I wonder have the Executive forgotten that most students are living on the wages from part-time minimum wage jobs and a student loan that has to stretch for up to three months at a time.

I'm not going to pin this on Shane Brogan because I know he wasn't President last year when the discision to gut the Bunatee was taken.

If its not broken don't try and fix it. Seems as though taht little bit of wisdom is wasted in the corridors of power in QUBSU.

The food is good but the staff need a good shake up. I doubt that any other organisation would keep them in the job if they were as consistently rude and useless, like not explaining the system in place..

I think you need to remember that speakeasy is not a restaurant. The food it does is basic but is very good value for money. A panini for instance would cost you twice as much if you were to get it from Clements.

In regards to the table number mix up- this happened on a regular basis this is true, but it is largely down to customers moving tables or stating the wrong table number when they order as it is the fault of the Speakeasy staff. Also the furniture in Speakeasy is moved on a regular basis for the likes of gigs or nights out and are not put back in the same position when the gig or night out is over and this also contributes to the mixing up of table numbers.

In response to the state of the furniture in Speakeasy it is quite dilapidated at the minute but ask who it is who gets it into such a state and you'll find that it it is the Students who frequent it. Fear not though the summer sees the Speakeasy get a facelift, maybe then it will meet your standards.

Your friend who ordered the soup. Did (s)he not notice that the staff member on the bain marie was serving soup from there and that that would be a good bet as to where to get soup and failing to see this would it not be common sense to ask about the soup when it hadnt arrived in ten minutes rather than wait the lengthy period on it that (s)he did??

I agree with NH. There's nothing snobby about wanting to receive your pizza before your friends have finished theirs, and your class is in 4 minutes at the other side of campus. I also agree with your point about catering at QUB as a whole. When you go into Clements, even early afternoon sometimes, they will have no food left. I know they're fair trade and that's great and the Union are all of a sudden all about the Fair Trade (it's more important than fees you know) etc, but for the love of God is it too much to ask for them to have paninis/sandwiches still available slightly after lunchtime? Also, none of the food is freshly made. It's all packeted. So if you want a bacon panini, you can't have one because thet all have brie in them. At this time then Cloisters AND speakeasy have stopped serving food, so you actually have to leave campus to get a bite of food to eat. Why is this the case!? WHY?! Apart from Speaskeasy, QUB food places are incredibly overpriced. Gone are the days when my brother could get his dinner in the Union for £2. You'd be lucky to get a soft drink for that these days. QUB...Please do something about this. Please. Eevryone might as well head to Deanes for lunch, as it's good quality, there's great service, and it's actually not that more expensive that small lunches from Clements or Cloisters.

Rant over.

Thanks for reading.

Please listen.

The End.

I don't think there's anything middle-class or snobby about it.

QUB desperately need to improve their catering. The food in the Speakeasy is fine, but like the review and comments say, the service needs improved. Cloisters is overpriced and a lot of their food is tasteless (i need several sachets of pepper and salt to make their food taste of something, even then it was so bland i stopped going), Clements isn't great and is overpriced. The quality of food in Krem is sometimes shocking, at least their coffee is good.

If I want a good value, tasty lunch with good service, I go to Stranmillis road or Botanic Avenue instead of supporting the QUB outlets. Why? Because most of the stuff on campus is just crap.

There are increasing numbers of international students studying at QUB. Lots of Muslims are among them, yet there is only one place on campus (tucked away in the INTO centre) that serves Halal food - poor quality at that. Hardly anywhere sells good veggie good, vegan food is pretty much non-existant.

If QUB want to attract international students and keep them here, they need to improve their catering servicves. Thanks to Barbara for highlighting the issue.

this is a bit bloody middle-class and snobbish isn't it? If you don't think you're a valued customer, hightail it down to Cloisters and pay the private sector twice as much for a toothy smile and a clean table. The day the Gown has a food columnist...I dunno. I'll stop picking it up.

That pic makes the speakeasy look so much glossier than it actually is!

Kinda agree with the review. The food is always grand, good value actually, but they never bring out orders at the same time to tables. Me and my three friends had our pizzas finished one day as our friend was still waiting on hers.

It can't be that hard to sort that like.

I agree that the food is generally good when it arrives but everytime I have ordered food (about 5 or 6 times now) they don't give me the toppings I requested. Also, the waiters constantly get tables mixed up and i wouldn't recommend going in between lectures unless you want to rush your meal.