University of Cambridge Freshers Megathread 2016

Oh right that's a shame. Some of our servers even played along, some giving pennies to them and asking to penny somebody further down the table, it's all a bit of fun really.

I think my daughter's college need to head-hunt caius's servers........or go to caius for formals.......

Oh don't worry, the freshers WILL know about pennying.

The NatScis at Caius, we invite our supervisors for a 'supervisors' formal every term, my Physics supervisor brought down wine from the fellow's cabinet (which was some 1998 red, apparently the last bottle of its kind) and then proceeded to penny everybody with it. So the fellows seem to be quite keen on it too, legend says Hawking had his soup pennied at some point. We've also migrated to pennying port which turned out to be interesting as the night progressed.

Have you heard of the engineer's penny, or is that just a Caius thing?

Nah, Engineer pennying is a pretty ubiquitous tradition, even at Pembroke where pennying is expressly prohibited (if caught you'll be thrown out of hall, given your tea in a plastic baggy and fined £40).

Now Peterhouse, they know how to penny. I've been there for formal a few times and it felt like a competitive sport...

I thought it would be, however, not a lot of people know about it from what I gather.

In a plastic baggy, that's harsh asf lmao

You think that's harsh? During Christmas formal either my 1st or 2nd year, someone got caught pennying and given his Christmas Dinner in a plastic bag which he then had to go eat alone in his room.

About 10 minutes later, the college butler spotted someone downing his wine and taking a penny out. He went and asked the student who pennied him. The student said he hadn't seen it happen and didn't know, so the college butler threw him out of formal until he found out who did the pennying to guilt the pennier into owning up .

We all know the quality of Caius' food.

Nah, Engineer pennying is a pretty ubiquitous tradition, even at Pembroke where pennying is expressly prohibited (if caught you'll be thrown out of hall, given your tea in a plastic baggy and fined £40).

Now Peterhouse, they know how to penny. I've been there for formal a few times and it felt like a competitive sport...

I almost mentioned about it but decided to be polite.
Yes, have heard your food had improved a lot recently. 'bout time!!

Actually my daughter had a formal at your college once. When she started Cambridge,, her resolution was to eat formals at every college. She didn't manage to accomplish it but she did have one at caius (thanks to her friend from her old school there) .
I asked her which was the best/worst college for food, and caius was definitely not the worst one.

I've been to Pembroke brunch a couple times and your butlers seem quite friendly, although I think I caught a glimpse of your head of catering and he seemed quite strict.

Damn what is it with Pembroke and putting dinners in plastic bags, thanks for the tip I'll try and avoid either getting caught pennying or pennying altogether if I get a swap lmao. I assume non-members of Pembroke who get caught just get banned?

I'm glad. Our new food and bar officers are really good actually, we're getting some proper food now thank God.

I'm trying to think which college would be worse, I've actually heard some bad things about Christ's, but I will refrain from saying given there's a large Christ's influence on TSR lmao.

Our brunch is honestly overrated - breakfast is much better!

A couple of them are quite strict but the vast majority (including the head butler, the fairly intimidating looking Italian) are quite friendly provided you're behaving.

I don't know what the college does about members of other colleges who penny but I doubt they get banned. Kicked out and fined almost certainly though.

I'm glad. Our new food and bar officers are really good actually, we're getting some proper food now thank God.

I'm trying to think which college would be worse, I've actually heard some bad things about Christ's, but I will refrain from saying given there's a large Christ's influence on TSR lmao.

Yeah I thought so.

Your brunch is quite good, your bacon is **** though ngl. Your onion rings are on point. Although I've migrated to Queens' brunch, it's cheap asf and about the same quality if not better.

So you can go to other colleges for food? What's to stop someone from staying at a college with a low KFC (kitchen fee), and eating at somewhere where the meals are more subsidised?

So you can go to other colleges for food? What's to stop someone from staying at a college with a low KFC (kitchen fee), and eating at somewhere where the meals are more subsidised?

*cough cough*
No comment..

Our food is only expensive if you're not from the college - we get 1/3 off by paying with our cards. If you're not already, get a Pembroke friend to pay for you as a guest.

For me brunch is all about the fried potatoes. If you're not having them then breakfast is just better.

Never been to Queens' for brunch, but I definitely rate their cafe/bar.

So you can go to other colleges for food? What's to stop someone from staying at a college with a low KFC (kitchen fee), and eating at somewhere where the meals are more subsidised?

Our food is only expensive if you're not from the college - we get 1/3 off by paying with our cards. If you're not already, get a Pembroke friend to pay for you as a guest.

For me brunch is all about the fried potatoes. If you're not having them then breakfast is just better.

Never been to Queens' for brunch, but I definitely rate their cafe/bar.

No waffles on weekend brunch?

Not a massive waffles fan, and with the amount I eat I certainly don't need them extra!