According to sources, the number of food and beverage outlets at NUS has increased by close to 50 per cent over the last decade. It will have 66 stalls across all five canteens by the year end, five food courts, and 41 restaurants, cafes and kiosks.
As more students stay on campus to socialize, study and attend a myriad of activities, dining options at Singapore’s older University have expanded. Gone are the days when grabbing a meal on a University campus meant standing in a line or at a stall with basic options such as mee siam, chicken rice or biryani.
One can find trendy desserts such as durian vanilla Belgian waffles or Korean bingsu, made from shaved ice, at the cheekily named Butter My Buns café at the Stephen Riady Centre in University Town, National University of Singapore.
One can find a well-known Chinese restaurant Peach Garden and a bar dishing up Japanese udon noodles near Nanyang Technological University (NTU).
The Singapore Management University which is in the heart of the city has its own offerings, such as the student-run SMOObar, which hosts music performances and an array of activities like pool, darts and beer pong.
According to sources, the number of food and beverage outlets at NUS has increased by close to 50 per cent over the last decade. It will have 66 stalls across all five canteens by the year end, five food courts, and 41 restaurants, cafes and kiosks.
The NUS spokesman said that this expansion caters to its growing student and staff populations, and is “in tandem with NUS’ aim to build a modern self-contained campus that is carefully designed to enable students to live, learn, play and dine conveniently without having to travel out of the campus”.
NTU, long bogged down by perceptions that it is isolated and offers limited options for leisure, hence the nickname “Pulau NTU”, has also undergone a major revamp over the past two years as part of its push to become a “mini city”.
The northern part of the NTU complex, also known as the North Spine, now has a supermarket, a salon, banking options, performance spaces as well as popular eateries.
At NUS, some students have become involved in the running of F&B outlets. There are now six food outlets on campus run by students or alumni, an increase from just two in 2012.
A spokesman said NUS sees an advantage in supporting students and alumni who would like to test out food concepts on campus because of their familiarity with the environment, and is open to them trying out such concepts despite a lack of experience. However, all such proposals are still evaluated based on merit. Some students have also chosen to work on campus.
