The canteen at NUS Business is known to have the worst selections among all the canteens, with many Business students either choosing to eat elsewhere or just starve themselves to death. We decided to head down and try some of the food - to see if it really deserves such a bad reputation.
Ban Mian Noodle
Tom Yum Ban Mian ($3.30)
Amongst the assortment of ingredients offered, what really stood out was the noodles. Despite being soaked for awhile, they retained their bounce and chewiness - quite a change from many other ban mian stalls out there that have really starchy and thick noodles that weigh down the entire eating experience. The soup was decent, hitting the right notes of spicy and sour, though the meat-to-noodle ratio could be improved. Regardless, this made for a pretty solid meal.
Verdict: 3.5/5
Vietnamese
Pho with Beef Slices ($3.20)
Vietnamese food is definitely not something you often see in school canteens, so we knew we had to try this. The serving was pretty huge, containing a lot of rice noodles, beef slices and bean sprouts. Soup-wise, there wasn't any depth in flavour, tasting just like a slightly spruced up packet of broth. The beef slices were tough and pretty hard to chew through while the bean sprouts weren't exactly fresh either. At $3.20, it’s not the worst choice in the canteen but definitely not the best either.
Verdict: 2.5/5
North Indian Halal Food
Garlic Naan, Plain Naan, Egg Masala, Butter Chicken and Cauliflower ($7.00)
The queue for this store is often dismal - and trying this made us understand why. The Naans were dry and lacklustre in taste, a sorry excuse for bread. We expected the side dishes to make up for what the Naan lacked but were unfortunately disappointed as well. While picturesque, the food lacked in flavour and were mediocre at best. The worst part? It's expensive. This might curb your Indian food pangs for a bit but you’re definitely better off heading to Ameen’s.
Verdict: 1.5/5
Korean Cuisine
Bibimbap with spicy pork ($4.50)
This store is actually a franchise of Hwang’s, a Korean restaurant that you can find at Utown as well. The bibimbap served here is pretty good for its price point. Pair it with meat like we did for a more robust meal. The vibrant colors help to whet your appetite while the tang of each ingredient comes together to bring a wholesome flavour. Other popular choices include the Herbal Ginseng Chicken ($4.50) and Kimbap ($2.50). This was pretty decent.
Verdict: 3.5/5
Hainanese Chicken Rice
Roasted Chicken Rice ($2.50)
The chicken was bland and dry while the rice was insipid. We thought that perhaps the chilli could be the dish's saving grace but were proved wrong nonetheless with its poor and un-garlicky taste. This was disappointingly similar to the food served at the Indian store - underwhelming and lacklustre. Save yourself the disappointment and walk over to Arts for a much better rendition.
Verdict: 2/5
Hong Kong Roasted Chicken
Roasted Pork Rice ($3.30)
The pork served here is decent. It has a crispy exterior and succulent fatty meat. A tad salty though, so you might want to avoid it if you’re not on big on salt. Otherwise, this was a decent meal for its price point.
Verdict: 3/5
Western Cuisine
Grilled fish with fries, broccoli and nachos cheese ($4.50)
I can almost hear the uncle saying "Next please" just looking at this dish. The fish served here didn't taste the freshest but it was palatable. Similarly, the fries and broccoli commended a mere "meh" from me. If not for the nachos cheese, I would probably have enjoyed this meal a lot less. Passable, but by no means a good standard of western food. You might like the Full Tank served here, which is a breakfast offering of toasted bread, a sunny side up, hotdog, and ham all served at mere $2.20. Not the highest quality of ingredients used but you get your money's worth.
Verdict: 3/5
Japanese Cuisine
Chicken Katsudon ($3.70)
Don't let the picture fool you - expect loads of soggy chicken skin, oversized onion strips and a whole lot of rice. The taste was subpar but you can do what most people would to enhance it - dump in a load of mayo. Again, this was passable but nothing fantastic.
Verdict: 2.5/5
Muslim
Fried rice with vegetables and chicken drumstick ($3)
I don't know what's worse, serving food cold or bland. Granted, this was ordered just before the stall closed, but still, we wish that more was done to better the taste of whatever they put onto our plate - especially the fried rice which really lacked in flavour.
Verdict: 2/5
The Terrace, colloquially referred to as Biz Canteen, is infamously known as the worst canteen in the whole of NUS - and rightfully so. Most of the stalls here serve food that is subpar at best and even the better ones don't do much to impress. Aggregating the scores of the various dishes we have sampled, the average score amounts to a mere 2.61/5.
Our opinion? Don't eat here, unless you absolutely have to.
- Brenda Lau & Dylan Teo
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