"As a student, you’re not just eating for fun"

You need to be early and not be too hungry, if you want to have lunch in the Kaserne Cafeteria. The sandwiches are already sold out by 12:30, and the bread is too lightweight to really fill you up.

[Translate to English:] De to statskundskabere, Caroline Secher Andersen og Marcus Duch, har krydset Langelandsgade for at smage på frokostudvalget i Kaserne Caféen. Foto: Maria Randima.
[Translate to English:] Caroline Secher Andersen vælger en sandwich med chorizo og rød pesto, som desværre er lidt for kernefattig til at mætte helt. Til gengæld smager kagen godt og er god til prisen. Foto: Maria Randima.
[Translate to English:] Marcus Duch vælger en sandwich med humus og soltørrede tomater og supplerer den lidt for lille sandwich med et pølsehorn, der desværre heller ikke er så meget gods i. Til gengæld falder Frem Colaen i god smag. Foto: Maria Randima.
[Translate to English:] Madudvalget kan desværre ikke matche mængden af drikkevarer, og de sidste sandwich er udsolgt allerede kl. 12.30. Foto: Maria Randima.

Reviewed by: Caroline Secher Andersen and Marcus Duch, both fourth semester political science students.

Food: The lunch selection in the cafeteria is not exactly spectacular. The only main dish we can choose is a sandwich, and just as we’re deciding on one with chicken and pesto, the last one is sold right in front us. The shelf with chicken and dressing sandwiches is also empty, even though it’s only 12:15. So we choose a sandwich with chorizo and red pesto and one with hummus and sun-dried tomatoes instead. As a supplement, we buy a little sausage roll. Just fifteen minutes later, at 12:30, all the sandwiches are sold out. We think that’s very early in the day to run out of lunch items. For dessert we try to buy scones, but they are unfortunately also sold out, so we instead choose the cake of the day and two cups of coffee. While the selection of food is small, the shelves with beverages are very well-filled. We get excited when we spot a Frem cola among the many bottles, which we buy together with an elderflower juice. We think the Frem cola’s retro style is cool, though there is also Coca Cola for less nostalgic customers – and also free water for those who aren’t planning on splashing out.

As we sink their teeth into the sandwich bread, we’re positively surprised: Based on the ailing aesthetic of the white bakery bags, we had feared that the bread would be dry, but it is surprisingly crispy and tastes freshly baked. But we think it needs more seeds and the like to give it more fill and taste – it’s best if bread can do something more than just keep the filling in place. The vegetables in both sandwiches taste fresh and the humus has a good texture that is neither too solid or too liquid. On the other hand, the chorizo lacks a little taste and for a moment we forget what’s in our sandwich and have to open it and look to remember. Both sandwiches are also a little greasy and we haven’t located any napkins or cutlery at the counter.

The sausage roll is warm and that’s a big plus. On the other hand, it’s taste reminds us of the sausage rolls you buy at petrol stations, which are just frozen sausage rolls that are warmed up. It does alright as a snack, but the white bread isn’t very filling, and as a student you’re not just eating for fun. In general, we think the food isn’t ‘solid’ enough – our male reviewer could easily eat another sandwich.

Like the sausage roll, the cake is warm and it tastes good too. It’s hard to tell precisely what it tastes of, as there wasn’t any information about what kind of cake it was. We ask at the counter and are told that they usually bake cakes from either a chocolate or vanilla powder mix. Today there wasn’t enough of either to make a cake, so they mixed the two types of powder and made a cake out of that instead. We think the result is delicious and reminds us a little of a sponge cake with a little extra taste.

Atmosphere: The room is slightly cold because the windows are open, and at the same time the large room is a little deserted, which also cools down the atmosphere. On the other hand, the building is nice with large arched windows, a high ceiling and light-coloured walls, which is a plus. The soft, round furniture in the cafeteria’s corners looks relaxing, but most of the people sitting in the cafeteria aren’t eating but working. Our guess is that the students from the Kaserne eat somewhere else, because there aren’t many people in the cafeteria queue.

Price: We paid DKK 120 for the whole lot. We think that DKK 8 for a small cup of coffee is a bit pricey. On the other hand, DKK 8 for a Frem cola is a very reasonable price that is only slightly above supermarket prices. We don't understand why the little sausage roll costs the same as the cola, as it doesn’t take more than a couple of bites to eat it – DKK 5 would be more appropriate. Also, the sandwiches are too expensive at DKK 25 when they don’t have more filling in them. The DKK 10 we gave for each piece of cake was money well spent considering the size of the cakes.

Conclusion: The Kaserne Cafeteria’s lunch is good enough if you’re really hungry, but we wouldn’t cross Langelandsgade again to buy their sandwiches. The prices are a little too high and the food a little too lightweight and lacking a little pepping up.  

  (atmosphere)

Translated by Peter Lambourne