What to expect in the cafeteria

Hello all!
I was just wondering: can anyone give me a basic rundown of what the average uni cafeteria serves on a day-to-day basis?
I'm a bit picky (okay, a lot picky) and I'm also rather health conscious, so I don't want to commit to buying a meal plan if I'm going to starve.
Thanks!

Just like in the US, it will vary drastically between unis.

I've eaten on campus at my uni in different cafes, and the food has been different within the same uni.

I've eaten meals at other unis that were amazing, and some that were unidentifiable and odd.

Most places will have a variety. It's not like there's one meal and everyone has to eat the same thing...

I'm not sure that unis really have just a 'cafeteria' as such. My undergraduate campus had a refectory (your basic cafeteria food), pasta bar, pizza place, sandwich bar, coffee bar, supermarket (with baguette/sandwich service), tuck shop (with hot panninis, pastries, crisps (potato chips), chocolate, candy etc.), a pub (with meals sold there), a sit-down restaurant and a pizza/burger take-out place, and then dining halls in each residence hall for people living on campus.

I don't think there are such things as 'meal plans' in the UK (I'd never heard of them until I moved to the US and I already had 2 UK degrees). If you live in catered accommodation on campus, you eat whatever the university provides for you in their dining hall (there is usually a choice of 2 or 3 meals and meal costs are usually included in the rent - I had 21 meals per week included in my rent, plus vouchers to use almost anywhere on campus for lunches in the week) and if you live in a self-catered apartment or house, you generally cook everything yourself or eat out on campus. I've found that most people who live off campus either go home to eat lunch, bring food from home or pop down to the supermarket for a salad or sandwich.

when I lived in catered halls at Sheffield University, there was usually a variety- usually a traditional british option (beef or chicken usually with a yorkshire pudding, potatoes, and veggies), or pizza or sandwiches or pasta. Always a vegetarian option.  Occasionally fish and chips. Some kind of cake/pudding for dessert. All in all, aside from the presence of yorkshire puddings it wasn't that much different from food served from my university in the states.

When I was studying for my masters in Manchester my uni had a refectory I ate lunch at most days- that was similar. Pasta, meat dishes, jacket potatoes, quiche, chips, potatoes and some kind of veggies were usually on offer.  There was also a salad bar and you could also get deli sandwiches.

Are you trying to decide between a catered plan versus uncatered (i.e. you have access to a kitchen and cook yourself)? If so, I'd personally go for that if you are very fussy and don't mind cooking/food shopping. IMO, the choice and quality offered in Uni refectories, etc. is pretty bad and I've eaten at many of them (I've been a student here as well as a lecturer). Just my 2p.

(actually, the sandiwches/baguettes, if you can get them made to order are pretty good - I've never been a fan of most of the hot food though)

At my halls at Edinburgh university we typically had -

- A very tragic salad bar for the benefit of those who do not wish to consume more than 600 calories a day
- Some rather grim meal of the day (usually Mousakka or Goulash *gag*)
- Pizza and chips

I put on about 14 lbs in the first month.  Thankfully the salad bar was there to bring me back down.

Well, the plan I'm on is 12 meals catered, but I wasn't sure what that meant.
There are like, 3 different restaurants on campus and i THINK we are able to use our meals at any of them...
But I think there's a kitchen in the house I'll be staying at, so I will probably just make most of my own stuff.
Thanks guys!