On Campus

University of Waterloo – Mudies

If you’re a vegetarian, eat Halal, or are a chicken-fingers-only type, you’ll leave full and happy

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Mudies is tucked away almost cove-like in the community centre of the University of Waterloo’s Village 1 residence. But it is instantly recognizable as an eatery catering to a wide variety of tastes and diets.

Whether you’re a vegetarian or observe Halal; are allergic to gluten or trying to eat healthy; or are a chicken-fingers-only type, there is an honest effort at Mudies to send you away full.

Alongside the usual assortment of dishes cleverly prefaced with the word “veggie,” Mudies serves hot vegetarian specials every day. We opted for the veggie calzone. It was chock full of peppers, mushrooms and onions.

However, it still managed to be excessively doughy, and the pizza sauce was nothing too exciting. More garlic or even more standard pizza spices could have helped—still, it was a solid step up from freezer-aisle pizza pops.

Next to the veggie station were dishes that could be more honestly called healthy. You can order yogourt with your choice of crumbled graham, granola and fresh fruit. We settled on a pita with extra beef and all the (reasonably fresh) toppings that could be crammed in. The cooks are friendly and don’t know the meaning of the word “stingy.” I also ordered a strawberry milkshake: though lacking in thickness, it actually tasted a bit like strawberries.

This being Waterloo, home to the biggest Oktoberfest outside of Germany, we figured we’d see if the city’s reputation for sausage spills into its university cafeterias. Yup. The spicy sausage was juicy and cooked right, crisp but not shrivelled. You could even see the variety of spices after biting into it. Unfortunately, the sausage was served on a bun that was so dry it cut my throat. This is all the more disappointing given that Mudies advertises its in-house bakery!

For the refined palate there was also a lemon chicken dish, not to mention a tuna casserole topped with whole rippled chips. While most desserts at Mudies are covered and kept to the side, they had cheesecake uncovered and on display. Too bad. What might at some point have been a perfectly good piece of cheesecake had developed a thick, chewy skin, leaving us wondering exactly what we were consuming. An unfortunate end to a mostly satisfying experience.

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