There’s been a lot of talk around campus about the new vegetarian booth in the Mountain View Snackbar in the HUB. To test the waters, some Clock staff sat down and sampled the new fare. Here are the verdicts on the “Weekly Fare”
Labeled as the “vegetarian” selection, the Wilted Salad pizza, priced at $4.95, is a unique idea. The thick crust is layered with spinach leaves, cheese and tomato and then baked. When something contains the word “wilted” in its title, some may start out with low expectations for the dish. The pizza met with a mixed review. The spinach made the pizza a little bit difficult to eat, sometimes pulling out from under the cheese when a bite was taken. Students waiting in line seemed intrigued. It could be that they were looking forward to some melted cheese, tomatoes and spinach of her own.
In the “salad” selection, the fruited salad with poppyseed dressing, priced at $5.25, met with two hearty thumbs up. The salad was made up of melon, mandarin oranges, pineapple and strawberry, atop a layer of greens. Multiple staffers noted that the fruit tasted very fresh. The main question was “Why can’t we get fresh fruit like this served at Prospect?”
The cucumber and dill sandwich, $4.95, listed under “organic,” was also very good. The sandwich was simple, cucumber and dill spread on wheat bread. Crisp and refreshing, it was marked as an item to watch. At the price, it would be nice to see some chips and hummus on the plate as well.
Under the “vegan” heading, the warm veggie burrito, $4.95, was found to be satisfactory. The burrito spanned the length of the plate, causing it to fall into the category of “hearty”. It had a variety of veggies, including peppers, broccoli and onion. The carrots were uncooked, which seemed unusual to one staffer, but still, it seems to be worth the money.
The “local” quiche seemed unremarkable. There were no overwhelmingly negative or positive reviews. The only comment was on the “jungle-like” leaves, on which the quiche was placed. The quiche contained peppers and onions.
Sampled from the “daily fare”, the hummus and pita chips were met well. The hummus was defined by as “campus-standard” plain hummus. While both hummus and chips were good, the plate had a poor chips-to-hummus ratio. At $2.50, more chips would be expected to make this plate complete.
The “smoothie” of the week, strawberry banana, was a disappointment. The banana was the prominent flavor, and even that was barely there. It was bland and watered down, tasting like a poor homemade smoothie. At $3.25, a higher quality was expected.
All in all, Earth Tones meets with a mixed review from the Clock staff. It’s good to see the vegetarian and vegan voice being heard on campus, but the food could see some improvement.