Facultad de Caminos Cafe

Eating at your faculty's cafe every day at the Complutense University of Madrid could end up being quite expensive in the long run. What usually happens is that the students who stay on campus to eat because they have classes in the afternoon bring their own food in a Tupperware so that they can eat it there, using one of the microwaves which some of the faculties have (and which don't always work properly) to heat it up.

Having a main meal or ordering sandwiches or combination plates in the cafe is something to do only on occasion for most students, that is, only when you have no food left at home or when you really can't be bothered to prepare food yourself. Even then it's quite expensive to eat in the cafes, where the prices for the fixed menu (which includes a starter, a main, and a dessert) are around 5 or 6 euros. What's more, the fixed menus in these cafes aren't that great, either - the steaks don't always look like steaks are supposed to.

Finding the best cafe on campus is quite a difficult task, because you'd have to try out the cafes in many faculties, and the last thing you want to do after a morning of classes is go from faculty to faculty looking for something to eat. This is why most students opt not to do this, and settle instead for eating in the cafe of their own faculty.

However, a number of students have discovered that there is a cafe a little outside of the University campus which is a thousand times better than all the others. This is in terms not only of the quality of the food but also of the price and of the courtesy of the staff who attend you at the bar.

This cafe can be found at the facultad de Caminos, Canales y Puertos (Civil Engineering faculty). As I mentioned, the building doesn't belong to the Complutense, but it's on the Moncloa campus and belongs to the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (Technical University of Madrid).

Why is this cafe better than all the others on campus? You only have to go there once to find out. The majority of the Complutense's buildings are very old and are practically falling apart, but this one is much more modern, and this is clear as soon as you enter.

At first glance, you can see that the bar is quite spacious. I've never seen long queues there, or groups of people waiting to be served, and without a doubt one of the best things about it is that the waiting staff really are a marvel. They're very amiable, you'll never see one of them in a bad mood, and you can see this simply from the friendly atmosphere between those working behind the bar.

Without a doubt, the best thing about it is the quality of the food they serve. Quality... and the price, of course, because this is possibly the cheapest place to eat on campus. For just 1. 10 euros you can get a tortilla or grilled chorizo sandwich. For a little bit more, around 2 euros, you can get sandwiches with a wider range of delicious fillings, such as the 'King Pollo' as it is known there, which is a chicken breast sandwich with salad and special sauce. I can guarantee that you can't find anything like that in any of the other cafes nearby.

The price of the drinks is as it usually is in most places, neither too expensive nor too cheap. One good thing about this cafe is that it serves bottles of Estrella Galicia beer, which is hard to find elsewhere on campus.

Regarding the fixed menu, it's about 5. 50 euros, which is a little expensive since it's usually only about 5 euros in other places. But it's worth it, because they'll prepare your steak and fries immediately. It's true, just as it is in cafes in the city! They even ask you how well done you'd like your steak, which is a complete luxury for this kind of price.

The tables are very spacious, just as the establishment itself is, although at lunch time, that is, around 2pm, it tends to fill up completely. And if you don't want to buy food because you brought some from home, they also have microwaves available, which actually work quite well.

The only problem with this cafe is its location, because for many students, such as those studying Medicine, it can be quite inconvenient to go all the way there. The best way to get to the Civil Engineering Faculty is by catching bus G, and get off at the stop which leaves you just outside the School of Civil Engineering. If, on the other hand, you're close to the faculty, the best thing would be to go on foot. It's not that big of a deal at the end of the day, and anyway, by the time you arrive you'll be even more hungry!