College dining

Spark great conversations over food and drink. 

A great strength of the collegiate system is the sense of community, and coming together over a meal is a great way to share thoughts, create ideas and develop friendships.

We serve breakfast, lunch and evening meals in our Dining Hall, as well as hosting formal dinners.  For those wanting snacks or a lighter meal, the Buttery Bar provides a variety of salads, sandwiches, sushi and pizzas.

Our undergraduate accommodation includes communal snack kitchens, with microwaves and small fridges. Our postgraduate accommodation offers self-catering options in addition to college-based dining.

If you have any dietary requirements, please email Catering.

Dining Hall

The Dining Hall is the largest of all the Cambridge Colleges. It functions as a self-service restaurant most of the time, typically offering a salad bar, choice of hot meals, and various dessert options. It also hosts Formal Hall dinners on Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays, starting at 7.30pm.

A Formal Hall dinner is a three course served meal that students can book onto. Formal Halls vary between colleges. At Churchill College, students are encouraged to dress slightly more formally for Formal Halls, but don’t have to wear gowns. Wine is not provided but students may bring strictly limited amounts with them. For more information including dress code, visit Student Resources.

Book a place at Formal Hall

2 students in formal attire at a Formal Hall. They are seated at a table and are smiling up at the camera.

The Buttery bar

The Buttery is a centrally located open plan bar, and is a popular central meeting point for students, lecturers and fellows. The bar serves light snacks and refreshments throughout the day, and is WiFi enabled. If you don’t want a cooked meal, you can get things like pizza, sushi and sandwiches, as well as hot and cold drinks from our baristas here.

The Buttery also plays host to events such as open mic nights, discos, big screen events and music performances.

 

buttery

Prices and payment

A typical two-course self-service dinner (main meal and pudding) from the Dining Hall will cost between £5.50-£6.00. Student Catering Accounts are sent fortnightly by email to help students to keep track of their spending. Payment for all meals is made by way of your University student card at the tills.

Formal Halls cost £15.10 for students and £16.25 for guests. A pizza in the Buttery costs around £7.25.

students at picnic table