The Social Committee of the VSSD, the Student Union of TU Delft, is currently taking foreign students on a tour of Delft’s student ‘eettafels’ (student restaurants). First stop: Delftse Studenten Bond (DSB).
The concept is as follows: some of the (larger) student societies run their own small restaurants, places where you can walk in and have a meal for very modest prices. Some are open for members only, but most are open to everyone, resulting in a lively atmosphere and diverse public.
According Jose Hamer, a member of the VSSD board, the idea behind organizing this eettafel tour is “to show foreign students where the mensa’s (another name for eettafels) are and what it’s all about. This way you get your portion of food and a portion of free and fun integration. And you get to see a part of the structure of student societies that largely dominate the student life in Delft.”
Tonight, we go to Tyche, eettafel of the Delftse Studenten Bond (DSB), on the Oude Delft. A brief background sketch for DSB is as follows: DSB split from the corps some hundred years ago, it is the most masculine society in Delft (meaning there are extra few chicks), the number of members is on the decline (currently about 230) and there are rumors DSB had been ‘wrong’ in the war. And you can buy a pack of flour at the bar downstairs to throw around. (Why, boys, why?)
For tonight’s meal, six foreign students show up in front of the VSSD, with VSSD member Cynthia leading the way, cycling the group through the old city on a route seemingly specially designed to ensure you won’t find the way back. The DSB welcomes us in typical Delft student society style . an old building, dating as far back as 1650 and stinking of beer, where some students (male, of course) wearing filthy ties are walking around. The wall next to the stairway to the dining room is decorated with a timeline of the history of the DSB – it’s first female member was in 1973, a true victory for the feminism!
Once upstairs, you’re presented with the choice between normal, luxe or vegetarian meals. Normal means some beef, luxe is chicken and a vegetarian gets some muffin-shaped omelet with pieces of his/her beloved veggies in it. As tonight’s carbohydrates supplement, we have the choice between potatoes and rice, and the vitamins are supposed to be provided by leek or carrots in a floury sauce (maybe that’s the reason for the flour at the bar?). Well, at least the food’s warm.
The dining room is also very typical, with long wooden tables and a used-to-be fireplace, mostly empty except for several students and two ‘burgers’ (or ‘civilians’), as the students call the non-student residents of the city, probably dating back to the long gone times when Delft was a military academy. The two ladies with a child must represent the diversity and open atmosphere. A group of DSBers with colored paper hats must be the promised free and fun integration part of the evening.
Personally, I’m disgusted by the milk-and-flour sauce, which is the top achievement of this Dutch cuisine and covers my potatoes and in which my leek is soaked. Yeah, the food’s warm alright, and you don’t have to wash your own dishes, but as far as I’m concerned that’s where the advantages of this eettafel end, and they don’t compensate for the integral lack of taste. I mean, with all due respect, it reminds me of that scene in ‘The Matrix’: you have all the basic chemical ingredients in it but you’ll need the spirits to wash it down with. However, as a survey among the ten people present at the table reveals, I’m in the minority: The dinner gets a firm 7 on average, and even a couple of 8’s. Perhaps I should open my own eettafel, I’d score a 10 with this crowd and get a couple of Michelin stars as well.
To summarize: Don’t rely on my taste and judgment. The food is edible and practical. The next VSSD organized visit is to the Koornbeurs, Thursday May 19th. The Koornbeurs is not a student society, so it has a somewhat different atmosphere. On Wednesday the 25th, it’s Sint Jansbrug’s turn. Go there, foreiogn student, see it, taste it and remember: whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.
The concept is as follows: some of the (larger) student societies run their own small restaurants, places where you can walk in and have a meal for very modest prices. Some are open for members only, but most are open to everyone, resulting in a lively atmosphere and diverse public.
According Jose Hamer, a member of the VSSD board, the idea behind organizing this eettafel tour is “to show foreign students where the mensa’s (another name for eettafels) are and what it’s all about. This way you get your portion of food and a portion of free and fun integration. And you get to see a part of the structure of student societies that largely dominate the student life in Delft.”
Tonight, we go to Tyche, eettafel of the Delftse Studenten Bond (DSB), on the Oude Delft. A brief background sketch for DSB is as follows: DSB split from the corps some hundred years ago, it is the most masculine society in Delft (meaning there are extra few chicks), the number of members is on the decline (currently about 230) and there are rumors DSB had been ‘wrong’ in the war. And you can buy a pack of flour at the bar downstairs to throw around. (Why, boys, why?)
For tonight’s meal, six foreign students show up in front of the VSSD, with VSSD member Cynthia leading the way, cycling the group through the old city on a route seemingly specially designed to ensure you won’t find the way back. The DSB welcomes us in typical Delft student society style . an old building, dating as far back as 1650 and stinking of beer, where some students (male, of course) wearing filthy ties are walking around. The wall next to the stairway to the dining room is decorated with a timeline of the history of the DSB – it’s first female member was in 1973, a true victory for the feminism!
Once upstairs, you’re presented with the choice between normal, luxe or vegetarian meals. Normal means some beef, luxe is chicken and a vegetarian gets some muffin-shaped omelet with pieces of his/her beloved veggies in it. As tonight’s carbohydrates supplement, we have the choice between potatoes and rice, and the vitamins are supposed to be provided by leek or carrots in a floury sauce (maybe that’s the reason for the flour at the bar?). Well, at least the food’s warm.
The dining room is also very typical, with long wooden tables and a used-to-be fireplace, mostly empty except for several students and two ‘burgers’ (or ‘civilians’), as the students call the non-student residents of the city, probably dating back to the long gone times when Delft was a military academy. The two ladies with a child must represent the diversity and open atmosphere. A group of DSBers with colored paper hats must be the promised free and fun integration part of the evening.
Personally, I’m disgusted by the milk-and-flour sauce, which is the top achievement of this Dutch cuisine and covers my potatoes and in which my leek is soaked. Yeah, the food’s warm alright, and you don’t have to wash your own dishes, but as far as I’m concerned that’s where the advantages of this eettafel end, and they don’t compensate for the integral lack of taste. I mean, with all due respect, it reminds me of that scene in ‘The Matrix’: you have all the basic chemical ingredients in it but you’ll need the spirits to wash it down with. However, as a survey among the ten people present at the table reveals, I’m in the minority: The dinner gets a firm 7 on average, and even a couple of 8’s. Perhaps I should open my own eettafel, I’d score a 10 with this crowd and get a couple of Michelin stars as well.
To summarize: Don’t rely on my taste and judgment. The food is edible and practical. The next VSSD organized visit is to the Koornbeurs, Thursday May 19th. The Koornbeurs is not a student society, so it has a somewhat different atmosphere. On Wednesday the 25th, it’s Sint Jansbrug’s turn. Go there, foreiogn student, see it, taste it and remember: whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.
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