HUDS Starts New Spring Menu

Along with rising temperatures and the sudden appearance of flip-flops and shorts, spring brings new menu items to the dining halls drawn from student suggestions and seasonal product offerings.

The new additions include two new Make-Your-Own stations. On Mondays, dining halls will offer an Asian-influenced Chop Chop Salad; Thursdays will feature a Crispy Fish Taco Bar.

Each season, the Harvard University Dining Services switches some of its menu options to “take advantage of ingredients growing locally,” and offer a seasonally-appropriate spread, according to HUDS’ online blog.

Other new spring items include a homemade fish cake recipe that uses local whitefish and a homemade chicken salad recipe. There will also be new frozen yogurt flavors—cookies and cream, yellow cake batter, creamy chocolate, and banana cream pie.

“I liked that they had orange slices in the salad,” Charlotte Chang ’14 said. “I think just having new items gives you a sense of freshness.”

The Fruit Bar on Tuesday night will remain, as many people responded positively to its addition in a HUDS satisfaction survey, HUDS said on its blog.

“I liked the fruit bar. I would like to see some fresh strawberries and some other berries like blackberries and raspberries,” Ashley Dozier ’14 said.

Friday nights will continue to feature global cuisine. For example, this Friday dining halls will provide a French-themed meal. Future Friday night offerings will include Vietnamese, Mediterranean, and Thai food.

Paul G. Gardner ’12-13 said he noticed an eggplant dish that he guessed was a new addition and thought that it was “really good.”

In the HUDS survey, students indicated that they liked special pre-assembled salads. In response to the request, HUDS will now offer a Levantine salad called Fattoush on Wednesdays and another salad option on Fridays.

“I think since a lot of people eat three meals in the dining hall every day, some sort of change is necessary because otherwise you get sick of the dining hall food,” Basil J. K. Williams ’14 said.

When Williams was told about the new flavors of frozen yogurt, he declared it “the best day ever.”

Not all students have picked up on the new changes to the menu yet.

“I kind of did notice something, but I didn’t know what it was,” Scout K. O’Beirne ’15 said.

This spring will also bring a host of special dinners, including Yardfest specials in mid-April, Earth Day dinner on April 19,

Richardson’s Ice Cream Sundae Bash on May 3, and a Top Chef competition hosted by the Foot Literacy Project.

—Staff writer Laya Anasu can be reached at layaanasu@college.harvard.edu.