Bramber House Coffee Shop

My experience in the Bramber Coffee Shop has mostly been limited to Saturdays, during my hour lunch break when it’s pretty much the only thing open.
That’s not to say it’s an unpleasant eating experience, but it would certainly be nice to have a bit of choice. During the noon — 2pm rush, customers can stand in line for quite awhile.
The Coffee Shop is more of a cafeteria, with a serve-​yourself approach to meals and drinks. Full hot lunches and dinners can be purchased for between £4 — £6, and chilled, pre-​packaged sandwiches and salads are available for a bit less. Two hot drink machines serve up Americanos, espressos and lattes, but are quite slow… This may have much to do with the loooong lines.
Healthy options like small containers of dried fruit and nuts are an easy takeaway option for afternoon snacks.
I do enjoy the comfy couch sets, as they’re great when you’re in a larger group but would probably opt for an actual restaurant for lunch breaks if one were close by.

s place has really cleaned up it’s act which I think can largely be attributed to the ‘Food for US (University of Sussex) campaign which called for a wider and more accessible range of healthy choices on campus. This Café was, certainly when I came to Sussex in 2006, one of the main unhealthy offenders, mostly offering the standard fried chicken and chips buffet type of choices. Maybe it was the grease clogging my vision, but I this place was just a bit murky, grey and washed, like an 80s film or Soviet Russia. Now, though with the inclusion of healthy options such as little pots of melon, pineapple or grapes, it is as though the haze has descended and clarity and light has been reinstalled.
Of course, these introductions alone could not single handedly have created this improvement. The menu on the whole has really improved, although still offering pizza, it now looks actually quite edible and not drenched in Cheese. An evening menu consisting of minute steak ciabatta, seasonal leaves with red onion marmalade served with chipped potatoes at £4.50 tastes great and gives you change for a fiver. The day time buffet has a wide range of salads available too and you choose how much so you don’t have to spend too much. What a great idea, sounds like it could catch on.
Old problem though of food on campus is that mostly it is quite expensive in comparison to the discounts on Beer that the SU get.

This is one of the biggest — though certainly not bestest — places to eat on campus, and along with the restaurant upstairs in Bramber House, it offers the most canteen-​like option on campus. It’s the kinda place where you pick up a tray and slide along a counter of pre-​prepared hot foods, taking your pick. There’s often a member of staff on hand to help at this stage — so monitor your grimaces as you ponder the dried up offerings. The staff are very friendly and the service is very efficient. But the prices aren’t that cheap, certainly for the quality of food on offer and the stinginess of portions. Beware of breakfast — where you choose 5 items for a fixed price on the regular fry up — expect a slice of fried bread or single hash brown to count as one item, so unless you’re quite savvy when the staff aren’t looking (think hash brown under the beans, some mushrooms under the egg…), expect to be a bit dissapointed with the meagre display on your plate. It does include a free slice of (cold) toast and a hot drink though. Although they have no cold juice options — it’s either tea or coffee. Anyway, enough of my moanings! I have been here a few times, it is quite resonably priced and does make a great option if you need to get in gear before a 9am lecture of had to skip breakfast in order to make said lecture.