Leaf’s Lunches: Selwyn

[rating: 3/5]

When I was a kid, I often fantasized about eating my pudding before the main. Now that I am far from the admonishing stare of my mother, I’m uncomfortably aware that I could technically do this fairly regularly. Indeed it could become standard procedure at every meal – “Of course I’m going to destroy my Eve’s Pudding before taking down my Salmon Goujons, what of it?”

Sadly, pudding-avant-main does not appeal as much as it once did except when there’s something ludicrously exciting for dessert. And thankfully at Selwyn, there was.

Who would have guessed that this college has solved all my dessert dilemmas?

This mighty college has solved one of the biggest dilemmas facing mankind since the sixth day of creation, namely whether one should pick the reliable, jam-filled, no-hole doughnut or its sexy American cousin, the ring donut. Go for the former and you sacrifice the icing, go for the latter and you sacrifice the jam. It’s heart-wrenching.

Selwyn has relegated this quandary to the dustbin of history in a gesture of show-stopping elegance by taking the ring doughnut complete with icing and hole and FILLING IT WITH JAM. See the photographic evidence. And you thought Inception was a mindfuck.

This is what the expression ‘ftw’ was made for

Had the other components of my meal been as pioneering, I would have written to the Master advising him to change his college’s name to SelWIN. But unfortunately, the donut emerged as a swan amongst ducklings; although quite enjoyable, the rest of the food was characterised by adequacy as opposed to innovation.

I had a splash of pork stew that was a little on the tin-from-Sainsbury’s side, sloppy and unseasoned. My two Selwinner friends had chips with buns filled with freshly carved turkey and cranberry sauce. The meat was tender and the chips extremely good, yielding formidable crunch and oil ooze. We finished up with a bleak apricot crumble that reminded me why I don’t like apricots.

A serious anti-climax after the doughnut-related excitement

So, all in all: Sel-win on days where there are donuts in the pudding section, Sel-well-it’s-better-than-the-Sidgwick-buttery on days where there aren’t. Also beware of the famous one o’clock rush; it’s epic.