I’m reviewing the quarantine meals so that you (hopefully) don’t have to.

I somehow got through almost two years of the pandemic without getting COVID-19. But one week back on Columbia’s campus, and my immune system had broken down. So, I spent my weekend in my bedroom, isolating myself from the world. And to celebrate my last isolation day (yesterday), I decided to do a food review of the quarantine meals at Columbia. (You can also find it on TikTok.)

How it works:

After Columbia decided to lock us in our rooms for five days, they remembered that they legally(?) have to feed us, and so the hottest new restaurant in Manhattan was opened on the first floor of Faculty House. This meal pickup spot is open from 12 to 6 pm daily, and you’re allowed to go up to two times a day. If you want breakfast, you have to order it with your dinner to have for the next day. Also, every meal costs one meal swipe.

The meals:

During my isolation, I ended up getting this dinner three nights and breakfast once. Sometimes I just wasn’t hungry before 6, so I’d get takeout. Below are descriptions of my meals (all of these came with water and utensils).

Dinner One:

  • Steamed vegetables
  • Baked potatoes
  • Vegan chicken
  • Blueberry Danish
  • Rice Krispies Treat (but that weird brown sugar sea salt one that the school dining halls have)
  • Pear

Dinner Two:

  • Fried Potatoes
  • Spinach and Broccoli sautée
  • Generic vegan meat
  • Apple
  • Vanilla cupcake

Dinner Three:

  • Rice
  • Glazed carrots
  • Impossible beef
  • Two packages of vegan cookies (no gluten, no dairy, no nuts, no eggs, whole wheat)
  • Apple

Breakfast:

  • One bagel (plain)
  • Two packets of cream cheese
  • Two pats of butter
  • Two little things of jelly
  • Chobani yogurt (pineapple)
  • Apple

Overall Rating: 7/10

Honestly, I was just happy that they had vegan/vegetarian options since those can be hard to find in our dining halls. But yeah, I really can’t complain: the food was always hot, there were decent portion sizes, and it tasted pretty good. Ditch the vegan cookies though.

food photography via Anya Kopyra