The University has a wide range of catering options available on campus, whether you want to grab a sandwich, enjoy a coffee with friends, or have a freshly prepared meal in our restaurant.
The Restaurant
The Restaurant is on the east side of the main quadrangle, serving a range of high quality, healthy and hearty meals. The menu changes with the seasons and we like to provide variety, taking note of significant days or weeks, and catering for all diets.
We take sourcing our ingredients very seriously, favouring ethical, higher welfare and local producers who use responsible methods to minimise wastage, packaging and environmental impact. This includes:
- utilising vegetables grown on the RAU campus as part of FWAGs GREAT Market Garden Project at the RAU
- supporting local suppliers and stockists, such as the family-owned company Jesse Smith & W.J. Castle Butchers & Delicatessen based in Cirencester
- partnering with Knight's Beekeeping to produce our own RAU honey, which we use in our cooking and sell in the university shop
- utilising Cotswold Gold as our main oil provider. Cotswold Gold repurpose all their used oil to create bio-diesel
- partnering with Leanpath company, to ensure that all waste from kitchen to plate is recorded and monitored.
We were delighted when this was recognised by our Catering and Hospitality team being awarded the awarded the coveted Sustainability Award at the U Dine Network Awards 2025 - an accolade sponsored by the NUS Charity that honours those "pushing boundaries and shaping a greener future" in university catering.
We were also nominated and shortlisted for the 2026 Footprint award in Sustainability, further demonstrating our commitment to sustainable practices at the RAU.
Meal times are as follows (term time):
| Monday - Friday | Saturday - Sunday | |
|---|---|---|
| Breakfast | 7:30 – 9:00 | 8:00 - 11.00 |
| Lunch | 12:00 – 13:30 | 12:30 - 13:00 |
| Dinner | 17:30 – 18:30 | 17:30 – 18:30 |
Non-residents can pay at the servery for meals. See below if you have purchased a meal plan.
Meal plans
Meal plans are sold as half board and are loaded as tokens onto the RAU Harvest Hub App. Meal tokens can only be used in the Restaurant; your daily tokens will expire at the end of the allocated day and cannot be carried over.
| Term time only | Half board (14 meals per week) |
|---|---|
| Monday - Friday | Breakfast & Dinner |
| Saturday - Sunday | Breakfast & Lunch |
The Catering team are able to cater for special diets but please advise us of your requirements when booking your accommodation.
We would love to have your feedback and are happy to answer any questions or queries you may have about the Restaurant, simply email accommodation@rau.ac.uk
RAU test kitchen
We also run our RAU test Kitchen. A student led initiative that allows students to experience a fine dining environment whilst sampling some plant focused menus, providing some great feedback and insights to the future of the menus at the RAU.
Keep an eye out on our social channels for special themed evenings as well as events taking place in the restaurant that showcase or celebrate different cuisines and cultures.
https://www.instagram.com/raurestaurant/
https://www.instagram.com/rautestkitchen/
The Retreat Café
The Retreat Café is situated in the Atrium between the Emrys Jones Building and the Library, students are welcome to come in to relax, socialise and study. The café serves barista coffee from Mozzo to enjoy on one of our comfy sofas or takeaway. Mozzo echo the RAU’s values around sustainability and the environment, investing 5p for every kg of coffee sold into the C2C Fund.
The Retreat Café serves a wide range of goods including homemade and pre-prepared hot and cold sandwiches, Paninis and wraps as well as a selection of healthy or indulgent snacks and cold drinks. Regular opening times are:
Monday – Friday 9:00 – 15:00
Weekend - Closed
We will update you on any changes to these opening hours (such as public holidays) via the digital display screens around campus and your weekly RAU email newsletter.
RAU Shop
The RAU Shop is located next to The Retreat Café in the Atrium and provides a great range of essentials including local and RAU produced products, snacks, treats, clothing and merchandise. You can also browse our assortment of alumni products such as: greeting cards, clothing by ODMax, and Cotswold Hills Wine.
