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University canteens have a reputation for serving mediocre food - heavy on carbohydrates - at inexpensive prices. However, a few campus dining spots offer decent food  while  maintaining prices  to keep budget-conscious students happy.
These eateries are rarely advertised and mainly attract those in the know - students, faculty and their friends and families. You probably won't want to take a trip specifically to sample these restaurants, but if you're ever  in the vicinity  they're well worth trying.
What's more, be prepared for sincere and enthusiastic service, particularly at the training centres which are effectively the starting point for the city's future restaurant managers and chefs.
Vocational Training Council
The council has two training restaurants at its  Pok Fu Lam campus: the Chinese Cuisine Training Institute and the Hospitality Industry Training and Development Centre. Becoming a member of the council's English-speaking Dining Society  will secure you a reservation at either of these restaurants. For details of membership, go to tds.org.hk.
Chinese Cuisine Training Institute's Chinese Restaurant, 8/F  Pokfulam Training Centre Complex, 45 Pokfulam Rd, tel: 2538 2318
Impressive sea views of  Hong Kong Island's western shore, impeccable service and often innovative cuisine by Chinese chefs-in-the-making are a hard combination to beat.  The set lunch is a good deal. At just HK$98 per person, you get soup, a selection of dim sum, a choice of several hot dishes plus dessert.
On Friday nights, the restaurant often puts on themed dinners that highlight different styles of Chinese cuisine. Past dinners have featured hairy crab, Huai Yang specialities  and dim sum from all the provinces on the mainland.
Western Cuisine Training Restaurant, 6/F Pokfulam Training Centre Complex, 145 Pokfulam Rd, tel: 2538 2318
Both the a la carte and set lunch menus change regularly, and members can check what's being served on the website.  A three-course set lunch  costs HK$85 and typically offers a choice of three dishes for each course. You might start with crabmeat and mango salad with a light curry dressing before taking on seared Chilean sea bass or oven-roasted duck breast, and finishing  with black forest cake or creme caramel.
As with the Chinese restaurant, dinners are usually themed to give trainee chefs an opportunity to try international cooking techniques. Dinners in the past have featured Mexican food and seafood from around the world.
The Millennium Training Restaurant
This well-kept secret  operates as a private club, so  guests are required to sign up, with a nominal fee, as members of the Catering Studies Dining Society before eating there. Students run the  show, and regular menu changes reflect their course curriculum.
'Our food is  predominantly western but sometimes we  serve traditional dishes with an oriental or local twist,' says restaurant manager Guenther Erich Karch. A three-course lunch with tea or coffee is only HK$55 and may include dishes such as cream of mushroom soup, fillet of sole with white wine sauce, and oven-roasted pork loin. The wine list is extensive, with both New and Old World.   The restaurant  is open only during term time and booking is essential.
Hong Kong Polytechnic University School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, Hung Hom, Kowloon, tel: 2766 6355, polyu.edu.hk/htm/csds.htm
Joseph's
As  the University of Hong Kong's only high-end restaurant, Joseph's is a western restaurant with a menu featuring New Zealand steaks, regional seafood and pastas. The lunch menu changes every two weeks and new dinner dishes are introduced monthly. Wilson Ching Wei-keung, executive director of American Gourmet Food Services, the catering company that runs Joseph's, says no alcohol is served due to insufficient demand. His company also runs several Chinese fast food canteens at HKU. Booking is advisable as the restaurant is often hired out for student functions and conference dinners.
University of Hong Kong, Level P3, Graduate House, Bonham Rd, tel: 2547 8999
Medical Faculty Restaurant
Although the restaurant has been going for three years, it is still waiting to be properly named by the medical faculty's alumni. A favourite student haunt thanks to its beautiful, panoramic sea view and comfortable seating, the restaurant is operated by the Lucky Channel catering group, which has built its business on catering for schools and colleges. It offers a variety of western and Southeast Asian dishes including pasta, Hainan chicken rice and simple fried rice and noodles. Restaurant manager Lo Chi-ming says set lunches go for HK$50 and dinners are  cheaper - HK$30 - as part of an incentive to draw  crowds.
University of Hong Kong, 7/F Faculty of Medicine Building, 21 Sassoon Rd,  Pok Fu Lam, tel: 2818 1799
Lingnan University Student Canteen & Cafe
Lingnan University's student canteen would be just like any other dining den - an unremarkable outlet for quick bites much like Cafe de Coral and Maxim's fast food - were it not for its infamous  rice dish, which is virtually the cheapest meal you can get anywhere, and not just on campus. For HK$10, the dish comprises baked rice with egg, canned luncheon meat and Chinese sausage.
A western-style coffee shop - Cup Coffee Cafe - which is housed inside the canteen, is  a quiet refuge from the mammoth outlet outside that can cater to 470 people. A touch more costly, the coffee shop offers all the usual treats of muffins, sandwiches, salads and pizzas.
Lingnan University, G/F Amenities Building, Tuen Mun
Lingnan University Chinese Restaurant
This sprawling  restaurant, which seats up to 300, is usually bustling with students and faculty craving dim sum for lunch. Business slows considerably at night, although the restaurant is  open for dinner and offers Cantonese-style family dishes such as soup, vegetables and meat and seafood choices that cost  HK$30 to HK$40 per dish.
Lingnan University, 1/F Amenities Building, Tuen Mun, tel: 2616 7990



A feast  of courses