Food & Drink

At Newnham you can decide on a day-to-day basis whether to get coffee and cake in our chilled café, eat a full home-cooked meal in our Buttery, or to cook for yourself (and maybe your friends!).

The Buttery
Newnham has a good Buttery (cafeteria), offering a wide variety of hot, cold, vegetarian and vegan meals. Halal and kosher diets are also catered for in the Café. The meals are cooked on-site by the dedicated catering team.

It is open all year round except for short periods of closure at Christmas and Easter and a period during the Long Vacation. At Newnham you have a choice about where you eat every day, unlike some of the other Colleges.

As well as the normal cafeteria set up, the Buttery also has comfy sofas for socialising with your friends and Wi-Fi should you want to browse the internet while you are there.

For accessibility, see AccessAble.

Buttery Opening Hours 

Buttery hours

Mon to Fri

Lunch 12.30 – 13.45

Dinner 18.00 – 19.15

Sat

Brunch 9.30 – 13.30

Dinner 18.00 – 19.15

Sun

Closed

Formal Halls
Formal Halls at Newnham College take place in Clough Hall. Please use the online booking system to book onto a Formal Hall. The bookings open on Mondays at 8am and closes the Wednesday at 10pm the week prior to the Formal Hall. College members may bring up to two guests to Formal Hall (three guests on the Friday Formal Hall which is held once a term). All guests attending any Formal Hall must be accompanied by their Newnham host.

Dinner starts at 7.30pm, please arrive a little earlier to be seated and for those with dietary requirements to collect your requirements card. Show it to a member of the serving staff, and leave it on the dining table throughout the dinner.

The cost of Formal Halls are as follow:

–       Member price £19

–       Non-member price £22.50

The three course dinner menu is available to view when you book, please read it and select your meal choice accordingly. If you have a dietary requirement, intolerance or allergy that concerns you please contact the catering team. Catering Manager catman@newn.cam.ac.uk

The Iris Café
The Iris Café and the outdoor Café Courtyard are a chilled space for barista-made coffee, hot and cold breakfast items available from 8.00am, delicious cakes, freshly-made paninis, and much more. It’s a great place to treat yourself once an essay’s been handed in, or to take time to relax with friends. Check the Iris Café page for current opening times. For accessibility, see AccessAble.

The Iris Bar
Newnham has a student-run bar, with regular social events that bring members of the College together. Alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks are available, and the atmosphere is friendly and welcoming.

Kitchens
Newnham has some of the best self-catering kitchens at the University and they are cleaned every weekday by our friendly housekeeping team. All kitchens have hobs, a fridge and microwave, most have an oven and some have freezers. Many have tables and chairs so you can entertain guests and nearly all have lockable cupboards to prevent people ‘borrowing’ your emergency stash of chocolate during the exam period. You may choose to cater for yourself or use the College Buttery or a mix of the two.