Mensa Polyterrasse in Zürich

Canteen food (spaghetti carbonara) was poorly seasoned, lukewarm and cooked far too long.

My Home Mensa, the food is ok. I used to like the buffet but it's become more sparing recently. Most of the staff is great, there is someone that's constantly upset it seems though. And they can make it a difficult experience. Most of my colleagues and friends prefer the UZH mensa.

Excellent food! The picture speaks for itself! Of course, attention is also paid to maintaining strict geometric shapes, in the spirit of ETH!!!!

The Polymensa was never an exceptional cafeteria, but in the past, it was at least marginally tolerable in terms of price, portion size, and macronutrient balance. Now, it has deteriorated significantly. I strongly recommend doing yourself a favor by going elsewhere.

Good food everyday with a lot of variations and variety.

Like seriously?? I need to pay for fried onions now???? Why do I even need to go to mensa??

No free fried onions anymore! Now CHF 0.80 for a spoon of them....

The free fried onions were removed... now it is just sad food without good toping

Paid fried onions!??.....*gets up and walks to UZH mensa*

It is unfortunate that so many students have to go to the Mensa to get completely imbalanced meals (in terms of macronutrients) for a very high price point. Now they also take away the free condiments/toppings. What's next?

Why are you charging .80 for fried onions now? 🫤

A huge cafeteria but the food is still very good and very inexpensive (also for external parties)

ETH's polymensa is wonderful because it encourages many students to go for a midday walk to the much better (and cheaper) cafeteria of the University of Zurich.

Somewhat typical school mensa. Really old building. Terrible for disabled people, two thirds of the places are not accessible. It's also very loud and during the semester stock full. On some days the queue starts outside. And that's the biggest design flaw: Even though there's a counter for each of the different options, there's no queueing system whatsoever. Sometimes the actual queue for let's say the vegan option is actually really short, but since there is no way of being able to distinguish the queues at the beginning, you end up in a giant mixed queue and wait unnecessarily. You really should get an extra ECTS if you eat there on a daily basis. The food is just ok but very diverse. Sometimes though it's quite deceiving: The description on the website was lentils but it turned out to be white rice with some lentils mixed in. You can get seconds though which makes it the cheapest option for students in Zürich.

Probably the worst cafeteria in the city of Zurich. Expensive and generally not very tasty. For a little over a year now, meat dishes have been charged a higher fee than vegetarian dishes, and yet only homeopathic quantities are available. It is always pointed out that you can get seconds, but these basically only consist of dry side dishes. I recommend visiting the university cafeteria, which is 400 meters away. It's better and cheaper there.

Excellent ambience with a romantic panoramic view. The dishes come in stylishly stingy portions, but the less, the more love and care goes into them. Security is monitored by several hyenas to ensure that both emergency exits and fire escape routes are always guaranteed. A pleasure every time… See you soon!

Unfortunately you can't give the service less than 1 star. You pay for overpriced cafeteria food and then we are pushed out of the cafeteria by the staff even though we haven't finished yet. Learning is not allowed in a school cafeteria. Small plates. Food does not nourish. Few sockets. Positive: lots of spices if the staff doesn't kick you out before using them.

The checkout staff are really the most unfriendly and demotivated there is. I am blamed for payment cancellations when Twint has a problem. The lady who worked at the checkout today, November 30th, 2023, where cash, card and Twint payment is possible. It's not my fault if she hates her job.

A cafeteria like it is in the book. Not outstanding but good food at a fair price for Zurich standards.

Wonderful cevapcici, clean, very friendly staff, just great!

Too expensive for what you get. The portions are super small and you can only take ONE menu at the student price!! So the other menu, which you have to get if you are remotely hungry, gets priced at the full price... There are much better options in the area. Response to owner: if you ask for more, you only get a bit more rice (and maybe a drop of sauce) or whatever the side is, no main component (e.g., protein).

Compared to UZH Mensa this one offers less food for a higher price. UZH also has better desert options integrated.

The portions are tiny and unbalanced (way too much pasta or rice), and more expensive than close-by alternatives, like UZH mensa.

Nice food , with multiple dishes and good prices

The vegan option is too expensive. The same vegan menus that were offered at Garden before, are now served at the new vegan stand but often cost CHF 3 or 4 more. To me, this seems like an artificial price increase. It would be nice to have vegan menus at ETH that are affordable for students.

The price and quality are right.

Food ok, relatively small portions, but cheap for students

Most beautiful cafeteria in Zurich. Very large selection of different dishes at fair prices (from 6.50 CHF).

Good prices for students, pretty decent food for a canteen

Always a nice selection, fair prices, fast serving, easy payment

Often small portions, it has become more expensive and there is a stressful atmosphere🥲

Despite the very low student prices, the rice is not cooked, it crunches under the tooth. And it is often like that, too bad. The staff is nice but not really the lady at the cash register.

It tastes good, but it's stupid that you can't pay the student rate for friends from outside. Zurich is already expensive enough.

They did not label allergens correctly....

Very good price and it has a large selection. The taste is acceptable for a cafeteria.

It is almost always very crowded

When you eat, you really get the feeling that the cafeteria and its employees actively want the worst for you. Often all 5 dishes are inedible without exception, even if there is only pasta they are usually so overcooked that even a 5 year old can handle it better. Even the fancy names that people always try to give the stuff can't hide this quality.

Inexpensive and tasty, but at peak times you wait forever

Sometimes like this; sometimes like that. Menus mostly okay, sometimes a bit uncreative. Prices affordable for students. I would appreciate it if you could easily get a larger portion (not: 5 grams more). A ladleful of supplement doesn't cost the operator a world more. Refill possible but the queue is so long that you normally don't want to go through that. I'm also inclined to recommend the 5-minute walk to the university cafeteria.

Meal are so “generous” here, especially dinners On the photo: Dinner, 06.09.22

Big mensa, serving thousands of hungry students every day. Friendly staff. Highly recommended 👍🏼😀

Freely accessible location at the ETH with a great view over the city. Since tourist buses also stop here, it can be quite crowded at times. Unfortunately, not all visitors adhere to the ban on eating and drinking and leave rubbish behind. 😔

The food in the cafeteria tends to be edible. This means that the cooking is based on mass rather than quality and for students there are fair prices for the various meals that you receive. All in all, you can eat there, but don't expect a culinary masterpiece.

A 5-minute walk to the UZH cafeteria is worth it

Excellent choice of food considering students and staff at renowned university ETH

Price/performance top! I can really recommend it!

The dishes are very creative and varied. Great for a cafeteria!

Small portions, unfriendly staff, UZH Mensas provide better value.

Varied lunch menu, cafeteria for students

By far the worst cafeteria food in Zurich, portion sizes are perfectly adapted for small children.

No refills for the vegan soup?! Seriously? Worst mensa in town.

Great restaurant. Offer fast food, swiss dishes, vegetarian and vegan options as well.

This place is forcing you to eat like a vegetarian. The menu options are 1. Vegan 2. Vegetarian 3. Plant based meat 4. Non vegetarian food with virtually no meat

Food quality varies. Prices for students are great!

Very nice view over the whole city!!

I don't think it's quite as good as the UZH's main cafeteria, but the view over the city is of course brilliant! There is often delicious food here too.

I would have given 5 stars but Iust sat that ever since they raised the prices and the quality stayed the same, I prefer going to the UZH Mensa

I cannot put 0 so the evaluation is biased. Awful experience, unkind personel, low hygiene standards and low food quality. Really not to reccomend.

One of the best ETH mensas, but the UZH mensa nearby is even better and cheaper.

Fast and good food. Big enough portions. Expensive compared to the university cafeteria

Inexpensive and a relatively good selection.

Get an amazing view of Zurich city and enjoy some Coffee in the Mensa later.

Rear side of ETH Zentrum building 🏢.

Far too small portions. The plates are shaped in such a way that it looks like a lot of food, but you get almost nothing and you would have to wait another 10 minutes to scoop up more.

Very nice view over the whole city!!

The food is usually good to very good for a cafeteria, I have eaten worse.

Passable cafeteria. High variance in quality and quantity, unfortunately not always with a vegan option.

Great view of the whole city and the Uetliberg.

Staff is often unfriendly, the waiting times are significantly longer than at other canteens and the food is less good than at Hönngerberg...

Amazing cafeteria, bangs every time!

Not always good food, but usually from good to very good. You can have portions a little larger if you ask nicely, which is always a good thing. The cafeteria woman is also a welcome change from the otherwise rather reserved ETH clientele.

I think this is the best cafeteria in Zurich.

Good food for a cheap price. However, there can be a lot of people at 12 o'clock. Also, the UZH Mensa is only 5 minutes away and offers most of the time even better food for an even cheaper price.

The food is not always good. The prices could be lower.

It's cheaper with ETH, otherwise I find it expensive

The food was okay in terms of price-performance, but unfortunately it was completely out of date. Long waiting times, too little capacity in general. Carpets appear dated and unhygienic, and you have to queue again to return the dishes.

Good food, cheap price (especially for students). Free refill of food, if you're still hungry just drop by the food desk and ask for more. Finally location... DIESCI!

Student bar, great view and outside seating in the summer

Good food at a fair price. Unfortunately completely overcrowded at lunchtime.

Sometimes decent, but not the best value for money you could find (see Uni Mensa). Menus have varying quality and taste. Always ask for a large portion as they try to cut down their expenses by typically providing small portions ;) Good enough for students I suppose.

what doesn't kill you makes you stronger

The cafeteria is fine. Expensive for university students (not Uni or ETH)

Decent food, good prices (especially for students) but rather crowded during lunch hours.

What drug was the chef taking when he/she design the menus? If you are a vegetarian, do yourself a favor and go to other Mensa. The menu here is just plain sad. The meals are imbalenced, the portions are tiny and taste boring. 5.4 Fr in Uni Mensa gives you a balanced meal. 8 Fr in Clausiusbar gives you double the portion.

Food very good, but usually very crowded!!

It is a good place to hangout. Especially best for ETH students.

Decent food, fast service. Need I say more?

Relatively cheap but decent meals

Often crowded and not a relaxing atmosphere

Low quality overpriced food and there is always a queue

Affordable menu for students in student life. The menu is only 6.20 depending on the price but more if you feel the need for exclusive nutritional offers. Of course, the poly terrace also benefits from a magnificent view over Lake Zurich and the surrounding area. Overall, it is a comfortable cafeteria for students and workers.

very tasty food, cheap price (under 5 CHF for a full menu, water is free)

Cheap choice of menus, especially for Students of ETH/Uni Zürich. Also 2 menus in the evening. But sometimes long queues and at noon very full. Food mediocre.

The ETH cafeteria is also open to the public. Good selection of menus including salad buffet. Lunch and dinner. Cost-effective.

Great student restaurant with reasonable prices (in Swiss)

A really great place for students. International students not from Switzerland has the second rate discount.

Good location and with a nice view if you sit outside. Canteen atmosphere with appropriate staff and food. Price-performance is ok.

Excellent cafeteria with very friendly staff.

The ETH Zurich has a great view, plus you can visit the interior of the university and walk in the footsteps of A. Einstein.

From this place you have a nice view and a good overview of the city.