9.5/10

House on Hood. You’ve out done yourself. Now, food at a price that a broke student, such as myself, can afford is usually a pack of chicken noodles or a third Domino’s pizza for the week. Very rarely is it good food. Me oh my, House wanted to prove me wrong. They’ve revamped their famous weekly rituals with a ‘Murican Monday (not a typo), Taco Tuesday, Skint Student Night (the best), Dumpling House Thursdays, One Metre Pizza Friday, and BYO Saturday.

Recently, House had me round to dive deep into these deals. The first thing I needed to touch on, that stood out as soon as I walked in, was the staff. My previous dealings with poor souls in hospo hasn’t been ideal; there’s a reflection of “I have to be miserable, so do you”. I’ve worked in hospitality as well and I get it, I really do. So, when Front of House greeted me, a student with pockets that were clearly as deep as a kiddy pool, with a smile, I thought I was going to drop dead. I did appreciate that the first menu she gave my mates and me was the deal of the day. She got it. When my friend ordered a cocktail, she recommended what we do and do not drink if we’re going out to Outback later that night. Whether this was an internal promotion by the venue autocracy that is Lawrenson Group or genuine advice, I’ll let you decide. I’m not a big conspiracy dude so I’m going with the latter.

We went on the tried and true One Metre Pizza Night. The fact that you can split two pizzas, that are comfortably taller than me, between a group of four for $15 each really humbles me. It’s also really humbling when the waistline of your pants is beginning to get a bit tight and you realise you’ve got another metre of pizza to go. We were fed by left overs for the next two meals. It’s insane man. I recommend half and half of the BBQ Beef and Hawaiin. I do, however, regret not coming on a Wednesday night, as delicious as my meal, and the leftovers, were. Our waitress, who was our best mate at this point after sharing quick stories of her time as a student, said Skint Student Night has $5 pizzas. That’s a new level of insane.

It’s really nice to see that amidst the restaurants that over charge for under sized meals, House on Hood has actually thought about Hamilton being a student city. Considering I was surrounded by other students, some that were in my own classes, it seems many have got the memo. This is my public service announcement, if you haven’t tried these nights out at House, give it a crack.