For me it was the Swiss temple. Went there maybe a half a dozen times or so. Always had the "food," purchased in advance with a 5 franc chit before the session. Always a complete Caspar meal--all white. White, tasteless baked fish in white sauce, served with boiled cauliflower and white bread. No herbs or seasoning--that would be worldly and sinful. No salt that I could detect, and no pepper either. Couldn't find any at the table. We always made fun of it and always promised we'd never do it again. We always lied.

Anyway, was it temple food, or just Swiss food? They are not known for their spice of life, after all.

Eeew.

Maybe since Tina Turner is now Swiss, things will get spicier in Switzerland.

I never ate in a temple cafeteria, but I'm very curious about the food, prices, ambience, workers, and diners. Did the staff wear white?

Did the temple attendees wear their sacred clothing during lunch? Are there windows? Do dead dunking kids ever eat there? What about the children being sealed to their parents? Does everyone whisper since they're still in the sacred walls of the temple?

Would someone be allowed to bring their bag lunch in there to eat? Is the food cheap? I've heard that it's sometimes quite tasty.

I've only eaten in the temple cafeteria once, and that was after doing baptisms as a youth. I'm assuming the ward paid for our meals. It was actually really good food, for what it's worth, and lots of pie options, lol.

All I can say is it was better than the food at the MTC, and eating at the Provo temple was a tradition for my group... Right up until the jerk of an MTC president ordered the missionaries to stop eating at the temple on p-day.

I never once at in the temple cafeteria. From the time I walked in, I spent the next 2 1/2 hours thinking of a great meal afterward at Spengers Sea Food Restaurant in Berkeley. My mind was rarely on the session.

I live not too far from it but haven't been there for years. Now that you've reminded me, I think I'll go back for a nice dinner or lunch.

Nice. Rub it in Cheryl. :-)

If you went to a Hindu temple when they're serving food, it is really, wonderfully, good!

:-)

Similarly, Sikh temples serve free food (vegetarian, of course) to anyone who wants/needs it. No questions asked and definitely no payment accepted. They see it as a way of serving God (their version of building a $5 billion mall, I guess).

Everyone sits on the floor as a display of equality. It's really tasty. We have a Sikh temple right next to our ward building and I've been known to skip Sunday School to get some actual nourishment.

For some reason, my family and their friends in Laguna Beach Ward always went to Juniors Delicatessen in Westwood after temple sessions.

The truth of a good Matzo Ball and Cheese Blintz were salve for the soul after the bullshit spewed in the LA Temple.

Never been there, but if I had been an LA Mormon I could easily see Philippe's or In 'n Out being a tradition.

I gotta get back to LA, I'm craving a French dip now.

Yummy!

Not being stupid, I never ate there

That was funny and bitchy at the same time!

I never ate in the temple but the food at COB was pretty good.

I thought tang in a paper cup was a terrible drink to toast my wedding with.

never been to the temple, but eating in Utah in general is a white plate. Starches are the specialty! I worked at a Utah hospital for awhile and their menu was hilarious. Not one vegetable in sight.

Do they have funeral potatoes and green jello with shredded cheese?

Anyone ever ask the staff for a wine menu?

My mom and I ate at the Laie, Hawaii temple because it was so much cheaper than the rest of the food on O'ahu. I remember getting a big portion of something for like $4. She and I were the only ones in that session until 2 minutes before it started when another guy and girl showed up. Sounds like most people know that going to the beach is better than sitting in some made up ceremony for a couple of hours.

Why would anyone in Hawaii spend hours doing a session when they could be out on the black sands? Insanity, it is.

Believe me, I am all in agreement now, but at the time I thought I was doing the nobler thing.

Lucky for me I married a Hawaiian so we go back often enough (going again in October, actually).

What....?! I had no idea they had temple cafeterias. The temple I went to was very small, though. Are there always?

It is the larger temples that have cafeterias and laundry facilities.

Oh, OK. "My" temple (shudder) was in a smaller city, wayyyy out of the way. It made things extra creepy.

Lol before I finished your post, I was thinking, "sounds like typical swiss food".

I did hear a story about a woman in the temple cafeteria wandering around asking where the coffee was. Rumor had it that her friend recommended the temle cafeteria as being lovely, and lent her her recommend. Although this was probably just a mormon urban legend.

Baked fish with mashed potatoes. Both DH and I were raised around a lot of Asian influence - DH even spent a large portion of his childhood in Japan. Neither of us had ever seen fish with mashed potatoes before - fish goes with rice. We actually would order it every time, gross as it was, because it seemed like such a stereotypically Utah thing - it seemed to go with the stereotypically Utah Mormon temple experience.

They always have fish with potatoes in scandanavia

I only ate inside the temple once. It's such a dim memory that I don't remember doing it, just remember that I did it. There was jello and maybe potato salad. Lots of people in white.

to eat in the temple cafeteria--and so did others. My BIL worked at the Logan one for a while. I always looked forward to it. NEVER DID EAT THERE. I don't know why. Well, might be because I only went to the temple 4 or 5 times.

I have eaten in many Hare Krsna Temples ....

The food is spectacular.

The chanting is fun, too...

Knock yerselves out sometime...

Did they pin a flower on you as you walked in?

The food in the cafeteria was always good, the few times I ate there, but the way my parents talked about it seemed like it was supposed to be some amazing food experience, which it wasn't.