MYSTERY INGREDIENT: "East Campus" Leads the BU Campus Cook-Off, and Nobody Can Find It on the Menu

Chefs, step up to the pass. Tonight's cook-off asks a question that has ruined more dining-hall dinners than overcooked pasta: which Boston University campus serves up the best day-to-day student life? Classes, housing, food, getting around, all on one plate. Within hours of the burners lighting, the crowd has a favorite. And that favorite is... (pause for effect, wipe the knife) ...a plate I cannot find in the recipe book.

First, the pantry. According to Wikipedia's entry on the university, BU runs seventeen schools and colleges spread across three urban campuses. The Charles River Campus runs along Commonwealth Avenue beside the Green Line for more than a mile and a half, and the BU Bridge separates it from West Campus, home to athletic fields, a big dorm and the John Hancock Student Village. The Medical Campus sits in Boston's South End, linked to the Charles River Campus by the BU shuttle. On the Bay State Road page, West Campus residents are described as generally preferring it for its traditional campus feel and how close it is to the Student Village and sports facilities. Roughly three in four undergraduates live on campus, and dorm dwellers have to sign up for a year-long meal plan. That's the official menu. Notice what isn't on it: none of these sources lists an "East Campus" as a separate location.

And yet the crowd has crowned it early. On the Morfi opinion markets, "East Campus" leads at 42% consensus with 9 holders, while the Charles River Campus sits behind it at 20% with 9 holders. Also on the ballot: 2 other sides. So far 19 traders have put $74,338 behind their palates. These numbers show how strongly the crowd backs each side, not a headcount. Right now that conviction is going to a dish the reference books don't name, and passing over the one campus the sources actually say residents love.

Now my verdict, and it is pure opinion, served hot. Backing a campus the official sources don't list as its own location is like giving the trophy to the amuse-bouche because it smelled nice from the doorway. Maybe the voters mean a stretch of the Charles River Campus that students nickname for themselves. Maybe they just like the sound of it. Either way, it needs clarifying before anyone gets a medal. My palate says West Campus is the dish being underrated: playing fields, the Student Village, and residents who, by the sources' account, actually prefer living there. That's comfort food with a stadium on the side. The Charles River Campus is the reliable main course, long, sturdy and well connected by train. And the Medical Campus? A serious dish for serious diners, shuttled in from the South End.

What to watch: this oven has been on for less than a day, so the early leader could easily fall flat like a rushed soufflé. Keep an eye on whether the "East Campus" backers explain what they actually mean, and whether West Campus fans finally show up to defend the plate the sources favor. Think you know BU's best kitchen? Join the market on Morfi, put your money where your fork is, and help decide who gets the cloche. Service is open.