Meal: Hub Hamburger
Ingredients: Angus beef, hamburger buns, lettuce, tomato, onions, pickles, ketchup
Description: Underwhelming is how I’d describe the Hub’s hamburger.
That’s the word I’m sticking with — for now.
While I commend Ryerson Eats’ use of locally sourced ingredients, there was one glaring problem with this burger and that was how dry the meat was. Every bite was tough and dull, which gave me no incentive to continue eating. I liked the toasted bun, which isn’t always available at other joints. But when you couple a crunchy bun with a dry beef patty, the result is a thirst trap.
If I could suggest one solution, it would be to have the chef cook the beef the way each customer would prefer. That goes a long way to making a burger tasty.
A giant leaf of lettuce blanketed the patty and dominated the flavours of the other toppings. The proportions of the rest of the ingredients, however, was perfect. A generous tomato slice, three sliced pickles and two rings of raw onions were positive notes in an overall disappointing burger.
According to Melissa Yu, Ryerson Eats’ communications administrator, the Hub burger is one of their bestsellers because it’s made from fresh ingredients and the cost is “reasonable” for a “classic” lunchtime meal.
Price: The burger hits the student budget bullseye. A $5 burger that’s made with locally sourced ingredients is highway robbery. It’s super affordable for students and will definitely hit the spot when lunch time comes around. I didn’t buy fries with the burger though, which would’ve cost an extra $3. The Hub starts making burgers at 11:00 a.m. and finish at 5:30 p.m. through Monday to Thursday, but close at 2:00 p.m. on Fridays.
Aaron graduated from the Ryerson School of Journalism in 2015.