OM RECOMMENDS: Hub Box: Royal William Yard
Making Your House A Home
4th January 2023
New Year, New Career?
4th January 2023
Hub Box is located centre stage of the historic Royal William Yard in the Melville building. Hub Box are famous for serving up huge stacks of juicy burgers with mouth-watering toppings and crispy yet fluffy fries. The team at OM were offered an invitation to attend their open evening in May and we enjoyed it so much, we came back for our Christmas Meal!
The bustling food hub of the Royal William Yard is the perfect location for this sensational burger restaurant. If you’re travelling from the Barbican by boat, simply hop off at the Royal William Yard harbour and take approximately 20 steps till you’re in the restaurant. Although it takes fewer steps until you are hit with the delectable scent of fresh burgers and local beer.
The restaurant was at its highest capacity and yet we still received exceptional service from their staff and short waiting times. The interior has both a modern and industrial feel to fit in with the historic nature of the Royal William Yard’s buildings. They have paired steel beams with neon signs and modern art.
Every opportunity to reuse, recycle and repurpose has been seized to create a stunning but sustainable style. The joinery for the back bar is made from recycled oak planks. Table tops have been made with reclaimed oak by Inside Out Furniture. The kitchen pass wall is made from recycled shipping container components. Even the toilets come complete with reclaimed doors!
True to Hub Box’s Cornish roots, Hub Box has looked to Fowey-based LIGA Eco Store to source its tea light holders, which are made from a combination of natural cork and recycled EVA plastics retrieved from beach cleans.
We were seated by a welcoming member of staff who gave us a large table towards the centre of the restaurant. Our waitress for the evening was very attentive and ensured we had everything we needed. Menus were already on the table ready for us and the drinks orders were taken not
long after.
Myles, the Managing Director, Emma the Accounts Manager and Tyler the sales Manager all shared a bucket of 6 Corona and I opted for a Raspberry Collins. All of the drinks were ice cold with plenty of extra ice in the bucket to keep the larger cool.
We were told by our waitress about their seasonality and provenance as they source local meat and ingredients. Hub Box’s ethos is ‘If you eat meat, make it great!’ Their high welfare beef comes from Philip Warren, in Launceston and their free-range chicken comes from Castlemead Poultry in Radstock. Even their potatoes are grown especially for them at Colwith Farm in Lanlivery.
It was tricky to decide which burger to choose as they all sounded delicious. After a bit of indecisiveness, we soon settled on our orders.
I chose the ‘Hub’ burger which came with a beef patty, bacon, cheddar, hub sauce, pickled red onion and lettuce. The patty was juicy and perfectly cooked which went really well with the pickled red onion. I ordered this with a side of cheesy fries which were loaded with melted cheese.
Emma is vegan so she chose the ‘Vegan Ch!cken’ which was a plant-based chicken patty with garlic mayo and lettuce. The patty was flavourful and tasted very similar to the real thing.
Myles liked the sound of the ‘Big Kahuna’ which didn’t disappoint. This consisted of a double patty as well as BBQ pulled pork, Swiss cheese, smoky BBQ sauce with mayo, lettuce and two onion rings on top. The burger was packed full of flavour and the pulled pork was so tender.
Tyler opted for the ‘Big Cheese’ which was their veggie option and consisted of buttermilk-fried halloumi, cheddar, pineapple relish, pickled beetroot, garlic mayo and rocket. This burger was full of cheese and the pineapple balanced out the flavours nicely. He paired this burger with some skin-on fries which were topped with rosemary, Cornish sea salt and lemon zest.
No meal is complete without dessert. As we were all very full from the burgers, we decided to share some desserts. We chose the Salted Caramel Peanut Brownie and the Banana Chocolate Slice which was vegan. The brownie was gooey, indulgent and worked perfectly with the peanuts. The banana slice consisted of a cocoa banana sponge, cinnamon, fruit glaze with vegan vanilla ice-cream. This was a great vegan dessert which went down a treat.
Our experience at Hub Box was delightful from start to finish. Our waitress ensured we had enough drinks and the atmosphere was an honour to be a part of.
Clean plates all around and very full bellies – A great meal at Hub Box.
