Review of burger restaurant Hub Box, Brewery Square, Dorchester

If you have come to Hub Box Brewery Square, Dorchester, with the intention of not going away completely and utterly full, then forget it!

This atmospheric new eatery makes the most of the beautiful old Eldridge Pope brewery building it is housed in - transforming it into a good looking contemporary restaurant with the vibe of a lively diner. Think the John Travolta, Uma Thurman 'Jack Rabbit Slims' restaurant scene in Pulp Fiction, just without the zany dancing.

There's a veritable selection of old-time diner juke box music blaring out and a illuminated scrawling handwritten sign reading: 'Feed me fries and tell me you love me.' Indeed.

Similar to the layout of a Wagamama restaurant, you can see the open kitchen from your seat and there's a nice mish-mash of circular tables and square tables with some hanging lighting, glass panels and pot plants letting you know that this is much, much more than your average High Street burger restaurant.

The first thing I should point out is that the Hub Box drinks menu is a rabbit hole of intrigue in itself. Cocktails were proving popular on our visit - there's a 2 for £12 offer on all £6.95 cocktails all day - but if you're driving, their soft drinks menu is by no means the inferior option.

You can choose from coolers which are freshly made to order using fruit juices and syrups and malt milkshakes. Behold milkshake lovers - you may have just stumbled upon your idea of heaven - ice cream, malt, whole milk and topped with whippy cream!

There's also a diverse choice of beer, wine and soft drinks, including my go-to soft drink of choice, posh ginger beer.

Diving straight into the burger menu, I opted for the signature hub burger, priced at £9.95. I was interested to try the key ingredient this south west gourmet burger chain is so proud of, emphasising the provenance of its menu at every opportunity. The beef in the hub box burgers comes from cattle farmer Philip Warren in Launceston, who uses 21 day dry-aged beef for the burgers. Burgers are presented on a tray-cum-plate that echoes Hub Box's casual vibe and puts the focus upon the food. If those burgers were to convey a message, they'd be opening up their little bun mouths and alluringly whispering 'just get stuck in'.

And with Hub Box so proud of its Cornish credentials, what could be more West Country than a clotted cream brioche bun from Cornwall bakery Baker Tom's? It coped with the thick, flavoursome, succulent patty well and was fresh and crumbly, without that doughy artificial consistency you sometimes find in a burger bun.

Hub Burger with skin on fries

My hub burger, also containing bacon, cheddar, pickled red onion and lettuce, was a step up from your average burger. And the 'hub sauce', which I'm sure has some sort of secret ingredient to it, gave it a slightly zingy flavour that wasn't a disruptor to take anything away from the star of the dish - that beautiful beef patty.

And the fabulous skin-on fries - I'm one of those people who is generally more about the fries than the burger. It was a generous portion that I just couldn't get through it no matter how much I wanted to. They were piping hot (I find luke-warm fries almost inedible), perfectly dry and not oily and just the kind of accompaniment you crave on a winter's evening.

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At £9.95 for the hub burger and £3.75 for the fries, I thought that this dish presents excellent value for money and will certainly not leave you hungry for more. My other half managed to work his way through a bacon double cheese burger - a double patty, with double bacon, double burger cheese, smoky BBQ sauce and lettuce. He made it! And reported that it was thoroughly lovely.

I should point out that chicken burgers, hot dogs and veggie and vegan burgers are also available and you can 'soup up' your fries by making them 'dirty' with added pulled pork, sauces, pickled red chilli and slaw.

The two of us summoned up the gluttonous strength to choose a chocolate fudge peanut brownie for dessert, which was accompanied by chocolate ice-cream and it was certainly worth it.

Chocolate fudge peanut brownie with chocolate ice-cream and a biscuit base

The crumbly warm chocolate in the not-too-sweet brownie was offset perfectly by the rich, dense Belgian chocolate flavoured ice-cream. This was presented on a bed of biscotti crumb, which gave it a moreish texture. I would have put good money on me not being able to to finish the dessert, but the quality of it shone through, leaving two empty plates.

I can't fault Hub Box for its attention to detail and efficiency. Servers bring out a wooden indicator prior to your meal that are used as a visual indicator so that staff will go around, collect them and enquire as to how you are finding your meal.

And I must admit that in some of these circumstances I nod politely and smile, but I could honestly say that this gourmet burger restaurant ticked all the boxes and then some. I think I could happily have one of these burger and fries meals for lunch and it would keep me going all day. I will certainly be back to try some more of the hearty and delicious fare on offer at this much welcome addition to Dorchester's dining scene.