Hungry Hub’s Issa Zangana holds the new, high-protein, nutrient-dense burger. Photo: Hungry Hub.
A new menu item has hit the Illawarra, and it’s giving hump day a whole new meaning.
Warrawong’s Hungry Hub has added camel meat items to its menu, and locals are into it.
“People are definitely curious,” Burhan Zangana says. “They’re trying it, coming back and sending family and friends.”
The menu invites people to explore the exotic meat in three forms — burgers, loaded fries and wraps.
Burhan says the meat, sourced from the Northern Territory and South Australia, lands well for a few reasons.
“It’s tastier than beef, and the texture is firmer, but mostly, it’s very healthy,” he says.
Camel meat tastes very similar to beef, though slightly sweeter, and is often described as a cross between beef and lamb.
An exceptionally lean, nutrient-dense red meat, it also offers significant health benefits, including superior cardiovascular support, weight management and boosting the immune system.
It is highly prized for its lower saturated fat and cholesterol profiles compared to traditional beef, while delivering a robust punch of essential proteins and vitamins.
And according to Burhan, the wild camels roaming the arid outback of mainland Australia are the “best in the world” to eat.
“Australian wild camel meat is a highly sustainable, disease-free and lean protein,” Burhan says. “They eat from nature things that are used for medicine, so the meat is very healthy, free of the kinds of viruses and illnesses you can get from farmed animals.”
Burhan is no stranger to the exotic meat. He says his former company Oz Camel was the first camel burger supplier in Sydney.
“We supplied to the Lakemba Nights market in 2009, back when nobody knew about camel meat,” he says.
“Now, every year for Ramadan at night, they close the main road and mostly, it’s camel burgers for sale.
“Hopefully, the Illawarra will come out in force and see for themselves what all the fuss is about.”
Hungry Hub is located at 32 King Street, Warrawong, and is open Tuesday to Sunday from 10 am to 8 pm.
