Hunterdon Central provides hot and cold lunches daily, and many students depend on this for their meals. But are these options even appetizing? My friends and I taste-tested the most unique and daring school lunches for one week to bring you this complete and honest review. We focused on the appearance, taste, texture, and healthiness of each meal to answer the question, Is it worth it? 

 On the first day, we tried grilled cheese and chicken noodle soup. It was a full sandwich paired with a small cup of soup. At first glance, the sandwich looked “unnatural” and more “artificial” than appetizing, according to Hunterdon Central sophomores Nikki Costinini and Elsa Kelly. The sandwich was crisp on the outside, yet the cheese was still not melted in the middle. The soup looked a little watered down, with very few vegetables and an unusual-looking chicken. It appeared so unappetizing that no student was willing to take a bite. So, the chicken noodle soup was unfortunately disqualified from our review for this day. Sophomores Olivia Silber and Victoria Urena describe the taste of the grilled cheese as “flavorful, cheesy, and buttery, with the bread tasting sweet.” However, the first bite was crunchy, stale, and dry. The average rating by the students on the grilled cheese was about 6.4/10.

 On the next day, we tried the “pizza crunchers” and fries. There were four pizza crunchers, each containing a mystery type of cheese and marinara sauce, coated in breadcrumbs. The fries were placed under them. Hannah Kubik described the first look of the pizza crunchers as, of course, “crunchy, well-breaded, and cooked perfectly.” She also said that the fries looked a little soggy. When she took the first bite of the pizza crunchers, she described them as having a nice cheese pull and mentioned that the sauce was well distributed, with a satisfying amount spread throughout the crunchers. The fries were a little dry and lacked seasoning, but when paired with sauce, they were better tasting. This lunch was a 6/10.

 The next lunch was a spicy chicken sandwich, which came with a spicy chicken filet on a bun with a side of fries. At first glance, Lilly Jones said it looked dry, and there was nothing too special about the plating. She also noticed that the color of the chicken appeared to be unnaturally orange. Olivia Silber and Lauren Facinelli described this sandwich as having a lot of spice, but the bread-to-chicken ratio could have been better, as there was too much bread. Overall, the sandwich had a good flavor, but the chicken was a little bit dry and dense since it lacked juice in the meat. Freshman AJ Berry mentioned that the bun was cold and almost stale, which makes it unappetizing. The fries were very similar to the day before. The overall rating of the spicy chicken sandwich with fries was about 5/10.

 Next up, we tried the waffle bar! They had many options for waffle toppings, like strawberries, bananas, blueberries, sprinkles, chocolate chips, caramel, chocolate sauce, whipped cream, and maple syrup. All these options made this lunch super fun and unique. It allowed anyone to get exactly what they liked. These waffles are typically not a lunch option, so this was a special occasion. I put whipped cream, chocolate sauce, strawberries, and rainbow sprinkles on my waffle. The presentation looked really good, according to Ava Qiku and Nikki Costantini. They appreciated that the waffle was very colorful with sprinkles and strawberries. The first bite was amazing. It tasted sweet, the fruit was fresh, and the toppings blended super well together. The texture of the waffle was fluffy on the inside and had a good crunch, and the overall rating of the waffle was about an 8/10.

The next lunch was the buffalo chicken flatbread with fries. There were vegetables sprinkled across the top, as well as buffalo sauce and chicken. There was also a nice variety of ingredients, including red onions, scallions, cheese, and chicken. Lilly Jones and Victoria Urena described the first bite as “chewy and perfectly doughy, with a crunch on the outside and a soft center.” They also said the texture was very pleasant and appetizing. The flavor was smoky and a little sweet. The vegetables were described as dry and not very flavorful. The side for this meal was once again, unseasoned soggy fries! Having more healthy options in the lunchroom, such as veggies or even some variety like mac and cheese, could help to bring different options into the cafeteria. Having fries with every meal gets repetitive and is very unhealthy. The dough didn’t have much flavor, but it had a great crunch. The chicken was well seasoned, with a solid amount of spice in the sauce. The one thing about the sauce was that it tasted very similar to barbecue sauce rather than buffalo. The serving size of this meal was satisfying. The flatbread was very big and had a good amount of chicken on it as well. The overall rating was a 7.5/10.

 The last lunch we tried was a Jamaican beef patty with, not to anyone’s surprise, fries. At first glance, this was described as unusually yellow, almost artificially colored. However, it looked well-cooked and flaky, just as a beef patty should be. In the center, the meat looked oddly colored and even had a yellow color as well. This was extremely off-putting and made me a little nervous to try it. The first bite was described as doughy on the inside and lacking much seasoning. The outside of the patty was very crunchy and buttery, which added a great touch to the first bite. But it was also a little doughy in the middle, which made it hard to chew. The meat also tasted a little watery and melted in your mouth (not in a pleasant way), which was a little unusual. Half of the fries were surprisingly crispy that day, but the other half had a regular-old soggy texture. There was some sort of black seasoning on the beef patty that could not be identified, and it was not evenly spread throughout the dish. The lack of seasoning impacted the flavor in a negative way. The overall rating for this meal was a 4/10.

To recap the week, the best meal that was produced was definitely the waffles, which is quite unfortunate because this was a specialty lunch. They had a lot of delicious flavors and many different options for toppings, which ranked them the highest. The worst meal reviewed was the Jamaican beef patty. Just from the color alone, the meal ranked low, and the taste was not any better. Also, many of the lunches we reviewed were not catered toward vegetarians because there was meat in almost every meal. On a separate note, it was pretty difficult to find healthy options in the lunchroom. The few salads sell out quickly, so most students have to settle for these highly processed “meals.” There was a large variety of entrees, but the sides were generally the same, consisting of soggy fries. A lot of the food was unseasoned, and it was fairly difficult to find appetizing options. The cafeteria is heavily in need of reform and a new menu. Throwing processed foods at students and baking them instead of frying them isn’t “healthy.” It’s just unnatural. None of these foods were appealing to students, especially those who were trying to find simple, natural, and healthy meals. I hope the lunchroom will update its menu and maybe add things like grilled chicken salads, local produce, and vegetarian options.