The American food chain takeover of London is hitting an all-time high and I have to admit, I'm pretty happy about it. Every now and then you need an indulgence and American fast food is just that….indulgent.
Last week I headed over to Shake Shack with my cousin.
Shake Shack Covent Garden
24 Market Building
The Piazza
London
WC2E 8RD
01923 555129
Shake Shack is like the story of the little engine that could. It began in 2001 with a little hot dog cart in New York City's Madison Square Park. It wasn’t long after it opened that the cart developed a loyal following and soon had a huge line of hungry customers. The cart grew into the original 2004 Shake Shack which was exactly that, a shack/kiosk serving food from sliding windows with no indoor seating.
Today the burgers, dogs, shakes, concretes (Shake Shack's most unique signature item) and fries can be had from hte US, to the Middle East as well as in Dubai, Turkey and Russia. Of course let’s not forget our UK locations in Covent gardens and Westfield Stratford. The biggest difference from the first humble shack is that they now offer a dine-in option.
While the large chain does serve very good shakes, as its name implies and still offers up the hot dogs that started it all, it has become synonymous with its tasty tasty burgers. It is at the forefront of the huge ‘gourmet’ burger sensation that hit London over the last ten years. Gourmet, in this instance just means a better than industry standard fast food burger.
In the UK they use 100% UK Aberdeen Angus Beef which is meaty, juicy, fresh and flavourful. The quality of the toppings is also above the other fast food chains with fresh lettuce, tomatoes, yummy bacon, mushrooms, pickle, onion and cheese and you can’t go past the secret "Shack sauce," a slightly spicy, sweet and sour blend of mayo, ketchup, mustard and spices.
Of course they still do the hot dogs that started it all but they are clearly playing second fiddle to the burger and I am yet to try one as I just can’t go past the burger and can’t fit in both.
You can’t have a burger or a hot dog without fries right? The fries aren’t bad, but also nothing to write home about. They remind me of the from frozen crinkle-cut fries, probably not worth the money but again you just can’t not have fries. It just feels wrong. They also do the American staple of covering them with melted cheese if you want (at a cost of course).
A unique signature of theirs is call the concrete. It is dense frozen custard ice cream blended at high speed with mix-ins. You can make your own, or choose from a selection of signature concretes (the crazy-great combinations are specific to each Shack). Available in single or double.
For me I couldn’t go past a shake….it is called SHAKE shack after all. They do the originals like vanilla, chocolate, strawberry but then also do black & white, Carmel, peanut butter and often have really impressive specials. The special when we went was a salted chocolate and peanut butter which I couldn’t pass up. It was divine! My cousin got the Cranberry shake made lemonade which was also pretty good.
The only thing that is a bit of a bummer with Shack Shake is probably the price. It’s not cheap. My cousin and I got two burgers, a portion of fries to share, a shake and the cranberry lemonade and it came to £26. I thoroughly enjoyed it but its definitely something I won't be doing often, price wise and healthiness wise. I'm guessing my shake alone was at least a 1000 calories.
I would say to try it out though, give it a go at least once because it shouldn’t disappoint.
Go on, treat yourself!
Last week I headed over to Shake Shack with my cousin.
Shake Shack Covent Garden
24 Market Building
The Piazza
London
WC2E 8RD
01923 555129
Shake Shack is like the story of the little engine that could. It began in 2001 with a little hot dog cart in New York City's Madison Square Park. It wasn’t long after it opened that the cart developed a loyal following and soon had a huge line of hungry customers. The cart grew into the original 2004 Shake Shack which was exactly that, a shack/kiosk serving food from sliding windows with no indoor seating.
Today the burgers, dogs, shakes, concretes (Shake Shack's most unique signature item) and fries can be had from hte US, to the Middle East as well as in Dubai, Turkey and Russia. Of course let’s not forget our UK locations in Covent gardens and Westfield Stratford. The biggest difference from the first humble shack is that they now offer a dine-in option.
While the large chain does serve very good shakes, as its name implies and still offers up the hot dogs that started it all, it has become synonymous with its tasty tasty burgers. It is at the forefront of the huge ‘gourmet’ burger sensation that hit London over the last ten years. Gourmet, in this instance just means a better than industry standard fast food burger.
In the UK they use 100% UK Aberdeen Angus Beef which is meaty, juicy, fresh and flavourful. The quality of the toppings is also above the other fast food chains with fresh lettuce, tomatoes, yummy bacon, mushrooms, pickle, onion and cheese and you can’t go past the secret "Shack sauce," a slightly spicy, sweet and sour blend of mayo, ketchup, mustard and spices.
Of course they still do the hot dogs that started it all but they are clearly playing second fiddle to the burger and I am yet to try one as I just can’t go past the burger and can’t fit in both.
You can’t have a burger or a hot dog without fries right? The fries aren’t bad, but also nothing to write home about. They remind me of the from frozen crinkle-cut fries, probably not worth the money but again you just can’t not have fries. It just feels wrong. They also do the American staple of covering them with melted cheese if you want (at a cost of course).
A unique signature of theirs is call the concrete. It is dense frozen custard ice cream blended at high speed with mix-ins. You can make your own, or choose from a selection of signature concretes (the crazy-great combinations are specific to each Shack). Available in single or double.
The only thing that is a bit of a bummer with Shack Shake is probably the price. It’s not cheap. My cousin and I got two burgers, a portion of fries to share, a shake and the cranberry lemonade and it came to £26. I thoroughly enjoyed it but its definitely something I won't be doing often, price wise and healthiness wise. I'm guessing my shake alone was at least a 1000 calories.
I would say to try it out though, give it a go at least once because it shouldn’t disappoint.
Go on, treat yourself!
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