Review of 'Shake Shack'

The famous New York chain arrives in London to enormous queues (though they go quickly with the speedy service). Opening within hours of the other big US(/Canadian) burger chain Five Guys only a few streets away, Shake Shack brings another burger restaurant to Covent Garden (the other being MeatMarket above the south market).

Arriving early on a Saturday afternoon the queue was only a few people deep and we were able to find seats nearby. You order in a small shop in the Covent Garden buildings and seating is in several areas on the cobbles in and around the area (there is also a small seating area in a shop space). After you place your order you are given a buzzer which alerts you when you can come and pick it up.

The kitchen was, as expected, extremely busy when we arrived but very well organized - Only a short wait for our food after ordering from the friendly staff. The menu is quite simple split into, burgers, hot dogs, fries, shakes, frozen custard (with a “flavour of the day” special each day), and drinks (alcoholic and non).

The burgers are all about £5 each with double burgers costing up to £9. I had the “ShackBurger” a “cheeseburger topped with lettuce, tomato and ShackSauce” (single patty, £5) and my companion had the normal cheeseburger with lettuce, pickle and tomato (£4.75). The obviously hand-shaped (ie, irregular shape) burger patties were very moist (though served just a bit below medium-rare) but not overwhelmingly meaty flavoured. The buns basically flattened to nothing but reasonably tasty. The toppings were also not very strong but tasty nonetheless. All in all very good and not massive in size…which we actually appreciated. If you want it bigger, ask for a second patty!

The crinkle-cut fries come either plain (£2.50) or with cheese sauce (£3.50). We went for the cheese which was quite tasty and added a nice taste to the very crunchy fries. The portion was not huge, again, but that was fine with us.

Being fans of properly prepared shakes (unavailable in much of the UK) I very much enjoyed my vanilla malted (£4.50) which was thick and very tasty. Again, not a massive portion. My companions chocolate malted (£4.50) was very chocolatey but not as nice as the vanilla (a bit too strongly flavored).

Very tasty with reasonably sized portions though even so we did not have enough room for the frozen custard. We will have to come back to give that a try. Look forward to also giving the hot dogs a try…

Rating: “Nearly perfect, but not quite”

Review Date: 2013-08-31


Cuisine: American/British

Address: 24 Market Building The Piazza London, England WC2E 8RD

Public Transport: TUBE Covent Garden

Location: London (England) - Covent Garden

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Telephone: +44 (0) 203 5981360

URL: http://www.shakeshack.com/