I’m sorry vegetarians. I really am….actually I’m not. It’s been rather meat-heavy here recently what with MEATLiquor and Grillstock and it’s gonna get meatier now.
Shake Shack in London is very much the restaurant du jour at the moment, with huge online hype. My cousin found out when it was launching and is conveniently fitted in with us having tickets to the great new musical of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Being a huge fan of the original Gene Wilder film, I was totally excited to see the chocolatey dream world coming to life on the stage and to get through that excitement I needed FOOD!
I’m not going to lie me and my cousins did check out the menu online quite a few times before getting to the Shack. After seeing loads of pictures on twitter of the perfect lettuce laid burgers and much excitement to try a concrete ( a frozen custard with mix-ins such as brownie chunks) we joined the roped queue, similar to Disney World and as exciting.
I went for a Shack Stack. No simple meal for me, oh no sir. A Cheeseburger with a Veggie burger on top, which is a juicy portobello mushroom stuffed to the brim with melted cheese, breaded and fried. All topped with curly crisp lettuce and juicy tomato, all in a soft white bun. To be totally honest I wasn’t blown away with the beef burger, wasn’t thick and juicy but I loved the veggie burger. So good and cheesy.
The fries were thick crinkle-cut that just begged to be slathered in ketchup and hot sauce, which there is a large condiment section to choose from. As well as the usual drink section, on offer, there was Root Beer Floats, Thick Milkshakes, Ice Tea and my favourite, Fifty/ Fifty. Half fresh lemonade, half ice tea. Super refreshing on a warm summer’s day.
As the queue starts to snake all around Covent Garden we made the great choice of when ordering our burgers putting our dessert order on hold so we wouldn’t have to queue up again but just collect them from the hatch. The desserts on offer are Concretes. Frozen custards with various mixes in. Either choosing one of the Shacks own flavours, like the Dury Lane Jam ( local strawberry jam, St John’s Bakery brown sugar biscuits and fresh banana), or Concrete Jungle ( marshmallow sauce, fresh banana and peanut butter sauce) , or using the long list of mix in’s to create your own concoction or even pick the daily concrete special. Scroll down to see the sweet goodness I picked….
Union Shack!!! Chocolate frozen custard, St John’s Bakery chocolate hazelnut brownies, fudge sauce, Paul. A Young chocolate chunks and sea salt. Two words sugar high, this delicious frozen custard had lots of interesting textures, with the chewy brownies, sharp shards of the dark chocolate and the oh so gooey sauce. I could really pick up the sea salt in mine and was a tad surprised they didn’t use Paul. A Young’s amazing brownies (we all know I’m a huge fangirl when it comes to Paul A Young and his chocolate magic.) But the St John Bakery brownies were still so very good and rich. We gobbled our custards up like Augustus Gloops before heading over to the theatre.
I enjoyed Shake Shack and can see why it was popular and will do very well in that location. However, for me the burger just didn’t really compare to the juicy meat hunk I had at MeatLiquor so will probably stop by again for a veggie burger, fries and a frozen custard instead of the burgers. But my cousin did really like her hot dog with amazing caramelised onions.
After the fantastic show, which foodies and general greedy guts should go to see this dreamland into the wonderful world of chocolate. After all the dancing Oompa Loompa’s we needed something sweet. Hello Primrose Bakery! Opposite the theatre is the store that I and cousins went to a couple of months ago to learn the Primrose swirl. Using our voucher for a free cupcake which we got from attending the course, I picked the sexy looking Sea Salted Caramel cupcake, with added nuggets of caramel and salt on top as well as having a gooey middle. Perfect for the long train trip home.
Address Book
Shake Shack
24 Market Building, The Piazza, London WC2E 8RD
Tel: 01923 555129
Website: shakeshack.co.uk
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