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CITY : London (Covent Garden)
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VENDOR: Shake Shack (Covent Garden)
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NARRATIVE: After a long day (or past few
days rather) of gardening, Craig and Andrew decided to take advantage of an
absolutely glorious sunny and warm(ish) evening in London. [] Craig –
come on Andrew get to the burger review! After some minor banter between
Craig and Andrew as to whether or not they should stick with the original plan,
or bow to the power of work (cough cough) life balance, they convinced
themselves to stick with the original plan (minus the tube, plus a taxi!).
Andrew wanted Craig to try one of his home town favourites (mind the
auto-correct there) – Shake Shack. The original Shake Shack was just one block
from Andrew’s first apartment in New York City in Madison Square Park. The
original is famous for long lines (i.e., queues) and the setting of being in
beautiful Madison Square Park. Now, as for the burger(s)....
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BURGER: The
Double Smoke Stack - Juicy and perfectly cooked with a signature
“special” sauce[] (Craig – which was excellent), crispy bacon,
and melted cheese. Cooked just right![] Craig – no hidden pickle!
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BUN: Definitely a highlight – other than
being slightly smaller than preferred, the bun was soft and fresh – just like
the ones Andrew remembered from New York! The bun was the perfect beginning for
a mind blowing juicy bight of burger.[] Craig – have to disagree here – the bun was too
thin for me and whilst the taste was good this let the burger down!
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DRIP FACTOR: Craig was a bit fearful at
the beginning as his first impression was it was a bit too greasy, but no-no,
once he stuck with it and watched how Andrew perfectly executed his eating
strategy, there was no drip, just simply beauty.
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DID IT HOLD TOGETHER? Like a glove[] Craig
– the thin roll just did the job – just!
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COULD WE ACTUALLY EAT IT? Yes. Perfect
sized. The easy substantiation here was there was little conversation between
Craig and Andrew during the actual eating programme (again, mind the
auto-correct there).
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CHIPS: Simply put by Craig “Well the
fries certainly top the list!” and “Is there salt, oh, it’s already on them”[] Craig
- I do however refuse to give any points for salt!
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WOULD WE GO THERE AGAIN? Easy answer for
Andrew seeing as he’s been countless times in his lifetime, yes. For Craig,
let’s just stick to the facts, after they were finished Craig claimed he felt
that he could have had one more! He eventually wised up and decided he’d have
enough, but the temptation was certainly powerful.[] Craig – the
temptation and the fact that I still felt hungry (the insubstantial bun effect!)
even after one of their double burgers (a single would be a disaster for a
hungry traveller!). I decided not to buy another after a quick calorie review
which revealed that one meal was over a full days allocated calories or about
the same I expend run a half marathon! Though this was in part due to the shake
– which was an absolute highlight!
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OVERALL SUMMARY: Enough said above.
Great.[] A very very good burger! The American new boy seems
to know his stuff! However, as he drowned his burger in ketchup you wonder if
he could actually taste anything?
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SERVED ON BROWN PAPER: No. Wax paper.
Experienced Andrew slowly pulled the wax paper back as he ate more and more of
the burger to keep the burger perfectly together. Rookie Craig made a mistake
off the start and completely removed his burger from the wax paper wrapping.
Craig fully recovered though and finished strong.[]
Craig – rookie and recovery my
foot – the wax was swimming in grease so needed to be removed!
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MARKS OUT OF 10: 9.0/10 – if you’re ever
in a City with a Shake Shack, definitely worth a stop.[] Craig
my score would be 8.5 so an average of 8.75 but cant disagree with the
sentiment!
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NEW CRITERIA – POST BURGER EXPERIENCE: See
additional photo. Best way to burn off the []
(Craig near 2000!) calories
is a long walk on a beautiful night in a world class city. No better way to end
a great night of eating and de-stress after a hard days work.
