·         CITY : London (Covent Garden)

·         VENDOR: Shake Shack (Covent Garden)

·         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)....

·         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!

·         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!

·         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.

·         DID IT HOLD TOGETHER? Like a glove[]  Craig – the thin roll just did the job – just!

·         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).

·         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!

·         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!

·         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?

·         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!

·         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!

·         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.