I finally tried Shake Shack! After all the hype, I wanted to see if it was worth itโ€”and it was.

The ๐—ฆ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ธ ๐—ฆ๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ธ ๐Ÿ” ($14.30) is a glorious mountain of pillowy soft potato buns stacked upon a juicy smashed beef patty, a golden brown, deep fried portobello mushroom, fresh emerald green lettuce leaves and ruby red tomato discs. I take a bite and cheddar and muenster cheese erupts from within the mushroom.

If you want to savour the pure meaty deliciousness of Shake Shackโ€™s famous smashed beef patties, opt for the ๐—ฆ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ธ๐—•๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ด๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐Ÿ” ($9.20 for single, $12.70 for double). The creaminess of the ShackSauce, the umami of the meat and cheese coalesces into absolute deliciousness on your tastebuds.

Last but not least, you canโ€™t call it Shake Shack without the โ€˜shakesโ€™, can you? Being a milkshake lover, I couldnโ€™t resist the ๐—–๐—น๐—ฎ๐˜€๐˜€๐—ถ๐—ฐ ๐—›๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ-๐—ฆ๐—ฝ๐˜‚๐—ป ๐— ๐—ถ๐—น๐—ธ๐˜€๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—ธ๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐Ÿฅค($6.90 for all flavours, +$0.80 for malted). I opted for the unique and intriguingly-named ๐—•๐—น๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ธ ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ช๐—ต๐—ถ๐˜๐—ฒ ๐— ๐—ถ๐—น๐—ธ๐˜€๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—ธ๐—ฒ, which was a creamy mix of chocolate and vanilla. It was sweet, but not sickeningly so, almost like a liquified chocolate milk ice cream. I slurped down the entire cup in less than a minute flat.

Shake Shack may be slightly higher priced, but youโ€™re also paying for higher quality. Between Five Guys and Shake Shack, Iโ€™d say Shake Shack winsโ€”itโ€™s slightly less expensive and unlike its counterpart, it doesnโ€™t need weird and wacky toppings as a gimmick, just simple and delicious ingredients.

๐—ฃ๐—น๐—ฎ๐˜†๐—™๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—ฑ ๐—ฉ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐˜: 2.5/3 STARS โญ๏ธ โญ๏ธ โญ๏ธ

๐Ÿ˜‹๐™’๐™–๐™ฉ๐™˜๐™ ๐™ข๐™ฎ ๐™ง๐™š๐™ซ๐™ž๐™š๐™ฌ ๐™ค๐™ฃ ๐™”๐™ค๐™ช๐™๐™ช๐™—๐™š ๐™ฃ๐™ค๐™ฌ! https://youtu.be/KCilEfADol4