Is Singapore’s First Shake Shack As Good As The Original In New York?

In anticipation of the crazy crowd that will no doubt descend upon this space from April 17, the “fine-casual” restaurant has already prepared a couple of rope barriers at its entrance. Whether or not these are enough to contain the queues of burger-crazed Singaporeans is another story. Incidentally, Shake Shack's location within Jewel Changi is primo — it’s right at the mall’s entrance and you can’t miss it as you walk through the doors.

Just beside the queue area is this space filled with cushy-looking leather seats. “They’re for our VIPs,” says the Jewel Changi concierge primly when we ask. However, we did spy some decidedly, uh, non-VIP-type folks chillaxing here later. Perhaps you and your gang could try taking turns to rest here while one of you waits in line. Don't say we told you, though.

This roomy dining room on the first floor greets you when you finally make it past the queue. There're 90 seats here, and another 90 upstairs.

Study the menu board to your right, before you reach the front of the line. So you can place your order pronto instead of hemming and hawing. 'Cos why would you further delay the moment the burger reaches your lips?

Hopefully, these same ecstatic smiles greet you when you rock up to the kitchen counter to make an order.

A cute video wall with cool SG-centric graphics spans one side of the first floor. For you to gaze at while you wait for your grub.

If you grab a table deep inside the first level dining room, you’ll enjoy a partial view (it's kinda blocked by the train rail) of Jewel’s jewel: the rain vortex.

But it’s worth walking up this short flight of steps to the upper level — we prefer the cosier ambience there.

You get a bird’s eye view of the hungry, non-Shake Shack eating souls wandering downstairs from your airy second-floor perch. No rain vortex lah, but somehow it's a bit more serene here.

Check out the adorable mural and groovy lamps. The booth seats here are pretty comfy, too.

Now, for the bit you've been waiting for — the food. Singapore’s menu sees most of the New York HQ’s signature burgers and side dishes on it, plus three SG-exclusive desserts and a shake (see below).

Let’s begin with the classic ShackBurger. Filled with the ‘smashed’ 100 percent Angus beef patty that launched a thousand copycats. So, we’ve had this at the New York HQ at Madison Square Park, as well as the Shake Shack branches in Tokyo and Hong Kong. And we’ve invariably found the beef tasty but sometimes slightly overcooked. Well, the meat at our media tasting is definitely reasonably juicy — though it's still not the most succulent burger we’ve ever eaten. We suppose it isn't easy for the beef to be inundated with drippings since these cooked-to-medium 'smashed' patties are so thin. It takes great skill to keep a slim patty that's deliberately flattened as it's being cooked super juicy, hence the sometimes inconsistent results we've encountered previously. But the beef (rumoured to be a mix of sirloin-chuck-brisket; its exact blend remains a secret) — imported from the US, the very same patties used in Shake Shack New York — boasts fabulous flavour. It’s rich with the full-bodied savouriness of the healthy, hormone-free cattle grazing in the Midwestern farms from which Shake Shack gets its meat. There’s also a great sear on the patty, which gives it a wonderfully charred crust. The cheddar, melted so it has the perfect ooey-gooey mouthfeel, plus the legendary tangy ‘Shack Sauce’, add umami and moistness to it all.

For all that talk about beef, it’s the photogenic potato flour buns that we think Shake Shack are masters at. No one, thus far, can rival these divine, golden-hued orbs. They’re silky crumbed, plush like the puffiest goose down pillows and so damn fluffy. Yet, they’re sturdy enough to not crumble into a soggy mess even after hanging out for a while with its meat-and-veg filling. The ground spuds lend the buns a fragrant sweetness that regular wheat flour doesn't. In the US, they’ve commissioned famed bakery Martin's to create those rolls. Here, the buns are baked by the Paris Baguette bakery café chain folks according to the same American recipe. Korean F&B conglomerate SPC Group, who’s behind Paris Baguette, were awarded the licensing rights to set up Shake Shack in Singapore. The burger brand also partnered SPC to open Shake Shack outlets in Korea. Shake Shack founder Danny Meyer was spot on when he told us last year that the Paris Baguette-made buns “are as good as the ones in New York”. The $9.20 price tag here is just a few cents steeper than the single Shack Burger in NYC, which goes for approximately USD6.30 (SGD8.60). Reasonable, after factoring in the cost of importing the American beef and other ingredients to Singapore.

This is our first time trying this vegetarian burger. ‘Cos, well, we usually go to a burger joint to eat beef. That being said, this is really quite delicious. A breaded whole portobello mushroom stuffed with melted cheese forms the plump patty here, and it's sandwiched between the same dreamy potato flour buns.

What we love in this shroom burger is its well-balanced blend of cheeses. The Colby, Monterey Jack and Tilsite lend sharpness, butteriness and a gorgeous chewy-oozy texture when you bite into the crisp coated Portobello that leaks earthy juices. Incredibly fun to eat. Shake Shack Culinary Director Mark Rosati tells us that this was one of the most challenging burgers to create on the menu, especially when they first started out hand-crafting them from scratch at the original Madison Square Park branch in NYC. “Now, we’ve gotten someone else to assemble them in larger quantities for us!” he shares. ​​​​​​​

A Chicago-inspired hotdog featuring an all-natural beef sausage in a potato roll. The skinny frank is split down the middle length-wise and grilled so that its edges crisp up (but alas, this means some of its juices also escape). The sausage is aptly beefy and savoury, but a touch salty for our Singaporean tastebuds. Meanwhile, the tartness of the pickles and spiciness of the sport pepper crammed within the soft bun also jostle for attention.

So this tastes pretty much the same as what we’ve had in New York, though we still prefer the saucy chilli-topped dog there (unavailable in Singapore, sadly) as the robust meat sauce evens out all that brininess.

Think a cheeseburger with applewood smoked bacon and chopped cherry peppers. We didn't get to taste this at the media preview, though. So watch this space for updates when we revisit the Shack.

Standard issue crunchy-on-the-outside, fluffy-on-the-inside potatoes here, but “with zero artificial ingredients”. We say go for the plain fries, the ones draped in a cheese sauce become slightly too rich after a while (though they are quite yummy initially).

Honestly? We were mentally prepared for this Singapore-exclusive shake to taste like the kind of coconut and pandan dessert that angmohs go nuts for. Meaning, er, meh and somewhat artificial-tasting — like weird canned coconut instead of the fresh stuff that we're lucky to get so easily in Singapore. So we were pleasantly surprised that this is really rather shiok. Thick vanilla frozen custard ice cream is blitzed with coconut puree and pandan, then scattered with gula melaka crumble and toasted coconut flakes. The shake brims with luscious, lemak coconut, and it's perfumed with the intoxicating scent of pandan that’s fairly natural-tasting (even if this may or may not contain freshly squeezed pandan juice). Quite lovely, especially when the palm sugar bits on top melt into a caramelly morass.

This pandan shake, says Mark Rosati, was inspired by the ondeh ondeh, which the Shake Shack chefs sampled before from a shop in NYC. “We took four or five days to develop this recipe,” he shares. “We’ve been doing this for while so we can do it pretty quickly”. Steady, lah.

In Shake Shack speak, a ‘concrete’ is frozen custard mixed with different mix-ins. And what is a frozen custard, you ask? A richer, denser style of ice cream, essentially. At Shake Shack, it's made using “only real sugar, no corn syrup, and milk from dairy farmers who pledge not to use artificial growth hormones”. This one stars a fudgy chocolate ice cream topped with tiny squares of velvety brownies from Singaporean bake shop, Plain Vanilla. The American burger chain is famous for collaborating with local artisanal sweet shops in whichever country it makes an appearance in. Yay for the PV guys since we're fans of their bakes. It's drizzled with fudge sauce and 60% cacao chocolate chunks from another Singaporean purveyor: bean-to-bar choc brand, Lemuel Chocolate. This concrete is sweet, sinful and strictly for chocoholics.

This dessert's clever moniker alone deserves applause. It’s another item exclusive to SG. The shake’s same silky and aromatic vanilla custard is mixed here with coconut salted caramel, Lemuel chocolate chunks, shortbread bits and gula melaka. Not bad, but the gula chunks are a bit too big and harden quite significantly as it rests on that cold custard.

This cute number, also a Singapore-exclusive, is inspired by the Chinese mango sago dessert. Vanilla custard is blended with fresh sliced mango, sago pearls, shortbread and freeze-dried mango bits. Light, refreshing and easy to scarf down, though we would've appreciated a bit more fresh fruit in this.

If you prefer beer over sweets, try the ShackMeister Ale. It's a bittersweet, hoppy, malty number brewed by Brooklyn Brewery in NYC exclusively for Shake Shack. This frosty cup cuts through all the rich burgers and fries most gratifyingly.

There’s lotsa Shake Shack-branded merch in-store, neatly displayed on a shelf for you to spend more dollars on, post-meal.

These SS socks are yours for just $2.50.

The Merlion makes an appearance on this SG-exclusive T-shirt.

The shirts come in green, too.

Shake Shack bibs and onesies, anyone?

This Lego-esque SS shop replica is adorbs!

What we tasted — at the media preview at least — is pretty much as good, probably even better, than the burgers we've had at Shake Shack's New York HQ. We're also quite charmed by the Singaporean-inflected desserts at this local outpost — especially that surprisingly lemak pandan shake. We'll update this story when we make it down to the Shack for another visit (if we survive the inevitable queue, that is) once it opens officially.

Shake Shack opens on April 17 at #02-256 Jewel Changi Airport, S819666. Open daily 10am-10pm. ​​​​​​​

Photos: Wilson Pang