Shake Shack — Restaurant in Taguig

As with all fast food joints from across the pond, it was only a matter of time that this place opened it's doors to the public.

A lot could be said about the ingenuity of this restaurant, but somehow it is drowning in it's mediocrity.

Other mediocre fast food joints do greet the guests upon entering the premises. At least half the time. But what can you expect from a self service restaurant. At shake shack, you should expect a little more. But somewhere along the way, something got lost in translation.

After having to repeat for the fourth time to a less than stellar waiter behind the counter, after being given the change without repeating the order or counting back the change, we were given a table buzzer that has seen better days. Even though the restaurant has only opened less than a week. We scoured the noisy interior for a table, wiped down with a dubious damp cloth by a waiter who clearly had other things on his mind. How long has it been since that rag has been washed? The moisture left behind still lingered on that table for a good 5 minutes before it evaporated into a greasy haze. Luckily the condiments station had some serviettes to help elevate the cleanliness of the table. On a side note, nobody really followed the designated bins for biodegradable and non-biodegradable. Not even the staff.

After table buzzer rattled the table top, we sidled over back to the counter to get the food ordered. Waiter asks for the buzzer back and tosses it into a basket along with the other grimy table buzzers.

As we sat down, we finally got a look at what everybody seems to be talking about the past week. Smoke shack burger, the shake shack burger, and a side order of crinkle cut fries and a shake.

Now these are small burgers. See that picture. That's already half the burger. Steamed buns stuffed with highly processed cheese slice, a burger Patty reminiscent of those cheap patties you get at the grocery half off and thawed out due to a faulty refrigeration unit. The shake really has difficulty reminding you of your younger years, much less creating new ones for the kids. The French fries are reconstituted processed potato, lacking crispness or even soginess that would have made it fun to eat. The echoing din in the place didn't help either, with high pitched soundwaves from the clanging of steel chairs and trays,

As this is a self service restaurant, we gathered up all the trash into our food trays and headed toward the much ignored bins. Ignored because we passed so many tables that the ignorant diners have not bothered to clear themselves, clutterd with detritus of burgers, paper cups and wrappers.

Still hungry, we left the place, not really thinking about when would be next time we come over. Value for money was wanting, as you could get a better burger elsewhere. As for the shake, can really say that it's good. Because...

Here it is, the burger joint everyone was waiting for! For starters, they give out coupons per person before you can fall in line to order. Why? These coupons serve as a way to avoid too many burger orders per person. You see, you can only buy 4 burgers at a time per coupon (but can order unlimited numbers of the other choices from their menu, up to your heart's content and wallet).

As you can see on the pic, we ordered 3 burgers, one hotdog bun, 2 desserts, their locally exclusive ube shake, fries with cheese, and large drinks.

For me, I'd go with the burger with bacon and the shroom burger (meatless). You won't be missing anything if you order the classic, so just save the money for other food choices. The dog is yummy, although a bit on the shorter side than what I've expected. Still better than your regular jolly hotdog (no offense - I love Jollibee).

The ube shake tastes just like what you thought it would, and those 2 desserts are something new. The lighter one (left) is vanilla with Wildflour's lemon pie, so you can expect it to be in the sour side. The one on the right is ube with sago pearls, a cube of leche flan, and pinipig (i guess, their take on Halo-Halo?).

Then, we had lemonade and brewed iced tea (not like the sweetened iced tea you can buy at convenience stores, mind you) to quench our thirst from all the food.

Lastly, it took us anywhere between 20-40 mins before we could order. It's probably longer because it's the weekend, so try to eat here during off-peak (office hours of you can) times - although I haven't seen if the lines were shorter on those hours so you go and take the risk.

Overall? I'm satisfied - the place is clean, food is great, there are a lot of tables (the irony is, there are a lot of customers too so you have to wait for someone to finish to get a seat), there's a condiment area, and best of all, friendly, helpful, and smiling staff.

Oh, last but not the least - total amount on the pic is 2,500 pesos flat. We just ordered the regular ones (aside from the 2 large drinks), so it will still go higher if you decide to go with double patties, which can shoot a single burger price upward, ranging from 400 to...

Bringing New York to the Philippines.

The burgers here are authentic. I've eaten at the Shake Shack in Manhattan and I can say that they have successfully replicated their burgers in their franchises over here in the Philippines. I've eaten at the Shake Shack in Tokyo in 2019 and it was a fail for them. The burgers they had there tasted different from the ones in the US. Good job to the Philippine crew for making the Shake Shack experience here in the Philippines very authentic.

I always go for their cheeseburgers, and sometimes when I'm really hungry I get the double version (lazy to remember and look up the name, sorry). My wife loves the burger with the mushroom. We also always get the cheese fries, and we always instruct them to serve the cheese separately because we want to dip the fries individually in the cheese instead of the cheese all over the fries.

I always get big sodas here, just like in the States. My wife sometimes orders the milkshakes which I also like except that I am limiting my intake of sugary drinks. They also have an iced tea-lemonade drink which is also quite good.

Prices are quite expensive compared to other burger places but you're paying for some topnotch, authentic food from the US. It's worth it to splurge on them once in a while if you really love burgers and fries.

You can ask for as much condiments (ketchup, mustard) and plastic utensils as you want. They're quite generous.

Each table has an alcohol dispenser to disinfect your hands before eating.

They have ample seating inside which is, of course, airconditioned and very comfy. They seating outside too if you want to eat alfresco.

The best thing I like about this place is that it is very pet friendly, and this is important for me and my wife because we always have our dog with us whenever we are in High Street.

Dogs are welcome inside the establishment, and to further prove how welcome they are, Shake Shack has food items for them that one could order. Our dog, though, didn't like the peanut buttery meal that we brought her once. So, since then, she just watches us while...