Shake Shack (Neil Road)

Fourscore and two Fridays ago, I had the pleasure of previewing @shakeshacksg latest special at their groovy Disco Night. For many, the news that Shake Shack & @kengengkee had collaborated on The Shack’s newest special was a total surprise. For me it came as no surprise, as I do remember Keng Eng Kee running a short-lived burger concept at their main Alexandria outlet. ⠀
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This collab special might be Shake Shack’s biggest special to date, as they introduce the White Pepper Beef Burger ($15.70 nett for a double), the Coffee Glazed Chicken Burger ($11.80 nett), Coffee Glazed Chicken Bites ($9.10 nett). The White Pepper Beef takes two of The Shack’s fabled smashed patties, tucks them in with a blanket of Monterey Jack cheese, tops them with caramelised onions & fresh scallions, before everything gets saucily sauced up with the special Sarawak white pepper sauce. ⠀
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It sounds utterly weird coming from me, but I think the chicken has the beef beat here. I don’t mean to glaze, but The Coffee Glazed Chicken Burger was a divine revelation. Even though the burger I had was a chicken breast, the inherent dryness of it was completely ameliorated by the sweet & savoury coffee glaze and the moist & tangy coleslaw. The batter on the chicken was also amazing, as it stayed creditably crispy even with the sticky coffee glaze on it. The Chicken Bites were more of the same, albeit without the carbs & the ‘slaw.⠀
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If this review has piqued your interest, you have until 31 December to get these brilliant burgers into your belly. Go on then son, get some.⠀

Fourscore and two Fridays ago, I had the pleasure of previewing @shakeshacksg latest special at their groovy Disco Night. For many, the news that Shake Shack & @kengengkee had collaborated on The Shack’s newest special was a total surprise. For me it came as no surprise, as I do remember Keng Eng Kee running a short-lived burger concept at their main Alexandria outlet. ⠀
⠀
This collab special might be Shake Shack’s biggest special to date, as they introduce the White Pepper Beef Burger ($15.70 nett for a double), the Coffee Glazed Chicken Burger ($11.80 nett), Coffee Glazed Chicken Bites ($9.10 nett). The White Pepper Beef takes two of The Shack’s fabled smashed patties, tucks them in with a blanket of Monterey Jack cheese, tops them with caramelised onions & fresh scallions, before everything gets saucily sauced up with the special Sarawak white pepper sauce. ⠀
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The white pepper sauce is a stroke of genius, as the creaminess of the aioli base keeps the burger moist & saucy, while the heat of the white pepper restrains the burger from feeling too greasy. However, the sauce isn’t too peppery and it won’t trigger any intractable coughing fits, which is perfectly fine by me.⠀
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If this review has piqued your interest, you have until 31 December to get these brilliant burgers into your belly. Go on then son, get some.⠀

Got quite excited when we had first come across the news of the Shake Shack x Keng Eng Kee Seafood collaboration some time back last month — whilst it is exciting to see the folks behind Shake Shack introduce a limited time-only offering that makes use of local elements in their burger offerings, the collaboration does also somewhat rewinds things for us to a time in the past where Keng Eng Kee Seafood had first explored serving up burgers with an infusion of local zichar elements via another concept named Wok In Burger; the concept having operated within the now-defunct JCube before being subsequently based at the Keng Eng Kee Seafood location at Bukit Merah before its demise. Available from 17 October 2024 to 31 December 2024, the limited time-only menu features four (4) items from two (2) themes; “Coffee-Glazed” and “White Pepper” — think a little bit of a Yin and Yang thing perhaps, with a burger and a side being served from each of the two themes.

Being fans of Keng Eng Kee Seafood’s Coffee Pork Ribs, we made our visit to the Shake Shack outlet at Neil Road to give the Coffee-Glazed Chicken Burger a go — we found ourselves staying for the White Pepper Fries however. The “White Pepper” menu is said to be inspired by the white pepper crab that one can find and some zichar establishments; the White Pepper Fries coming with the standard fries that one would expect to be served with at Shake Shack, though drizzled with the white pepper aioli over the top. Whilst the white pepper aioli does look rather typical with a rather creamy appearance given its white aesthetic, the White Pepper Fries does come with quite a piquant hint of spiciness that only starts at the back of the tongue when one tastes the aioli; nothing quite like its creamy appearance. The hint of pepper that it gives can be described to be rather similar to that of local Singaporean-style pepper-based Bak Kut Teh; one that provides a real kick that we found to be really addictive though also on the “heaty” side.

The Coffee-Glazed Chicken Burger wasn’t too bad, though the main concern here would likely be the thin layer of sauce that coats the fried chicken patty — we wish the sauce could be thicker and gooey-er like how it would be for the Coffee Pork Ribs from Keng Eng Kee Seafood that would deliver quite a punchier note overall. Not quite sure how the Coffee-Glazed Chicken Bites will fare against the Coffee-Glazed Chicken Burger, though the White Pepper Fries does make thing promising enough for us to want to give the White Pepper (Beef) Burgee a go!

found it q underwhelming :/ the chipotle flavour could have been strongerrr and chicken breast was aight a bit dry

came topped w gula melaka and coconut flakes which made it q sweet. this shake SCREAMED pandan it was too overpowering even for a pandan lover

[One day only!] @shakeshacksg is serving their first ever collaborative menu. And they are starting off with a bang by partnering with Chef Malcom Lee of @candlenutsg, a beloved Michelin-starred restaurant that highlights Peranakan cuisine.

The Buah Keluak Burger features a 100% all-natural Angus beef patty covered in buah kelvak glaze, topped with Chef's Mum's Chicken Curry sauce, crisp cucumber, a runny fried egg, American cheese, diced pickles and ikan bilis sambal, all served on a potato bun toasted with garlic butter. Although this sounds like one overly flavoured burger, we are proud to announce that it is not!

We would also like to petition for the of Curry Fries to stay permanently on the menu! Pairing Shake Shack's signature crinkle cut fries with a secret blend of curry powder and salt, this is so simple yet so good.

The collaborative menu is available this Saturday, 5 November from 11am until sold out, available in-store only at Shake Shack 89 Neil Road.