Shake Shack Heads East To West(field) | Shake Shack Westfield Stratford, The Street, Stratford Avenue, London E20 1EJ

A feast in the east… The opening night

Yes we’ve been to Shake Shake before, sometimes for review purposes and sometimes (shock horror) simply because we like their burgers (yes, believe it or not, we do actually pay for some meals out). Saff and I first experienced the Shake Shake brand at their first permanent stand in Madison Square Park, NYC and after taking Covent Garden by storm it would only be a matter of time before they marched on to a new venue, this new venue being Westfield shopping centre in Stratford.

Situated outside on ‘The Street’, it’s a little tricky to spot until you’re straight in front of it. Partly because there’s no side signage and partly because you’re distracted by the shoppers. Once inside, this branch of Shake Shake has a different feel from that of Covent Garden.

The central London restaurant uses all the grandeur of the neo-classical former flower market and because of its location, attracts a lot of tourists. While Westfield has a much calmer vibe, it’s more spacious and the ordering/collection procedure a little simpler. You still order from the counter and then wait at your table, with buzzer in hand, to wait for your food to be cooked.

Hands off, they’re mine!

But what is the same is the menu, all the favourites are here, the ShakeMeister (£6.25), the SmokeShack (£7.25) and my favourite – the ShackStack (£8.50). They have the same Flat Top Dogs and the unmissable selection of shakes and Concretes (dense frozen custard ice cream, blended at high-speed with mix-ins).

The Peanut Butter CrunchCrete (£5 single/£7.50 double) – chocolate custard, St. John Bakery chocolate and hazelnut brownie, peanut butter sauce and chocolate toffee, is a meal in itself. If that’s not exciting enough you can even design your own Concrete. But a word of warning, if you have kids in tow, keep an eye on what they’re ordering, because at 50p per mix in (plus the base cost of £3.75/£4.75) the prices can soon rack up!

Don’t cha wish your burger was hot like me? Don’t cha?

Talking of prices, the basic single ShackBurger is £5.25 right up to a fairly steep £10.50 for a double SmokeShack – remember these are good quality burgers. Fries are a little costly too (£2.95 or £3.95 for the cheese fries) but they are that amazing crispy crinkle-cut variety so we kind of let them off.

Also they serve a decent selection off drinks here, which sets them even further apart from fast food joints. They have their very own exclusively brewed ShackMeister ale (£5.50) and a Shack Red and Shack White wine (from £4.75 a glass or £17 a bottle.)

Concrete dessert where dreams are made of…

In all we were in the Stratford branch for nearly an hour, ‘not exactly fast food’ I hear you mumble. But this wasn’t down to slow service, we were just having some much needed ‘all together’ time over some good burgers and great concretes. In fact service was fairly speedy and the counter and waiting staff couldn’t have been any more friendly and patient with our indecision – especially my daughter’s.

So it was time to take the quick(ish) drive back home to Kent, Blackwall Tunnel allowing, where my teenage son disappeared back into his room and my 11 year-old daughter’s attention was again focused on our kittens. Thank you Shake Shack for that valuable hour of quality family time.

shakeshack.com

Westfield Stratford, The Street, Stratford Avenue,
London E20 1EJ
Telephone: 01923 555167