Burger time - Shake Shack

So my first non-ramen attempt: Madison Square Park's Shake Shack. I checked the line up (read reports of 45min waits) on the website's Shackcam (very helpful) and saw it was a good time to go, so this afternoon we headed down to the park and lined up, waiting maybe 20 minutes between getting there and eating food. It was a bit cold to eat outside, but the real hazards were the many birds sitting the trees above the seating area. We saw a fellow diner get a guano-bomb on his noggin while trying to eat!

Sharon and I both braved the Shack Stack, with fries. The Shack Stack is apparently a cheeseburger with a cheese-stuffed, deep fried portobello mushroom "hidden" inside. Marie had urged me to try the frozen custard, so in spite of the cold, I also tried a Fair Shake: custard milkshake with a shot fair trade coffee in it. The fries are a dense crinkle-cut, but they hold the ketchup very well.

I thought the stack would be an exercise in decadence, but in spite of it's appearance when served, it was actually a well-portioned, and once squished for consumption, well-proportioned burger. Not nearly as hard to eat as it looked at first. And very very tasty. The deep fried bread crumb coating on the mushroom provides some crunch and char-ish flavour to bring out the beefiness of the patty. Immediately after eating ours, Sharon and I looked at each other and said "I could eat another one these right now." The shake was tasty, no chain-restaurant fake milk shake aftertaste here. But basically frozen custard is French vanilla: ice cream made with cooked egg and cream instead of just cream. It was too cold outside to try just a cup or cone of the stuff, maybe next visit. If I go back this weekend I'll try just the regular Shackburger.

Although it seems easy to baulk at $17 for a burger, fries and drink, I felt so satisfied afterwards that I can easily say it was worth every penny.

The guy in the middle of this pic is the one who got shat on.