Shake Shack The Exchange TRX
[Muslim-friendly] We checked out Shake Shack’s first outlet in Malaysia at The Exchange TRX.
We remember the local foodies were abuzzed with the arrival of the American fast food chain in Malaysia. We’ve seen long queues for the outlet since day one – but is it really as good as the ones in the US?
The last time we had Shake Shack was at the Dubai International Airport in 2018, during our transit to London. We believe the experience wasn’t that memorable, as we didn’t have any strong cravings for Shake Shack since then. Ming’s first experience with Shake Shack in NY in 2016 was just average as well.
In any case, we were still quite excited to try out the burgers here at Shake Shack KL. So, was it good? Yes, and no.
Shake Shack in Malaysia
Our strategy was clear. As we wanted to avoid the long queue – we arrived at the outlet at 3.25pm on a Saturday evening.
Thankfully, it only took about 10 minutes for us to make an order, and another 15 minutes for our food to arrive.
The space is quite comfortable for a fast food joint with plenty of tables to accomodate a big crowd. We must commend the good service here as everyone was really attentive. The kitchen is also the busiest we’ve seen for a fast food joint in KL – so, we were quite pleased to get our food within a reasonable time.
Trying the signature ShackBurger
For our first time here, we decided to get the signature ShackBurger (RM23 for a single patty) which is the staple cheeseburger with lettuce, tomatoes and ShackSauce.
For RM33, you can opt for the double patty, but we were told that it could be quite overwhelming in terms of meat-to-other stuff ratio.
Better than Five Guys, but not as great as local burgers
So was it good? For a global fast food cheeseburger, we think it’s one of the better ones in town.
It’s definitely way better than the over-priced Five Guys’, and supersedes the dry burgers of McDonald’s and Burger King.
Here’s what we liked: the buns were really soft, with plenty of buttery fragrance. The patty is actually quite well-seasoned and smashed for a nice char on one side. The elements worked well with the tomatoes and the cheese was quite lovely.
While it’s decent for a fast food chain, we think it lacked that greasy and messy juices of a freshly made burger from a local store.
We believe ShakeShack has to maintain a certain standard and SOP for a global franchise – hence, it lacked that local touch of a good mom-and-pop burger joint.
This is what we mean: the patty lacked the oozing juices of burgers that we can get from Bones TTDI and Local Area Burger. They were juicy, thick, messy and good!
Winner winner, chicken burger?
We also tried the Chicken Shack (RM22) which features crispy chicken breast/thigh topped with lettuce, pickles, and buttermilk herb mayo in between buns.
Obviously, we opted for the thigh ’cause dark meat = more fat, more flavour.
Compared to the ShackBurger, this one was big with a huge chicken patty.
Freshly cooked, the chicken was indeed warm and tender and juicy. However, we were not that crazy about the batter, as it was mostly salty with pepper hints. We also found it interesting to pair pickles with chicken (when beef is the usual partner).
Crinkle cut fries were good
On the other hand, we enjoyed the Crinkle Cut Fries (RM10.70). Caveat: we always liked crinkle cut fries but the ones here are also seasoned well, and retained that nice crispy skin with a soft inside.
The small Classic Vanilla Shake (RM12) is exactly what you get. It’s really small for the price (see video for comparison to a regular lemonade and Max’s hand in the reel) but it does taste like a good thick milkshake with a prominent vanilla taste.
We liked the Fresh Lemonade (RM7) as it was quite balanced in terms of tartness and sweetness, with a hint of salt.
Summary
In conclusion, ShakeShack probably offers one of the better global franchised burgers in Malaysia, but we still prefer the ones cooked at the local burger stalls at a fraction of the price. If you know where the good ones are, that is. Hint: see below.
Come and check it out if you’re curious, but don’t expect the best burgers we’ll have in your life.
ShakeShack The Exchange TRX
Address: Plaza The Exchange TRX, PL.11.0, Persiaran TRX, Imbi, 55188 Kuala Lumpur
Hours: 10am-10pm Daily
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