4,  burgers,  cheap eats,  restaurant reviews,  sweets,  theater district

The Shackenstein and Doughnut-Custard at Shake Shack – Theater District – American

I went to Shake Shack twice on Sunday. And not, like, for lunch and dinner, which would be totally acceptable. No, I went for dinner and then for a midnight snack. Except that it wasn’t actually midnight yet; it was more like 10:30. Anyway.

Shake Shack Cheeseburger and Vanilla Custard Concrete with Doughnut Plant Doughnut

The first time around, I had a cheeseburger with mayo and a vanilla custard with a Doughnut Plant doughnut mixed in. (My friend Sylvan added her fries to the photo to make me look at it later and think about how dumb I was not to have ordered some myself.)

For me, the burger was decidedly less-good than the ones from the Shake Shack in Madison Square Park. It just didn’t seem as juicy nor as flavorful. And at first I was like, “Nah, that’s not possible,” but then I remembered that the Joe’s Shanghai in Midtown is universally declared worse than the Joe’s a couple of miles downtown in Chinatown. It’s still the burger I most want to eat in NYC, though.

And the Concrete with the doughnut mixed in was a treat. Sugary cake doughnut chunks of various sizes were swirled into their thick, sweet vanilla custard. Next time, I’d probably get hot fudge or another sauce added in just to make the doughnut more moist, but it wasn’t necessary by any means.

Shake Shack Shackenstein

A couple of hours later, after our bowling match, I came back with Sylvan and our other team member, Chris, and got the Shackenstein, this month’s special Sunday custard flavor. I’d seen so many “what is Shackenstein?” and “I almost want to go into the city on a Sunday sometime just to find out what Shackenstein is” blog posts that I felt like I had to try it.

It’s vanilla custard colored green and mixed with chocolate cake bits and chocolate what-tasted-like-cookie-dough-to-me. And hey, the mix-ins were pretty awesome and all, but when I get green desserts, I expect them to taste like mint or pistachio, and I don’t like to be played for a fool.

I’m coming back for the concord grape or pumpkin pie custard days to make this right.

Rating One StarOne StarOne StarOne StarZero Stars

Shake Shack
300 West 44th Street
New York, NY 10036 (map)

9 Comments

  • Heesa Phadie

    Uggghhhh….this is worse than waterboarding to me. I hate you. Twice in one day. It’s just not fair that women get these “multiple” experiences. Gawd, they both sound amazing. Was the Doughnut Plant one better? I’ll bet the Pumpkin Pie one is going to be incredible. How’s the line at that Shake Shack? I’ve only been to the MSP one (and only once) but I was waiting 45 minutes just to order and another 20 to get my grub. I sadly didn’t even get a custard. Cuss me. I hate myself. I did, however, have cheesecake from Two Little Red Hens, a chocolate chip cookie from Levain Bakery and 2 doughnuts from Doughnut Plant that day :P

    • plumpdumpling

      The Doughtnut Plant one was definitely better, and it took care of my custard and doughnut cravings at once, which has never been done before. Oh, except for my birthday last year, when we got an ice cream cake and a doughnut from the Baskin Robbins/Dunkin Donuts down the street. It’s just messed up to have those two things in one store.

      The line was just as bad as the one at MSP, only this one is an actual restaurant, so you get to wait inside most of the time. Of course the line is always out the door, though. Funnily, I used to ONLY get the custard at Shake Shack and didn’t find out for the longest time how great the burgers are.

      I’ve never had the cheesecake from Two Little Red Hens, a chocolate chip cookie from Levain Bakery, and two doughnuts from Doughnut Plant in two days (or one day?!), though, so you win.

      • Heesa Phadie

        I know right! Brutal for them to be in one store…evil geniuses.

        Wow…the line is that long there too huh? You know…if you’re just getting a custard they have the “speedie” line….but I’m glad you got turned on to their burgers…epic. FU! I want one right now.

        Yeah…that was all in one day! And the Shake Shack burger :P Awesome day that was. You must, must, must get the cheesecake from Two Little Red Hens….it is one of the best I’ve ever had…except of course my homemade one.

    • plumpdumpling

      You know, I’m not entirely sure I’ve ever had the actual grapes themselves. I’ve had lots of cool concord-grape-flavored things, but . . .

      Wow, that’s such an American thing, right? Everywhere else on Earth, people are eating whole foods, and I’m eating concord grape granitas and passion fruit lollipops.

    • plumpdumpling

      HMM. Somehow, your comment just made me think about frozen-custard-filled doughnuts as an alternative to an ice cream sandwich or a cream-custard-filled doughnut.

      DUDE. I’m going to buy a food truck right now and start selling those. I’ll give you 10%.