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2015-03-29
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Wandering around Central one day, I spied a little burger shop with a funny name. At the time I was not that familiar with the area between Queens Road Central and Soho, and could not remember where I had seen it. Fast forward a couple of weeks and I came across it again, however this time I know where I was and suggested to FMUS that we check it out after work one night.Of course I only had to say the word "burger" and FMUS was keen. The Big Boy was flying into Hong Kong so we decided to try Th
Wandering around Central one day, I spied a little burger shop with a funny name. At the time I was not that familiar with the area between Queens Road Central and Soho, and could not remember where I had seen it. Fast forward a couple of weeks and I came across it again, however this time I know where I was and suggested to FMUS that we check it out after work one night.Of course I only had to say the word "burger" and FMUS was keen. The Big Boy was flying into Hong Kong so we decided to try The Burger Shop by Shake 'em Buns before heading out to the airport to meet him. Lucky for us we were there not long after it opened as, like other burger places in Central, there is not that much space and it quickly filled up.
Shake 'em Buns has been around since 1998, with the original store located in Star Street. There are more options on the Burger Shop by Shake em Buns menu than on say The Butchers Club and some interesting additions - like grilled pineapple ring or chilli con carne. Aussies can also get a fried egg, but it seems they draw the line at beetroot on burgers...You can also get a salad, but in the words of Homer Simpson "you don't make friends with salad" - certainly not at a burger joint!
We both ordered The Burger with fries, however FMUS decided to also add some bacon, while I went for the cheese. The Burger comes with garlic mayo, onions, tomato and lettuce, which was something I preferred over the basic Butchers Club burger, and is more akin to the offerings at Burger Circus. I thought my burger was cooked well, and had enough flavour, however FMUS was not entirely sold, finding that his patty was under seasoned and slightly overcooked. The fries were crunchy, and probably just the right sized serve when combined with the burgers.
FMUS's burger with the baconThe burgers are presented open style, which FMUS is not a big fan of, it's like the job is half done and you have to finish it off yourself. It can also get quite messy flipping the top half of the burger over, especially if you get it wrong!
And some cheese instead for meWe also ordered a couple of milkshakes - vanilla for me and salted caramel for FMUS. Wow, perhaps they should be marketed as thick shakes instead. I couldn't finish mine, it was just too much after the burger and fries.
With such a little space in such a popular spot, it was no wonder people were streaming in while we were there, looking for a table then walking out. It's a good sign in notoriously fickle Hong Kong, and confirms why The Burger Shop has been around for such a long time.It's a cool little spot, for sure, but we found the tables to be quite small and once everything we'd ordered was on the table, there wasn't enough room to move. We thought the burgers were OK we were split on the presentation.... With so many other burger places to check out, we didn't think that there was enough with the Shake 'em Buns burgers to drive us back anytime soon.
Small dining space, which filled up very quicklyPost
