Shake Shack – Michael Eats

Location: 100 City Centre Drive, Mississauga (inside Square One)
Website: https://shakeshack.ca/

The last time I tried Shake Shack, it was during their collaboration with Mimi Chinese; it was thoroughly delicious.

I went with their latest special on this visit, the Black Truffle Burger (“Gruyere cheeseburger topped with black truffle sauce made with real black truffle oil and our crispy sweet onions on a toasted potato bun”), and it was… not thoroughly delicious.

I find it kind of hilarious that they boast that this is made with “real truffle oil,” as if that means anything. Seriously: don’t make me tap the “the vast majority of truffle oils have never seen a truffle in their life, and are artificially flavoured to taste vaguely like a truffle” sign.

No, I’m not a fan of truffle oil — though I will say that its flavour here isn’t too overbearing, and is mostly balanced out by the crispy onions and the tasty cheese.

This should have been a decent enough cheeseburger, except the star of the show — the beef — was surprisingly bad. The patty had a decent beefy flavour, but was very dry and disconcertingly crammed with crunchy gristly bits.

Shake Shake is ostensibly about higher quality food than big chains like McDonald’s or Wendy’s, but I don’t know if I’ve ever had beef this bad at either of those places.

Location: 10 Dundas Street East, Toronto
Website: https://shakeshack.ca/

Shake Shack is currently doing a limited-time collaboration with Mimi Chinese. It ends on May 26, so you’d better hurry if you want to check it out (and trust me, you want to check it out). They’re serving a chicken sandwich, seasoned fries, and a black sesame milkshake; all three are thoroughly delicious.

First up: the Málà Chicken sandwich (“Crispy chicken spiced with MIMI’s signature chili oil, charred scallion relish, green chili mayo, tangy pickles and lettuce”).

In Chinese cuisine, “mala” refers to a flavour that’s simultaneously spicy and numbing (thanks to Sichuan peppercorns), and yeah, this sandwich nails that. It’s not the spiciest thing you’ll ever eat, but it’s got a good kick and a noticeable tingliness from the peppercorns.

The sandwich is otherwise nice and zippy, with a great balance of flavours. It was kind of a bummer that the piece of chicken in my sandwich only filled half the bun (it was basically a hefty chicken strip), but the quality was great, with a crispy exterior and a very juicy interior (particularly impressive, given that it’s white meat).

And everything here was so tasty that even the condiment-only half of the sandwich was still satisfying.

I also tried the Shaokao Fries (“Crinkle cuts, street food–style—dusted with cumin, chili, and Sichuan peppercorn. Served with green chili mayo”).

The fries themselves were standard-issue crinkle cut fries, but that tasty seasoning really elevates them, with more of that hot/numbing flavour. And the dip is a great combo of creamy and zesty.

I wasn’t planning on getting the milkshake, but if you’re already getting the sandwich and the fries, I guess you may as well go all the way and get the shake, too. The Black Sesame Coconut Shake: “A nutty blend of black sesame and coconut inspired by traditional Chinese desserts.”

And hey, what do you know — this was pretty great, too. In particular, the pronounced black sesame flavour actually works really well in a milkshake, which was nice and creamy without being overly thick.

Tag: Shake Shack

Black Truffle Burger at Shake Shack

Tasty Eats at Shake Shack x MIMI Chinese