Five Guys vs Shake Shack East Coast US Style

As we zoom towards the end of 2013 and I think about the traditional new year health kick, perversely my head always reviews all the lovely things I'm going to miss until the inevitable point where the diet snaps and some kind of feast ensues. This year my mind keeps wandering back to the US and a plethora of burgers. I haven't yet paid a visit to either of the new(ish) Five Guys or Shake Shack UK outposts located in Covent Garden - in part perhaps due to my enduring apathy for queuing to be allowed to buy food. A bit of a Google search shortly after their launch revealed a multitude of frankly adverse comment across the internet which I found doubly surprising after visiting both chains in the US. Either the spark of something that makes them adored in the US hasn't made it over the Atlantic or London has been spoilt on the burger front in recent years. Whichever it is my experience of the modern day American forefathers of burgerdom chains was anything but bad. 

Shake Shack

As you may have seen in a previous post on here, my baptism by Shake Shack did come in the middle of a whisky and cigar session in downtown New Haven so the first outing needs to perhaps be taken with a pinch of metaphorical salt in that I thought it was all AAAWWWWWESOME. We ordered one SmokeShack and one double ShackBurger. The ShackBurger consists of a burger (or two if you go double) made of a combination of seasoned sirloin and brisket giving it a moist but textured feel. Its then drenched in that oozy, gooey, yellow American cheese,  tomato, lettuce and Shacksauce. The Shacksauce is, of course, a secret recipe but is mayo based with a good dose of mustard in it. The SmokeShack is the same as the ShackBurger but with the addition of applewood smoked bacon and spicy cherry peppers. I had thought I would naturally prefer the SmokeStack, after all its got bacon in it and everything is better with bacon. It was a bit too spicy for me though and the flavour of the peppers was overpowering the meatiness of the burger. 

A single was $4.80 and a double $7.40 which seemed like very good value especially compared to London burger prices. Wiggly fries were nice and fluffy on the inside and fried to a perfect, golden crisp on the outer. What's not to like? To be honest had it still been open when we staggered out of Owl Shop I'm convinced we would have gone back for seconds.

Five Guys

We hit Five Guys in Burlington Vermont on a Saturday night after a brewery visit. Located outside town on the Route 7 Shelburne Road on the outskirts of Burlington, its nestled in an out of town shopping area of the type you'd expect to find a Frankie & Bennies or TFI Friday in the UK.

One of the big plus sides of Five Guys is that you can pick as many or as few toppings as like for no additional charge. You know your burger is being cooked to order and there is no fishing out bits of limp lettuce or tepid tomato that you don't want. I went for grilled onions and mushrooms but you can add all the usual pickles, tomatoes, peppers and sauces. At just over $7 its decent value for what is effectively a double burger. That's one thing that is worth noting. Five Guys offer either a burger or a little burger. Most of us would assume that a "little burger" is the kids option or at least for ladies on a diet but it is realistically what most of us would consider to be normal. A single large patty whereas the standard is two large patties, all good but huge!

Skin on fries have a great texture but are veering towards too salty. We left about half of them and drank copious quantities to wash away the salt. You've also got to be a bit careful if you've got a nut allergy as the fries are cooked in peanut oil.

The soda machine is also something of a novelty. You can have all the basics like Sprite, Coke and whatever other drinks the Coca Cola Company offer but then you can also have what I presume is a flavour syrup added which results in crazy combinations like cinnamon Sprite or cherry ginger ale. I'm not sure that this is ultimately a positive contribution to the world of fizzy drinks but its good fun to try out as many stupid drinks as you can.

Shake Shack- Take 2

Due to the level of inebriation preempting our first Shake Shack experience a decision was taken that in the interests of a fair scientific analysis we should find another Shake Shack and sample it sober. This led to our driving round and round the suburbs of Boston on the final day of the trip searching for 49 Boylston Street. Anyone who has ever visited Boston will know that Boylston Street is extremely long and one of the main streets in the city. Home to all the major designer stores and hotels, its almost impossible to miss. So 49, Boylston, in the heart of Theatreland just off Boston Common, surely just the sort of location Danny Meyer would be aiming for. But no. Its 49 Boylston Street Chestnut Hill on the outskirts of Boston just beyond Brookline. Into the sat nav it goes and a 15 minute drive later we arrive. Outside a residential house. No, it turns out that there is a third 49 Boylston Street in Greater Boston. This time in the middle of a shopping mall/parade that is still mid construction. I'm sure it will be a great location in an affluent area when its finished but it does beg the question whether Mr Meyer thought he was getting the downtown address....

Working up an appetite with our map reading skills (and racking up almost a tenner in data roaming charges to find it) we arrived at Shake Shack, Boston. What followed may have possibly been the most yellow meal ever known to man. Admittedly this is our fault for requesting no lettuce or tomato and for ordering yellow drinks but it did make me laugh. 

As childish as it is, I love the wiggly fries that are standard at ShakeShack and they are even better with a smothering of cheese sauce.  I still haven't tried the fabled frozen custard. I'll leave that for London. 

So ultimately whilst both brands have a place and I wouldn't turn my nose up at them, if I had a choice between the two, Shake Shack wins it. There's a significant chance that you may find me queuing up in Covent Garden at some point in late January when the diet goes wrong- see you there....

US Road Trip: Connecticut

With the sun blazing as we flew along the deserted US Route 1 hugging the coastline all felt well with the world. Quaint little fishing towns dotted with seasonal scarecrows and halloween decorations.

How can you not like this place? See, here's a picture of a scarecrow with his pumpkin butt cheeks a-pokin' right out:

Why it was all so puuuurrrddy it could have come straight out of a film. Oh but hang on, what's this town I see on the road ahead of me? Mystic. Don't I know that from somewhere? Yep cheesy as hell (in more ways than one) but one of those things that almost has to be done however much you hide your grimace through a smile; a visit to Mystic Pizza.

Upon walking in to the restaurant, if I hadn't known about the film I would have done immediately due, perhaps, to the fact that it is being played on a loop on a giant plasma screen tv in the lobby. The walls of the restaurant are plastered with screenshots of a toothy grinned, bouffy haired Julia Roberts staring out at diners as well as the obligatory Americana found in diners and pizza joints. 

On a week day lunchtime it was busy but still no hassle to get a table. Forgetting for a brief moment that everything is bigger in America, we ordered one small and one large pizza and regretted it pretty much instantaneously when the order arrived. Huge. Enormous. Vast. But good. The dough is not deep, deep pan but is on the doughier side of things than a thin crust. Hand tossed in house before toppings are added we went for two options. Texas chicken barbecue was nothing novel or innovative but a tasty classic. The house special consists of pepperoni, meatball, sausage, green peppers, onions and mushrooms and we added some gorgonzola to sate my blue cheese craving. That combined with a ton of mozzarella gave stretchy, stretchy cheeeeeeeese.......

I never fail to be impressed by the refilled-before-you-get-to-your-last-slurp bottomless sodas that you get in the States. It shouldn't be that impressive but I don't think I've ever been anywhere in the UK that offers them which is unfortunate considering a pint of Coke costs about 6p from a pump. It is inevitably about 3 quid a pint these days. H went for a Mystic Bridge IPA from the Cottrell Brewing Company, a micro brewery founded in 1996. They offer three permanent beers as well as a couple of seasonal specials.  The IPA was pretty light with a lemony fruit hint to it and a decent accompaniment to a sunny pizza lunch. You know you're on holiday, thats for sure. You can take a detour to the brewery in nearby Pawcatuck on Friday and Saturday afternoons for a free tour and tasting or to "fill your growler" (apparently a growler is a large drinks container in the US, for any Americans reading; this is another term that doesn't mean the same in the UK; get googling.....)

Its not all about pizzas though. They also offer salads, soups and grinders (some kind of sub baguette thing apparently, to me it brings to mind Grindr and sounds totally different to a UK girl). I'm not sure I would use the film's "Slice of Heaven" slogan to describe my lunch but it was jolly tasty all the same and a reasonable price.

Mystic itself is also a really pretty town for a wander and a great stop off point as you drive along the coast between more major towns. But the road is calling us if we're to make it to our overnight stop of New Haven. Home to Yale University, its about as close as the US gets to the dreaming spires of Oxbridge. Well, that was the picture that I had in my head but it seems as though New Haven pretty much IS Yale. Its not even big enough to have a branch of Gap for goodness sake. 

We arrived in New Haven late afternoon with slightly more grand ambitions of a wander round Yale, couple of cocktails then dinner at Box 63   . The online menu had me salivating and I'd fully planned out ordering truffle parmesan fries with a pulled pork sandwich and lobster mac and cheese but not everything goes to plan, even for a control freak like me. Sorry Box 63, you look fabulous but you got usurped.  A couple of minutes from our hotel (The New Haven Hotel - well located, perfectly comfortable and free cheese and wine in the early evening) we came across Owl Shop on College Street. From outside it initially looked like a cafe and then like a shop. It was only when we were on the threshold that the aroma of cigars wafted gently across the sunny evening breeze. Owl Shop transpired to be one of the oldest cigar stores in America. Opened in 1934 by Greek immigrant Joseph St John, it expanded quickly to five outlets.   By 1951 they had merged all the stores into the present day College Street store and even after the death of St John one of the original employees is still with the store now (Joe Lentine) albeit under the management of the store's second owner Glen Greenberg. The current staff are all lovely and very patient with cigar novices. 

Dark inside with wood panelling and acclimatised humidor cabinets containing over 400 varieties of cigar, it is a welcoming location.  A decent cocktail list invites you to stay a while and the heady scent of cigars tempts you to try the wares. As strange as it seems after years of the smoking ban in the UK, smoking cigars is quite acceptable inside in this bar.

I'm no cigar expert but I'd always worked on the basis that Cuban cigars were the best and other countries' offerings paled into insignificance. How wrong was I ?! Most of the main cigar manufacturers like Davidoff, Partagas and Cohiba all have Venezuelan or Nicaraguan outposts and they are a lot cheaper than the Cuban equivalents. I'm not enough of an afficionado to tell if the price differential is worth it for Cubans but for my level of knowledge a Venezuelan one was good for me. Coupled with an Old Fashioned and it would take a small natural disaster to move my butt.  

We did still keep meaning to go for dinner honestly but the evening started taking a wiggly winding course through the cocktail menu and before we knew it it was 9.30pm. Owl Shop offers a limited menu of paninis and charcuterie that is more prevalent during the day and sparse at best at night. No problem though, Owl Shop suddenly became the best venue in the world when the waitress actually suggested we go out and get takeaway from Shake Shack and bring it back to eat. As H returned from Shake Shack laden with burgers and wiggly fries, a Blues group with an excellent singer struck up and I don't think the evening could have been much more perfect.

Breakfast the following day before crossing the state border back up into western Massachusetts? Why cold pizza of course!

Plymouth, Massachusetts

A New England autumn road trip has been a long time in the planning. Combining the majority of my favourite things from great food and cool wildlife to beautiful landscapes (oh and tax free shopping), New England holds everything except top notch wine. You can kind of see where those pilgrims were coming from. The dark satanic mills of England versus a brave new world of whales, moose and cranberries. Or something like that. 

So where better to start than following in the pilgrim footsteps by starting the road trip in Plymouth. Although from the driving rain and stiff wind on our first day I wouldn't have blamed them if they had said "sod this we're better off in Burnley" and turned on their heel or perhaps the cold, damp breeze felt familiar, who knows.  We dutifully visited the Mayflower and Plymouth Rock whilst getting soaked to the skin and building up an appetite (the rock is pretty small but the Mayflower is interesting and the town is really lovely - I just wished I'd seen it in the sun).

Its practically against the law to come to Plymouth and not sample some clam chowder. Can't for the life of me remember its name rather unhelpfully but there is a rather downmarket looking equivalent of a fish and chip shop on the main road near the Mayflower. Don't be put off by their exterior and the offerings of fried dough, their chowder rocks. Creamy and rich, with just a hint of seafood, at around $3 a cup its a bargain. Despite the many subsequent varieties of chowder we sampled over the next fortnight this one remained in my top three. 

The rest of the morning was spent driving to a cranberry festival in Edaville, a rather disappointing event with a painfully twee train ride and a handful of fading fairground rides. You barely even saw a single cranberry. Singularly the best thing about it was a venue called Porky's barbecue which ironically, considering the name, only sold chicken. But it was excellent  moist, smoky chicken with a fantastic honeyed spicy crust served from a hut right alongside the outdoor 'cue. Served alongside it was a hulk of sweet, grainy cornbread and a buttered corn. Part of me can't believe that I'm about to publicly admit this but I had never eaten corn on the cob before. Yup, its true, I broke my corn cherry in Massachusetts. A bad experience with some tinned sweetcorn a few years back had seemingly put me off corn for life but when in Rome and all that. Well it was a taste revelation! Before you could say "corn y'all" I had butter dripping off my chin and was sucking the sweet juice from the husk of the cob. It was divine. 

On the way back into town we did finally manage to find one of the fabled cranberry bogs mid harvest having just been flooded. Look how pretty it is!

After an afternoon of listening to role playing 'pilgrims' with dubious English accents I had built up an appetite that only a gluttonous quantity of lobster could fix. 

Woods Seafood is located on the seafront where lots of the boat cruises depart from. Unsurprisingly there are multiple seafood options but this one is 100% locally owned and also has a fresh fish counter for cooking at home. Its pretty rough and ready, pine panelled walls and vinyl table tops but super cheap. Once you've found yourself a table you queue up at the hatch and order your food. A $1 dollar deposit gets you a lobster cracker to get the most out of those bony suckers. 

After a few minutes wait our number came up and it felt like winning the village fete raffle only with better prizes. In the UK crab cakes are usually at different stages along the spice scale from making your tongue tingle to blowing your taste buds away. It was pretty surprising therefore that these have no spice at all. That doesn't mean they are lacking in the flavour department, in fact they were perfect; rich flakes of seasoned crab meat encased in a delicate golden crumb completely devoid of grease. 

The lobsters were a good 1.5lb each and super juicy. So juicy in fact that they were still full of their poaching liquor. It made the dissection and eating a bit on the messy side but totally worth it. I understand that the New England tradition is to slurp that liquid right out of the carapace but I couldn't do it. Maybe next time. Oh and whilst I'm raving about lobster the lobster roll was pretty good too....

My only real regret was that at $3.75 each we didn't order a portion each of the clam chowder and the lobster bisque to keep us going whilst the lobsters cooked. Still you can't have it all. 

For a total of less than $50 we got through two lobsters, 2 crab cakes, a lobster roll, various side orders and 2 soft drinks. That can't be bad value by anyone's standards. 

There is absolutely nothing elegant or sophisticated about Woods but it hits the spot if you're looking for the freshest seafood straight off the boat at the best prices. 

Despite the crustacean overdose the notion of some award winning cupcakes couldn't be passed up. We stopped by Cupcake Charlies having heard lots of good things about it. We tried a few including a red velvet, a Twix caramel, and an M&M chocolate swirl. They weren't bad but the cake itself was not very flavoursome it was all about the topping which was just too sweet for me. This was disappointing considering the build up as was the fact that the small town little bakery image that they portray was blown out of the water by lists of their other branches and the fact they are looking for new franchisees. 

 

In summary Woods rocks and you should definitely hot foot it there pronto should you ever find yourself near Plymouth. Hell its so cheap you should drive 50 miles to get there. Cupcake Charlies? Give it a miss. Still, roll on the rest of New England, five more states to go.....

Woods Seafood            
15 Town Pier, Plymouth, MA 02360
800-626-1011 

Cupcake Charlies

6 Town Wharf  Plymouth, MA 02360 (508) 747-9225

Yes, yes, yes! Katz's Deli New York

Katz's Deli must be one of the most famous diners in New York. Granted the first thing that springs to mind for most people is probably Meg Ryan's virtuoso fake climax in When Harry Met Sally, or perhaps even the less well known appearance with Johnny Depp in Donnie Brasco but Katz's is about so much more than that. Just as well known for the sheer size of its sandwiches and its fierce traditions, little has changed in the last century. Founded in 1888 (although the sign to the left seemed a little unsure about that) by the Iceland Brothers, Willy Katz came on board in 1903 changing the name to Iceland & Katz. Willy's cousin, Benny, joined in 1910 helping Willy to buy out the Iceland family resulting in the name that endures today.

Katz's began a campaign during the second world war to "Send a salami to your boy in the Army", a tradition which continues today and is promoted heavily in the store.

The original family link with Katz's died out in the mid 1980's when a local restaurateur, Martin Dell took over (his grandson Jake is the incumbent Pastrami King).   Despite the majority of the carvers now seeming to be more of Latin American descent, Katz's has maintained firm links to its Jewish immigrant history. Matzo balls, knishes, bagels, chopped liver & onions and bialys are all still on the menu but the bulk of the visitors are there for the sandwiches, as was I. 

So that's enough of a history lesson, what's it like now? We grabbed a yellow cab down to the Lower East Side fairly early on a Sunday morning in the hope that queues wouldn't have backed up too much. A massive, dripping meaticilous  sandwich isn't my usual breakfast but needs must, when in Rome etc etc. Turned out to be a good move as no queue greeted us, unlike half an hour later.  I would estimate the split of diners to be about 60% tourist to 40% local but for me that's still enough to suggest this place isn't only about its image but still heavily relies on quality and reputation. The locals are of every colour, creed and culture and between them and Katz's itself,  this place is classic New York distilled. Oozing nostalgia, it really doesn't feel like this place has changed in the last half century. It's best to know how things work at Katz's before you arrive. Noone explains things and there is a distinct protocol to follow.

On arrival you are presented with two tickets. You hold onto these come what may, penalty for loss being a hefty fine.  The left hand strip of tables have the benefit of a plethora of celebrity photos to browse as you munch. You will get waitress service but will lose out on the experience of interacting with the meat men and getting the tasty samples carved off whilst you wait for your sandwich. If you want to opt for a table on the right join one of the multi strand queues to get to the sandwich carving bay. There is very much a no nonsense approach to ordering, make sure you've decided what you want before it's your turn as if you snooze you lose (or at any rate get expressed to you in no uncertain terms quite how irritating your dallying is). Whichever option you go for, your server or carver will scribble on your ticket to indicate what you owe. Once you've finally reconciled yourself to the fact that you can't manage another mouthful, queue up to take your ticket to the till. No cards allowed so make sure you've got enough cash.

Enough scene setting. Let's get to what we're really here for. The Meat. It doesn't seem to be offered on the menu but I overhead a distinctive New Yoik local accent order a "half and half" just in front of me so decided to follow suit. This resulted in one slab of brisket and one of pastrami meaning my initial prevarication (see above re how to annoy the servers) resulted in getting the best of both worlds. I ordered a dose of American cheese on my brisket just because it would have seemed wrong not to (picture left).

Its entirely up to you whether you have mustard and how much but I'd recommend it, especially a little on the pastrami. The meat itself has a fabulous smoky, peppered flavour but the mustard just seems to enhance that beefy flavour a little bit more. The pastrami is incredible, a blackened outer crust (without any burnt taste) opens out to reveal a fantastic pink colour, if you didn't know better you'd question how something could naturally be that colour but this stuff is the best. Tender as can be, and really does flake apart. Each bite through the chewy bread, soaking up the oozing meant juice to the burn of mustard and peppering of your taste buds leaves you wanting to come back for more.

Each sandwich is accompanied by a plate of pickled vegetables that, whilst not the most attractive dish you'll ever see, do serve to cleanse the palate & add a texture of crunchy bite to proceedings. 

Katz's often cure their meat for up to 30 days resulting in a much more deep rooted, authentic flavour and succulent texture. It is surprising quite how moist the meat is considering that they pride themselves on not injecting brine as part of the curing process (as other delis are reputed to do). This does make me think that heavy basting takes place during the cooking process but this is no bad thing.

A opted for a Reuben. From the way she tucked in, I reckon she enjoyed it.... In hindsight, and having stolen a bite,  I rather wish I had done the same since, although mine was lovely, the addition of sauerkraut to the sandwich was a good one the vinegared veg cutting through the richness of the swiss cheese.

Drinks are served at a separate counter further down the store. Although you can go for the regular 7up and cola options, there are also some more unusual choices (well at least if you're not American) My meal was all washed down with a Dr Brown's cherry soda (slightly frightening synthetic cherry flavour and enough added colours to send a toddler into a hyperactive frenzy for days)

At around $16 a sandwich, these aren't the cheapest meat and bread combos that you're ever likely to encounter but considering the content of nearly a pound of meat each they do offer good value for money. Despite the online menu joking that their 3 meat platter feeds "3 tourists or 1 local" you won't get laughed out of the joint for ordering a sandwich to share. That said you will become overly possessive over your sandwich and reluctant to let anyone else near all that juicy meat.

Bearing in mind it's Lower East Side venue, Katz's isn't the most easily accessible location compared to all the tourist jaunts that your average New York visitor will be headed for. That said, its not a million miles from the quirky shops and cafes of Greenwich Village and god knows you'll need to walk off all that meat afterwards to even make a dent in the bodily damage done by that sandwich!

Although we didn't get to sit on the "Harry Met Sally" table, its probably for the best, I know that I wouldn't have been able to help myself recreating the notorious scene and that's good for nobody at breakfast time.

Now I really am going to make a long overdue visit to see what Mishkins can offer in Covent Garden. It might not be strictly kosher but hopefully it will bring back happy Big Apple memories!

Katz's Delicatessen
Lower East Side
205 E Houston St
New York, NY 1002