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2016-10-15
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Shake'em Buns will always have a special place in my heart. When I first moved here, the first ex-pat friend I met was from my hometown and he took me here. Well, more like their original branch in Wanchai. The burgers were solid. This was before the big gourmet burger trend hit Hong Kong. With generous portions and prices not too high, it became a regular haunt. But somehow, with the meeting of new friends who wanted different things, I haven't been back in a long time. With better burger op
Menu has changed from the original. They seemed to have revamped the entire menu, starting with the names of the burgers. Gone are sexual innuendo. No more will you find The Missionary or Crushin' for a Pushin'. They have added more fish and chicken burger selections and more sides. Things like poutine and buffalo wings. They have greatly increased their menu. They also have burger combos that include a soda and fries or milkshake and fries.
Hoola Gal ($108). This is the all beef patty with a grilled pineapple, pepper jack cheese, bacon, lettuce and tomato. It made for one very high towering burger so they had to put a wooden stick to hold it up without it falling over. The beef patty was cooked to a medium rare, juicy and delicious. I love grilled pineapple so topped with the special sweet teriyaki sauce and wasabi maoyo, this was a fairly good combination. The bacon was also crispy (a rarity in Asia!). Though I wish there was more cheese but then I'm a cheese fanatic.
The Other Hot Chick ($88). For those that don't eat beef, they have chicken for those people. Previously, they only had one chicken burger but now they have two! This was a slab of chicken thigh, spiced with cajun spices, topped with roasted garlic mayo and cheddar cheese. There also crispy bacon and slices of red onion and lettuce. For cajun, it wasn't very spicy and I did expect it to be more spicier. The chicken was tender and juicy as it's pretty hard to dry out thigh. Overall, ok but I prefer beef.
Bayou Delights ($108). This is definitely an upgrade from their original fish burger. WIth the addition of a catfish fillet, there is a little baby shrimp added. This was an interesting but a bit hard to eat as the shrimp kept falling out. It was topped with coleslaw for a bit of acidity and a Chipotle jalapeno mayo that gave it a bit of kick. The filet was not dried out and quite good. This was a better than the original bayou delights.
Philly's Guitar ($108). A new item not from their original menu. I guess with the demand from the ex-pat community for a Philly cheesesteak, they have come up with this. Instead of using a roll, they have placed it in a hamburger patty. I guess some lovers of the Philly cheesesteak would probably call this a slider. The grilled slices of steak could have been thicker but it was topped with caramelized onions, mushrooms and an explosion of melted cheese. I think I gasped at the cheese when it arrived. It was actually fairly good (though the steak could have been a tad thicker but my preference, really). There was a horseradish mayo to give it a bit of kick.
The King Is Alive! ($108). This is a secret menu item. It seems everyone is doing this secret menu thing lately, so why not them? It's not on the menu but you can order it. Just go up to the staff and say "The King Is Alive" and this is what you get. An ode to Elvis, you get a all beef patty, topped with fried onion rings, bacon, cheddar cheese, roasted garlic mayo and dum de dum dum ... peanut butter and strawberry jam. Yup. Peanut butter and strawberry jam. Completely all the things Elvis loved. All that was needed was to roll this thing in batter and deep fry it and the Elvis would really be shaking in his blue suede shoes. Though it sounded weird, it oddly tasted pretty good. I don't know. Maybe it's because I love my peanut butter and jam sandwich so to have this combined with the meat and all the drippings, it worked. It sounded disgusting. But it worked.
Chocolate and Peanut Butter Milkshake ($52). Perhaps it was this whole Elvis theme, I tried a chocolate and peanut butter milkshake. This was thick and creamy. Topped with even more cream, this was extremely filling. It had the right balance of chocolate and peanut butter. Not too sweet but definitely like eating peanut butter straight from the jar. I loved it.
Chili Cheese Fries ($68). They have added a number of new sides and chili cheese fries are always a popular item. It was topped with a generous amount of cheese along with chopped chives and red onions and a rich meat sauce. The meat sauce was a bit of a disappointment as it didn't have enough chili spice and the kidney beans were missing. But this is typical of most places in Hong Kong where they just make a meat sauce and forget that it's actually chili and not bolognese. But other than that, the fries were pretty good.
Poutine ($68). Poutine is something I'm not a big fan of eating in Hong Kong. The number one reason is ... it's not poutine. Poutine is not just fries with gravy and cheese like most Hong Kongers thick. It's that beef gravy covering a bed of crispy fries and melted cheese curds. As a Canadian, I have certain poutine requirements. And like the rest of Hong Kong, this is another version of pretend poutine. Fries were not crispy but the soft type, the gravy wasn't meaty enough and this is definitely not cheese curds but mozarella cheese strands. These were fine fries but not poutine. Just gravy with cheese and fries.
Death Wings ($88 for 6 wings). Now these were pretty good buffalo wings. They weren't overcooked and dried out. The sauce was a nice balance of hot and spicy and sour. They even gave ranch dressing for dipping. The correct sauce to serve with them! These were good with a beer.
Shake'em Buns has revamped it's menu for the better. The burgers still taste good and it held up well with all the sauces and drippings. The addition of more snack type items is also good as it gives more options for people who want a bit more to add on to a burger. Something to share with a group of friends.
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