jewel changi airport shake shack pandan shake

New York burger restaurant chain Shake Shack marks its entry into Singapore at the new Jewel Changi Airport with a nod to local flavours.

Items exclusive to Singapore – all sweet treats – include a Pandan Shake (pictured above), with vanilla frozen custard ice cream blended with pandan, coconut and topped with gula melaka crumble – a twist on ondeh ondeh.

It Takes Two To Mango Concrete is a take on mango sago pudding, with vanilla custard mixed with mango, sago pearls, shortbread and freeze-dried mango.

There is also a Jewela Melaka Concrete, vanilla custard mixed with coconut salted caramel, Lemuel chocolate chunks, shortbread and gula melaka.

Lemuel is a home-grown chocolate maker and the collaboration is part of Shake Shack’s bid to work with local producers, something it does at many of its outlets worldwide.

The Shack Attack Concrete (from $7.50) uses brownies from Singapore patisserie Plain Vanilla, while the coffee milkshake uses Common Man Coffee Roasters’ coffee.

Shake Shack opens on April 17 – the day Jewel Changi Airport opens.

Shake Shack’s culinary director Mark Rosati, 42, who was in town for the opening media preview last Thursday, says the team came to Singapore many times in the past two years to do research for the local flavours. He adds: “We wanted flavours that inspire us and, as we kept coming to Singapore, we ate not as tourists, but like the locals.”

Signature burgers from Shake Shack

Fans of the brand can also look forward to its signature burgers, such as the ShackBurger, with a tender and juicy American Angus beef patty sandwiched between potato buns; and the ‘Shroom Burger, with a fried portobello mushroom filled with a mix of gooey melted cheese. Do not miss the Shack-cago Dog. After all, it started off in 2004 at Madison Square Park as a hotdog cart.

jewel changi airport shake shack shackburger
ShackBurger from Shake Shack. Photo: Shake Shack

The two-storey restaurant, which seats 180 diners, also features a merchandise wall selling luggage tags, eco bags and even baby bibs.

Its entry into Singapore is a partnership with South Korea-based global food company SPC Group, which operates the Paris Baguette bakery chain, among other food brands.

The group launched Shake Shack in South Korea in 2016 and operates eight outlets across Seoul.

At the Singapore restaurant, the burger buns are brought in from South Korea, while the meat is from the United States.

The New York-based Mr Rosati, who has been with the brand for 12 years, adds that Shake Shack aims to open 10 outlets in Singapore in the future and will open in Manila and Mexico this year.

On how the brand has evolved over the years, he says: “It took three to four years to understand the evolution. We opened our second outlet only after five years and we weren’t even sure if it would be busy. We never set out to be a chain. “What matters is that the burger is as good as it was when we started 15 years ago.”

Shake Shack, at #02-256 Jewel Changi Airport Singapore, opens from 10am to 10pm daily.

A version of this story was first published on The Straits Times.

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