SHAKE SHACK, COVENT GARDEN PIAZZA

The much anticipated wait for the arrival of London's first Shake Shack was finally over, opening its doors on the 5th of July at Covent Garden Piazza - just a day after Five Guys, a five minute walk away! 
The original Shake Shack was opened by Danny Meyer in New York in 2004, and almost a decade later, has now landed on good ol' British soil.

It's been quite a while since I last had a burger - my last one was probably at Chuck's when I was in Canada in May. 

Okay, maybe it hasn't been that long, but the thought of biting into a juicy burger once again was tempting enough to lure me out on a Friday morning to line up for the official opening in Covent Garden.

 I arrived about 20 minutes before it was scheduled to open at 10am, and there was already a queue of about 15 people ahead of me! Sort of expected.

Whilst waiting in line, we were handed some coffee and donuts custard, as well as some freebie sunglasses and wristbands.

 

 

Menus were handed out as the time drew closer...

 

 

A ten second countdown..and we were finally let in as the staff at the counters started working like clock-work, taking orders from famished customers.

I had a bit of a glitch as the girl serving me was having some 'technical' issues with the till.

I ordered the Shake Stack and the custard of the day which was Caramel Peach. 

Avoided the temptation of ordering the Cheese Fries - though I think my custard was equally as sinful...
They serve different custards on each day of the week, for those of you looking for a bit of a sugar rush.
Local ingredient sources for their desserts include St. JOHN Bakery and Paul A Young.

I was given a sort of alarm handset with my receipt and went to find a seat for myself as I (im)patiently waited for my order to be ready...

 

More than 10 minutes passed, and I started staring incessantly at my buzzer...starting to doubt if it was functioning. I glanced around at the customers that were after me who were already diving into their burgers and fries!

Moments from me giving it a good shake (!), it eventually lit up and I headed to the side counter to pick up my first meal of the day.

 

 

That burger and custard just has 'EAT ME' written all over it... 

The first bite was enough to convince me that this was worth the wait.

The squidgy but firm Martin's potato roll bun, fresh lettuce and tomato, deep-fried portobello mushroom, juicy beef (100% Scottish Aberdeen Angus beef) smothered with melted cheese and Shack sauce...I could hear my tummy rumble with satisfaction. 

Not quite the healthiest start to the day...and something that I'll definitely NOT be mentioning when giving diet advice to patients...
At least I was fueled up and ready for my long work shift ahead.

There's undoubtedly going to be massive queues...as happens with most new places. So if you're intending to join in the craze, get there early.

Have an indulgent weekend!

ps: you may be able to spot greedy me in some of the photos from Eater (!)

CEVICHE, SOHO

When the brother is in town...the hungry duo hunt food down...

Back to Frith Street in Soho to try out Ceviche, a Peruvian kitchen. I don't think I've had Peruvian cuisine before...so it was a whole new experience for me.

We entered through the bar area, (didn't think the building was that long inside!) before being seated at a high-chaired table at the far end of the dining room. 

 

We ordered some drinks to start - I was recommended the Pisco Sour (Ceviche's signature cocktail consisting of Pisco Quebranta, lime, sugar syrup, egg white and Peruvian Chuncho bitters), whilst as usual, the brother went for the non-alcoholic option of a La Libertad (watermelon juice mixed with dill and lime juice).

First to be served was the Don Ceviche - fresh seabass ceviche in amorillo chilli tiger's milk, limo chilli, sweet potato and red onions. 
Love seabass, but have never eaten it raw...amazingly thin slices of fresh seabass soaked in the zesty, citrus juices...
An explosion of flavour in every mouthful, it was like love at first bite.
Leche de tigre, a citrus based marinade, is also apparently believed to be a cure for a hangover as well as an aphrodisiac...interesting...*takes a mental note*.

Cheese and chard tequenos - wanton fritters filled with cheese, chard and Botija olives.
Super crispy wanton skins filled with melting cheesy goodness...great little nibbles.

 

Arroz con pato - confit duck in coriander and dark beer rice with amorillo chilli and choclo corn.
Probably my (and my brother's!) favourite dish of the evening - siblings with similar tastes.
The duck meat was really tender, and the crunchiness of the skin (and fat!) was absolutely divine. I was secretly eying the last bit of skin left on the brother's plate, but he was obviously keeping a close watch on it - drats, should have appeared less interested and discreet!

Lomo Saltado - beef fillet, slices, flame cooked with red onions, tomatoes, and proper chips. 
A 'must-have', according to our waiter.
The beef was well cooked, with a very appealing pinkish middle.

Pulpo y Chorizo - marinated and braised octopus and chorizo skewer, with a samphire and black quinoa salad. Samphire...ah yes, first taste of it at 10 Greek Street - food seems to be improving my memory! Well, sort of.
Delicious chunks of chorizo and octopus on two individual skewers - no siblings fighting over food here.



We ordered two different desserts to share - Lucuma cheesecake and Encanelado de Pisco. I say 'share'...but really the spirit-soaked cinnamon sponge with dulce de leche ice cream was so good that it didn't last long on the plate - the brother had to viciously dive in with his fork as his little sister was shoving mouthfuls of it in her mouth.
The cheesecake was equally as good (okay, maybe a bit less superior than mine!) - I especially liked the pecan nut base.

Overall good service and flavourful dishes that excite the taste-buds. Although the neighbouring table may have been a tad bit too close for personal comfort...

Centrally located in the heart of Soho, it's a pretty decent place to pop in for a drink, and some small plates if you're feeling like a nibble.

I have a mental list of places to try in the next couple of days...bring on the weekend!

HARD ROCK CALLING 2013

Free tickets to Hard Rock Calling 2013! 

This year held at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in Stratford. It was actually my second time going to a festival (first time was last year when I went to V Festival after winning a pair of camping tickets!), but this time I decided to make the most of the experience, with Mei taking the lead! So good to meet up with Mei after so long.
We arrived at the venue just before the gates opened at 12noon - which didn't even open on time FYI...

 

Upon entering then vicinity, we sat ourselves on a picnic bench under the sun and munched away in our snacks that we brought along - we equipped ourselves to avoid queuing up and paying extortionate prices for (unhealthy, greasy) food from the endless array of fast food trucks. 

We did grab some Mr Whippy though after as it seemed like the right thing to do on a hot and sunny Saturday.

Yellowire

The first performance started at 1.00pm and we hung around for a bit to watch Yellowire that was performing at the Hard Rock Rising stage.

Also popped by the the neighbouring tent, but the music was not  much to our personal tastes so we moved on. 

We crossed over the bridge and headed towards the main stage - best to get a space at the front before the crowd arrived! It was about 2pm though, so you can estimate how many hours we we there for...

First up was The Weeks, an indie rock band that hailed all the way from Jackson, Mississippi. They're southern accent somehow reminded me about Trueblood...

We stayed grounded in our spot thought the day watching the entire line-up at the Main Stage - each performance lasted about half an hour with a 30-40 minute break in between, so we didn't get bored for too long.

Here's the rest of the bands that performed...

Lower than Atlantis - so much swearing...trying too hard to be cool?

Kodaline - Dublin-based Irish alternative rock quartet

Twin Atlantic - alternative rock band from Glasgow, Scotland

Miles Kane

The last couple of performances lasted much longer; Paul Wheller came on for about an hour, though the crowd weren't quite as hyped up as during the performance by Miles Kane before.



 

And then the time drew closer to the final act of the night, Kasabian - the whole stage was stripped and redone in preparation for the much awaited finale.
We continued munching away on our emergency food supplies...

Drunk, smelly people starting pushing in, but we continued to stand our ground to avoid losing our spots that we had been waiting at for the entire day!

There was absolute chaos when Kasabian finally came on stage...









 





 We did well staying on for more than half of their performance - leaving a bit earlier so that we could catch the tube home and beat the queues.
We were given a hand to get over the front barriers as there didn't seem to be any other possible way to get out.
Pushed and shoved about by fat beer bellies, hair drenched with some disgusting beer concoction, smelling of sweat...definitely needed a good shower.

Overall, a fun and interesting experience - a good leg/foot massage would feel just about right now.

The Cheekster, signing off x