What’s up Substackers, I’ve got a post for burger lovers—especially those who revere the American chains of In-N-Out and Shake Shack. Throughout my 13 years in Thailand, one of the things I’ve missed most about California living is In-N-Out. And anyone who’s sunk their choppers into one of their Double-Doubles feels my pain. It’s simply a fantastic burger. When Shake Shack made its debut in Los Angeles a few years ago, many folks flocked to scarf down their famous, grass-fed burgers. I tried it once while visiting my mom and brother and was unimpressed. Since then, two opposing camps of foodies have formed—In-N-Out lovers and Shake Shack lovers. I fall firmly into the In-N-Out camp, but when you’re on the opposite side of the world, you’ll take what you can get.
Last year, Bangkok got it's first Shake Shack in Centralworld, and yesterday a second location opened in the new Emsphere near Phrom Phong. And even though I’m not a superfan, I tried it anyway, hoping to get a taste of home. Here’s how the Thai Shake Shack compares to the L.A. version…
As you can see from the above photos, the burgers’ ingredients were nearly identical. The one on the left is a Los Angeles Shake Shack burger (single patty) and the one on the right is from Centralworld (double patty). If you’re an American expat and you love Shake Shack, you’re in luck. There’s virtually no difference between the Yankee and Bangky incarnations. The price tag might sting. 340b ($11) for a Double Shack plus 190b ($5.44) shoutout to Vincent Vega of “Pulp Fiction,” if you ‘gotta see what a five dollar shake tastes like,’ you’re in luck. I ordered one that could only be served in Thailand—a sticky rice shake. It was pretty good, and tasted exactly like sticky rice. It even had small chunks of sticky rice in it, which I didn’t mind. what killed it was a bunch of green gelatin at the bottom that kept clogging the straw. I barely got halfway through before chucking it in the bin. But the burger itself was on point.
The situation is more dire for us In-N-Out fans, since there’s no chance of ever getting an authentic INO burger in this hemisphere. Nearly a decade ago, the franchise actually had a pop-up truck serving real INO fare in BKK. The queue was three hours long and they ran out before half of those hopefuls could be served. Bangkok INO lovers have two options that come very, very close to the real deal. One is served up by the famous Meat Bun & Cheese folks. They’ve made no secret of the fact that they’re trying to copy the famous Cali icon, calling it an “On-N-Off” burger. The ingredients are essentially the same, and the sauce—arguably the most crucial factor in taste identicality—is indistinguishable from the real deal. The bun’s not the same, but short of raiding an INO warehouse in Los Angeles and stealing a shipping container-ful of real buns, a true match is all but impossible.
The effort by Meat Bun & Cheese (above left) is admirable, and they get a lot of things right. As mentioned, the sauce is spot-on and the bun comes close. Plus, they use the right cheese—that American-style stuff that melts so quickly, and tastes like a carnal carnival snack. But it’s missing something…if I had to pinpoint it, I’d say it’s love. Like a master painter who makes perfect copies of great works, this burger is an excellent imposter—but connoisseurs will come away feeling shorted.
Not so with Bangkok’s other (and in my opinion better) option: The Mr. Steve burger by Daniel Thaiger. The biggest difference between INO and DT is the cheese. As you can see in the above right photo, Daniel Thaiger uses slices of real cheddar, instead of the ready-melt processed cheese that makes INO so loved. For some burger afficionados, this is a deal-breaker. But speaking for myself, I get more of a euphoric burst of In-N-Out nostalgia from biting into a Mr. Steve than I do from the On-N-Off. And once the cheese melts, it doesn’t diminish the experience of In-N-Out recollection that floods the senses. And again, I think it’s because Daniel Thaiger has the missing secret ingredient—the burger is made with love. Love for In-N-Out, love for burgers, love for customers. It’s a beautiful symbiosis—a triangle of connection stretching from one point on the opposite side of the Pacific to a vertex in Bangkok that is the Daniel Thaiger truck to the taste buds of the customer. A triumvirate of joy, so to speak. A trinity of burger sublimity. Incidentally, Daniel Thaiger also has a brick-and-mortar location on Phetchaburi 47 Alley, west of Bangkok International Hospital.
Meat Bun & Cheese is located in The Commons in Silom. If you’re an INO superfan, I suggest trying both and deciding for yourself who does it better. You know my answer.