I've just eaten the best value bargain burger, chips, and donner meat bonanza in Preston
Some days you’re just hungry. You can have your Weetabix, you can dip into your bag for that cereal bar at 11am instead of saving it for a mid-afternoon snack, and you can raid the work kitchen fridge for any spare goodies, but sometimes you’re just hungry.
On the day that I made the trip across a rain-slicked Preston under heavy August skies for the latest LP Eats review, I was hungry. It was indeed one of those days. So I had my fingers crossed that Grill Shack on Deepdale Road would know their way around a feed.
And boy did they.
Plastered with fetching neon signs and modern facades, Grill Shack is one of those proper local spots beloved by locals builders, and the kind of repeat customers who just find themselves coming back week after week. It was a proper takeaway.
As I said, I was hungry, so I went for the double cheeseburger with chips and donner meat (I know, I know, there are healthier ways to start your working week on a Monday, but I’m just back off holiday, so the diet starts soon). I placed the order and stood staring out at the sideways rain, stomach grumbling.
The vibe in the shop was good - amidst the sizzle of burger and chatter of orders rolling in, the phone was ringing off the hook, which is always a good sign of a takeaway’s quality. I’ll give them a 4/5 for the vibe.
Onto the grub. Now, controversially, I’m going to start with the extras here because they frankly blew me away. The chips were crispy, seasoned perfectly, and were slathered in garlic and chilli sauce, which was absolute perfection. What’s more, they were topped with some delicious fresh donner, which was itself also covered in garlic and chilli sauce. Flawless. 5/5 and not notes - this hit the spot.
Now, to the main event. The burger itself was on the thinner side, but tasted amazing - spicy and nicely seasoned but perhaps lacking slightly in that classic juiciness you want from proper thick beef burgers. It smelled and looked a lot like a very high-end McDonald’s burger and tasted like one too, only much better. 3/5/5 on the meat front.
As for moistness, the burger had plenty of salad and sauce as well as some melted cheese, so it was far from dry without necessarily blowing my socks off with its juiciness. 3.5/5 for the moisture content on this bad boy I reckon - it was missing that quintessential bloody burger drip which has you reaching for the napkins.
Finally, we come to value for money. Now, when I say run to Grill Shack, I mean it - this whole meal cost me just £6, which is a bargain and a half. It’s perhaps the best-value bit of food I’ve had in the whole time I’ve been doing LP Eats, across both seasons. This thing was 5/5 value for money; I was full, happy, and - thankfully - no longer hungry.
Meat: 3.5/5
Moisture: 3.5/5
Extras: 5/5
Vibe: 4/5
Value: 5/5
Total: 21/25