The Local Shack

My workmate Andrew and I have tried most of the lunch destinations around our work area over the last few months (near Perth Arena), including some decent burgers at East Village, Ribs & Burgers and Old Faithful. I had a decent breakfast at The Local Shack a few months ago, so we decided to try lunch at their Perth restaurant, which is conveniently close to our office.
We had both had a particularly rough morning at work, and were tempted to order one of the «adult» milkshakes — the «Flick the Bean» ($ 15) has Vanilla ice cream, espresso vodka and dark rum. Unfortunately I had an afternoon meeting which I didn’t want to attend «under the influence» so we ordered boring old normal shakes — me caramel, Andrew strawberry. They were both quite decent, with plenty of flavour and fresh cream on top. My only real complaint was that they could have been colder.
There’s a decent range of burgers on the menu to cater to just about any taste. Andrew chose the «Bring It On» ($ 16) with cheese, bacon, egg, salad, bbq sauce and italian herb & olive aioli.
Of course I went looking for the burger with chilli on it, and there were two to choose from — the Firefight ($ 15) with cheese, salad, roasted pepper & chilli sauce, jalapenos and italian herb & olive aioli or the Mexicana ($ 15.50) with sweet chilli aioli, bacon, avocado, salad, roasted pepper & chilli sauce. Both burgers had the option of «hot» or «extra hot» for an additional $ 1, so I chose the Firefight extra hot. Unfortunately, this was a disappointment in that it wasn’t very spicy at all. The «extra hot» appeared to be some chilli sauce on the bun, which soaked in and didn’t do much. Shame.
Both of our burgers were average at best, although the thing that really annoyed us was that the EFTPOS machine wasn’t working, and the waitress was aware of this when we ordered but didn’t say anything. The nearest ATM is across Hay Street on the other side of Shafto Lane, so it’s lucky we had enough cash between us to pay. Poor show.
A couple of years ago these would have been high-​up in the Perth burger stakes, but times have changed and there are much better options close by.

Would I go back to the shack? Yes, but I’d have to order two burgers, one for me and one for the guy holding a gun to my head.
Seriously people, if you are going to do weekday lunches in the cbd… and they’re burgers… you’re going to be serving office workers. So don’t make us all wait 45 mins at least for our meals.
With grill’d just across the road, I’m not sure why I bothered. The food was nothing special, and the glasses they gave us with our water jug were covered in something sticky. Ewww.

Such an amazing place! Great food, awesome drinks especially the gas chamber shooter or even the sweet absinthe taps (good luck finding anywhere in Perth that does these)

I only popped in with girlfriends for a quick drink but loved the vibe of the place, the old school music and the selection of cocktails.
We ordered the Watermelon Bomb for the table and it was awesome! A really yummy and not over sweet cocktail that comes in a watermelon shell, delicious! I also ordered the Vanilla and Passionfruit Mojito which wasn’t too great, way too much overpowering mint and so much ice that there was hardly any liquid. The $ 10 chicken wings are awesome though but be warned, the sauce has quite a kick!
I wouldn’t mind returning for a bit of a drink and dance one night though.

Burger Friday was back today and we ventured to an old Friday regular! It has been some months since I have been to The Shack I think this has something to do with winter and the limited inside seating here!
Fridays are a bit of a trick here if you aren’t here before 12 noon forget about getting a table! Today we arrived at just before 12 and got seated straight away! It did become apparent that half way through our burgers we had been seated at a large reserved table which we ended up sharing whilst the late comers were seated outside to wait for us to vacate.
Service is generally good here, but today there appeared to have been a change of staff and additional menu items! I opted for the Aussie Burger and whilst it was tasty the buns have change since I was last there and the meat seemed a little overcooked — I also found the burger to be over sauced! My friend ordered the double beef and chicken wings (which are new to the menu). He said the burger was fine but seemed a little confused about chicken wings pre-​coated in a red sauce Given he had asked for no relish on his burger and it came with relish and then his chicken wings came out covered in something similar it was pretty funny from where I was sitting.
All in all today’s experience at The Local Shack was more miss then hit, I am hoping that maybe it is just the transition from burgers/​salads to a larger menu that has caused the change!
This place has been so good in the past and I am willing to give it the benefit of the doubt and will probably head back after we have again done the rounds of all the CBD burger places on our quest for the best burgers!

The Local Shack is rather chilled and relaxed with dim lighting, a massive projector screen at one end (which the boy commented should have the footy playing and it’d be awesome — it was playing music videos) and a bar at the front of house. It isn’t just your local burger places like Grill’d and Burger Bistro or even Jus Burgers. It is a burger place that is fully licensed.
I had a thorough look at their burger selection — steak, beef, chicken, lamb, pork and vegetarian burgers and it even has salads — take a pick I’m sure there is one that you would love. The burgers you get a choice of what type of bun you like — plain or wholemeal.
I decided to try a chicken burger, partly because I felt like I’ve been having too much red meat of late and partly because chicken burgers are the hardest to get right — the chicken breast if not made right can become too dry and tough. I picked the Rome Falls with grilled chicken tenderloins, crispy bacon, tomato, baby spinach, shaved parmeson cheese and homemade caesar sauce, it sounded mouthwatering. I totally forgot to take a photo until I was almost half way through the burger. But let me tell you it is probably one of the better chicken burgers I have had. It was succulent, flavoursome (not tough or dry) and the homemade caesar sauce in the burger was delicious.
OH you have to also try their chips. It’s crispy, fat cut hot chips salted with herbs and spices. So yum! We polished for our bowls rather too quickly.
The local shack, apart from its quality burgers, their licensed bar makes it the perfect place to chillax, catch up, have a burger and stay there to have a drink.
They have a rather impressive list of ABSINTHE from different areas of Europe. Two lovely glasses of absinthe filled shots, two cubes of sugar over special absinthe spoons, a lighter in hand, and a fancy ice water holding tap thing — lit the cube of sugar open the tap on the ice water and let the sugar and water drip into the cup of absinthe. Drink when fire is extinguished. Bf said it packs a punch but has a slight sweetness to it thanks to the sugar — less burning more enjoyment.
Apart from their absinthe list that you should go and check out (with designated drivers in toll!!) there is your usual list of cocktails, wines, beers, some ciders, taste testers and the most awesome thing ever is the shack bomb. We treated ourselves to a watermelon bomb. It was delicious. The fruit is fresh (I know this because there was a hole bunch of watermelon in a container next to me) infused with vodka and cointreau and served in our watermelon shell. It really was yum. I had a few sips and really wished I wasn’t driving. They can also do it with a pineapple but they stock the watermelon more and if a pineapple is required advance warnings for the boys would be awesome so they can go and buy fresh pineapples for you!
The Local Shack is more than just a burger joint. It’s a place to catch up with friends over drinks and quality burgers. It’s got a great soundtrack playing in the background. The boys are ran off their feet but still manages to serve everyone with a smile, if it is a little rushed. The Shack also plays hosts to some events throughout the year, such as a drag queen parades/​shows.
We’ll be coming in for a burger and staying for the drinks!

At first we were keen to head to the local shack for lunch, the menu looked good, the local shack is close to work — what could go wrong right?
Upon entering the local shack, a male staff member groaned in our direction and seemed confused as to where to seat us (note the place was completely empty at the time).
Once seated and armed with menu’s we asked the male staff member whether there was milkshakes on the menu and he appeared to be annoyed by our question and mumbled that there was no milk drinks on the menu. As a side note I find it very odd that a burger ‘shack’ joint doesn’t have milkshakes on the menu but has such things like ‘vodka infused strawberries and cream’ in jam jars (hipster gimmick I suspect).
When we received our burgers, my friend had a raw burger and after pointing it out to the staff member he asked whether she would like it cooked more and she said that she would prefer her mince patty to not be raw. The male staff member took the burger away and was not apologetic at all. After waiting for awhile my friend got the exact same burger (you could see the bite marks) thrown down in front of her. We were all gobsmacked when we saw that they had just reheated the patty and given her exactly the same burger. When I pointed this out to another female staff member she said that my friend was asked whether she would like another burger or whether she would like it reheated. We told her that at no point was she asked that question and she proceeded to argue that the male staff member had asked the question. I responded that that was not the case and she rolled her eyes and took it off the bill.
Once paying for our burgers, the female staff member threw the change into my hand. A great way to end the experience you could say.
Sufficient to say that I have never experienced such awful, disgusting service, oh and our burgers (the one’s that were lucky enough to not be raw) were awful. I won’t be going back anytime soon.