Shake Shack Singapore launches Hawaiian-inspired Aloha Shack menu tomorrow

What happens when a fast-food burger chain meets a Raffles Hotel Singapore wood-fire concept helmed by a Hawaiian chef? Apparently, a very good (delicious) time — and a very limited one at that.

Shake Shack Singapore has partnered with Butcher’s Block at Raffles Hotel Singapore to launch Aloha Shack, a limited-edition collaborative menu that drops across all Shake Shack Singapore outlets from tomorrow (April 16).

The menu is available for roughly two months (or while supplies last), so procrastinating is inadvisable.

Aloha, Singapore

The concept draws from a genuine meeting of culinary worlds: Hawaiian heritage, Singaporean flavour sensibilities, and the kind of American comfort food Shake Shack has built its reputation on.

Leading the charge on the Butcher’s Block side is chef Jordan Keao, who has helmed the Raffles wood-fire concept since 2021. Born and raised in Hawaii, Jordan brings a cooking philosophy shaped by fishing, farming and open-fire traditions — later refined across Japanese, French, and modern Hawaiian kitchens.

His approach to this collab is personal, infusing the menu with the flavours and food memories of home, balanced against the ingredients and sensibilities of his adopted city.

Representing Shake Shack Singapore is Jim Frisch, senior director of Global Culinary & Product Development, who has been steering the chain’s international menus since 2018 — including the sambal burger developed right here in Singapore.

Together, they’ve developed a five-item menu that channels chef Jordan’s Hawaiian heritage through the crowd-friendly lens Shake Shack does best.

Where Hawaii meets the lion city

To prepare the palate, a sip of the roselle ginger lemonade (S$6.80) feels like the right first step. Inspired by the herbs once grown around the Raffles Hotel Singapore grounds, it’s bright and refreshing, with ginger notes that cut through the richness of what’s to come. It also does wonders for Singapore’s balmy weather.

Worth noting: Every element on this limited-time menu, including the drinks, is made from scratch. No cordials, no bottled sauces, no shortcuts.

First up is the BBQ smokehouse shack (S$14.20), a quarter-pound angus beef patty that riffs on the Hawaiian loco moco — a classic comfort dish of rice topped with a hamburger patty, fried egg, and brown gravy — finished here with smoky minced beef gravy and BBQ kecap manis (sweet soy sauce).

What hits first is how meaty and juicy this compact burger is; a decidedly hunkier sibling of the staples on Shake Shack Singapore’s regular menu.

There’s a mild sweetness that lingers without overpowering, and knowing the sauce has been smoked over wood adds a quiet satisfaction to every bite.

Then comes the huli huli chicken (S$12.20) — hand-breaded, crispy chicken, glazed in the classic Hawaiian roadside barbecue sauce, and topped with coleslaw.

“Huli” means to turn or flip, a nod to how the chicken is traditionally rotated over a grill. As for what makes the sauce distinct: It’s tangier than your average barbecue, with a sweet-savoury profile typically built from pineapple juice, soy sauce, brown sugar, ginger, and garlic.

We’ll admit we wished ours had leaned a little harder into that punch — the kind of tangy that makes you reach for a drink, yet keeps you going back, anyway. That said, we did finish it in under five minutes, so no complaints there.

Between the two burgers, the BBQ smokehouse shack takes the crown, and we’d happily revisit it once the menu goes live.

Rounding out the main line-up is the salted egg fries (S$9.80). Familiar, creamy, hard to go wrong — crinkle-cut and made with garlic butter, white pepper, and fried curry leaves — it reads like chef Jordan’s mini love note to the Singaporean dishes he’s come to love. 

If salted egg anything is your weakness, this is reason enough to order from the Aloha Shack menu.

For dessert, the ube coconut creme (S$8.10) arrives as a frozen custard shake, its surface crowned with mochi coated in kinako powder. A word of advice: Ditch the spoon and go straight for a straw.

It’s thick, rich, and coconutty-sweet enough to satisfy without tipping into cloying — though if the consistency gives you pause, this is a good one to share. We do note that despite its name, Shake Shack has used Japanese sweet potatoes instead of the usual purple yams.

And for those with an eye on the calendar: On Saturday, April 25, Shake Shack Singapore will pop up during the Magic Hour event at The Lawn of Raffles Hotel Singapore from 5pm to 8pm, marking the chain’s seventh anniversary in the city — a full-circle nod to its origins as a humble hotdog cart in New York.

On the menu for that night only is the Shack-gapore Dog, a 100% beef hotdog dressed with salted egg yolk sauce, house-made achar (spicy pickles), toasted peanuts, crispy shallots, and coriander cress.

What stands out is the textural interplay — chewy, crunchy, saucy — a genuinely fun way to enjoy a hotdog well beyond the ketchup-and-mustard brief.

The best of two shores

What the Aloha Shack collaboration ultimately delivers is exactly what it sets out to: Hawaiian dishes reimagined with a local pulse, grounded in premium ingredients and wood-fired craft.

Chef Jordan’s personal heritage runs through every item on the menu — from the loco moco-inspired beef patty, to the salted egg fries that reflect years of cooking in Singapore. It’s comfort food with a story behind it, and that story, thankfully, is a good one.

Catch it at all Shake Shack Singapore outlets from April 16, while it lasts.

This was a hosted tasting.

For more ideas on what to eat, check out Offsite, a new cafe serving loaded sourdough sarnies and these must-eat plates at ABC Brickworks Market & Food Centre at Bukit Merah.