Shake Shack’s white truffle season is back, along with some festive sweets for a year-end treat

Come autumn, white truffles start making the rounds on fine-dining menus around town, usually shaved tableside and priced by the gram. Shake Shack has its own take on the ritual.

The burger joint’s white truffle menu is back in Singapore, and this time the beef and ‘shroom burgers have some company in a white truffle chicken burger, with the parmesan-dusted crinkle-cut fries and some early festive goodies rounding out the lineup.

It’s here only while stocks last, so better to have your bite now!

The original trio returns, now with chicken on the menu

Shake Shack first served up white truffle in the US in February 2023, and the menu made its way to Singapore in April 2024.

That debut lineup was a tight trio: An emmental cheeseburger with white truffle sauce and crispy onions, a crisp-fried portobello stuffed with Monterey Jack, Tilsiter, and Colby cheeses, and parmesan fries with a side of truffle sauce for dipping.

The white truffle (from S$14.20 for a single patty) and white truffle ‘shroom (S$16.20) burgers have returned, with the fries now more aptly named white truffle fries (S$8.90).

The real newcomer is the white truffle chicken (S$12.20), which pairs a hand-breaded crispy chicken fillet with truffle sauce, arugula, and pickled shallot.

The menu has also moved from spring to October this time, which lines up rather neatly with Italy’s actual white truffle season.

The beef burger’s good, but the chicken is better

The white truffle burger (from S$14.20 for a single patty) is where most people will start, and it sets the tone for the rest of the menu.

A quarter-pound angus patty arrives under a layer of melted Emmental, a generous spread of white truffle sauce, and a tangle of crispy onions, all held together by the familiar potato bun. The truffle makes itself known from the first bite with its signature deep, earthy aroma, while the Emmental adds a pleasant nutty note.

The crispy onions do less textural heavy lifting than we’d hoped, though they lend a sweet, caramelised edge against the juicy, well-seasoned patty. Given how juicy it is, a single patty is plenty, unless, of course, you’re walking in with a hearty appetite.

On paper, newcomer white truffle chicken (S$12.20) is the line-up’s one nod to contrast — something sharp and bitter to cut through all that richness — and the most balanced of the lot. 

In practice, it holds up. A hand-breaded chicken fillet sits on a bed of truffle sauce and arugula, finished with pickled shallot.

The coating is crisp enough, the meat is tender, and the pickled shallot cuts through the richness with a welcome tang, keeping the truffle from overwhelming the bun.

For a brand built on its beef burgers, it’s a slightly ironic outcome, but the chicken is the sleeper hit of this menu, and it easily edges out the beef.

Then there are the white truffle fries (S$8.90), the classic crinkle-cuts dusted with grated parmesan and served with a side of white truffle sauce. The fries are crunchy, and the parmesan adds a salty, savoury hit. That’s where the trouble starts.

The dip appears to be the same truffle sauce used in the burgers, and against fries that are already salted and showered in cheese, it tips the whole thing into over-seasoned territory. A few dunks are enjoyable enough, but it’s not a side we’d want to finish solo, so we feel this is best shared.

The fast-food chain is also holding The White Truffle Table event on November 7, 6.30pm at VivoCity Shake Shack for a special tasting of its white truffle menu, complete with freshly shaved white truffle served tableside and complimentary wine. 

At the time of publication, though, all tickets are sold out.

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas

As the calendar creeps toward Christmas, the truffle lineup shares the counter with Shake Shack’s holiday series. Mint chocolate fudge is this year’s festive frozen custard flavour.

It’s most theatrical in the Minter Wonderland cups (from S$8.40 for single), built on mint chocolate-fudge frozen custard and topped with whipped cream, chocolate pearls, feuilletine, and fudge sauce.

The mint is cool and clean before it gives way to a gooey, chocolatey fudge that adds depth and balance. The chocolate pearls and feuilletine bring a wafer-like crackle to every spoonful, which keeps it from being one-note, and honestly, it’s the best part.

A cute gingerbread man cookie perches on top, a tasteful nod to the festive season ahead.

Rounding things off is the hazelnut chocolate crunch shake (S$10.60), an indulgent vanilla frozen custard with salted chocolate hazelnut paste and toasted hazelnuts. Lining the inner walls of the cup is a crackable dark chocolate shell for those who’d rather sip their dessert than dig for it.

It’s thick enough to enjoy with a spoon but still slurpable through a straw, so choose what you prefer. The hazelnut comes through instantly and strongly, landing somewhere near Ferrero Rocher territory, and generous bits of crunchy hazelnut are scattered throughout.

It makes for a fun, decadent shake that doesn’t get boring the further down the cup you go.

Truffle without the fine-dining price tag

White truffle has always been an ingredient that comes with a reservation and a bill to match. Shake Shack’s version doesn’t pretend to replace the real thing shaved at the table, but it does make a fair case for truffle as something you can have on a regular weeknight, not just a special occasion.

With the new chicken burger quietly stealing the show and a mint chocolate cup already in the festive spirit, there’s enough here for Shake Shack regulars to switch up their usual order at any of the chain’s outlets across the island.

This was a hosted tasting.

For more ideas on what to eat, check out Shabestan’s Sunday-only Silk Road brunch menu and our top picks at Berseh Food Centre.