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The Melt - The Shake Shack of Pakistan. Or is it?

Hanging out with my friend, and trying out new food is the perfect way for the devil to prepare for re-entering society. We wanted to see for ourselves whether the establishment deserved the bashing it’s been getting lately, so off we went to The Melt. Happy to report, it’s more of a mountain out of a molehill situation. 

The place while emulating the quick service, wavy fries, and smash patty style burger is basically where it stops being Shake Shackish, just to let you guys know, I’m not a fan of Shake Shack, and neither is Sadia. I found this local burger to have more flavor than the international brand. The burgers were made and served in 4 minutes, and that definitely is impressive. 

The Melt was recommended, a double patty burger served with raclette cheese, and I forget the name of the second burger, but it was London-something burger, both beef. They do have chicken options and sides. The menu has the prices listed in AED, which I didn’t understand, but unka menu, unki marzi. The fire extinguishers are covered with the Pakistani flag, so that’s a nice patriotic touch, but the open kitchen, loud exhaust and high ceilings with no music makes for a very loud ambiance, which could result in a headache for some. 

The ingredients are fresh, everything including the bun is made in-house and the beef patty is heavily seasoned with pepper, which caused every other flavor to be masked. Halfway through, the bottom bun started falling apart, and that’s a big no for me. I preferred the London burger over the melt, just because there wasn’t as much going on in it. 

The price point was fair for the food. 2 drinks, 2 burgers, one of which was a combo with fries was a setback of 1490 rupees (I think. Please check kar lena price, LA), so two meals within 1500 rupees is reasonable. Also keep in mind this is a soft launch. The Melt has yet to officially start operations. We gave it a 6.5-7 out of 10. 

There are also dessert options by Sugaries, which seemed tempting but Sadia and I were full. I did try the brownie sample offered and liked it. It was a bakery brownies, slightly softer, but nice. If they can get their burger bun and pepper situation under control the place definitely has potential to give other similar joints a run for their money.


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