Buns, beef, stars and stripes

Huang says that when hamburgers first arrived in Shanghai decades ago the product was considered an expensive novelty that was out of reach of the common folk. The burger later became commonplace and was something that people could easily afford. Perceptions of the burger then changed again when Chinese consumers became more health conscious.

"For a long time, hamburgers were associated with fast or even junk food because of places such as KFC and McDonalds," Huang says.

"But with the introduction of the gourmet burger in some hotels and independent high-end restaurants, perceptions are now changing, and people are realizing how delicious a good burger can be. Today's hamburger restaurants do not aim to win by quantity, but by quality."

Shake Shack is by no means the first gourmet burger joint in Shanghai. One of the first movers in this category in Shanghai was Beef and Liberty, which was founded in 2010 and is owned by The Greater China Restaurant Company. Beef and Liberty's culinary operation is headed by its group executive chef Uwe Opocensky, who used to run the Michelin-starred Mandarin Grill + Bar at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Hong Kong.

Such is the restaurant's renown that all the food experts China Daily spoke to named the restaurant as one of the go-to places for quality burgers in Shanghai.