A pop-up in Old Street station got me very excited last week – the fabulous Shrimpy is back in my neck of the woods! Well, Old Street isn’t exactly my neck of the woods, but when I saw on their Instagram feed that Shrimpy was back on my side of the river, it didn’t seem to matter that I would have to hop on a tube to get my lunch.
I first heard of Shrimpy when I started working not far from the Devonshire Square world food market, at which they used to appear. A few friends from work had eaten there before but I was dubious of this shrimp burger (aka The Shrimpster) they were all raving about. I mean, shrimp in a burger? How does that work? Brilliantly, as it turns out!
A Shrimpster consists of a bun with red onions, cucumber (pickled, I think) and samphire, onto which a generous serving of either grilled or battered and fried shrimp is piled high, and then topped with onion and tarragon sauce. When I visited last week I learned that there’s now a choice of sauce as they’ve added a scotch bonnet and golden syrup sauce.
I’ve never had the grilled shrimp version, but the battered shrimp burger is absolutely gorgeous and the ingredients work so well together. The samphire adds a nice texture and the scotch bonnet and golden syrup sauce is a beautiful combination of heat and sweet. My only disappointment is that they can’t serve chips at Old Street, which is a bit of a shame.
Aside from tasting delicious, what I love most about the Shrimpster is that it’s completely different to anything else you might find in a street food market. As much as I love falafel, katsu wraps and pad Thai, it’s nice to come across something new, original and really special.
Burgers are fairly priced at £7, and you can add bacon or avocado for an extra £1. Shrimpy will be at Old Street station for the next three weeks, and also have a stall on Friday, Saturday and Sundays at Southbank Food Market, so take their advice and shrimp up your life! See you in the queue!
Albatine x
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