The Alvalade district has become one of the most enthusiastic epicentres for innovative businesses in the Lisbon capital, and the arrival of a new burger restaurant, designed by a Michelin-starred chef, is proof of this: welcome to Quack Shack, a specialist in duck burgers.
If you’ve had enough of beef burgers, pork burgers, a mixture of the two, or even the latest trend of smash burgers, the new place is a complete departure from the commonplace and is betting on a rare and, we would even say, daring specialty, which could only have the signature of Chef Rodrigo Castelo, holder of a Michelin star and a Green star at his restaurant Ó Balcão, in Santarém.
The home of the “duck”
Quack Shack is very close to the Alvalade metro exit, and you only have to walk a few meters up Avenida da Igreja, taking the first left onto Rua Marquesa de Alorna (27C).
Outside you’ll find a small terrace with four tables and, inside, two large tables and a small counter facing the wall with seating for five.
At the back is the kitchen, where the curious hamburgers are prepared, as well as the small bathroom.
According to one of the restaurant’s partners, Nuno Pimenta ,
The Alvalade neighborhood is the perfect place to test this new gastronomic concept, and the small space will also be used to ship orders via home delivery platforms, as it is located in the epicenter of the city, with a wide reach for the delivering service.”
The Secret Lisbon experience
We confess that we were quite excited to try the new duck burgers, after all, it’s not every day that we get to taste this meat in different formats.
So we started with the duck croquettes, the Quackettes (€1.90), made with duck trimmings in order to reduce waste. On the outside we found a croquette that wasn’t as crispy and firm as we like, and a filling that was rather creamy, in our opinion too creamy and with a level of flavor intensity that didn’t fully satisfy.
It wasn’t until we “dipped” it in the house sauce that we found it much tastier. In fact, for us, the sauce was the biggest surprise of this tasting. Who knew?
Moving on to the duck burger itself, you’ll have noticed that it didn’t exceed our best expectations.
Perhaps we were expecting something more sinful like a “Pulled Pork” style duck burger, say a “Pulled Duck” , where the meat would be shredded and then stuffed into a bun full of delicious sauce dripping down your hands.
Instead, we found the regular hamburger in its usual disc format, weighing around 130g, where the meat, perhaps because it was too pressed, didn’t offer all the intensity we know from duck meat , which is very rich in nutrients.
If the meat wasn’t what we expected, the assembly of this Quack Signature (€12.90) couldn ‘ t have been more creative: the toasted bun’n’roll proved to be a crunchy surprise, as did the fresh orange and cucumber pickles, the crunchy sliced leek, the sweetness of the confit onion and the traditional American cheese (a mix of Cheddar and Colby).
The lighter version, the Quack Burger (€9.90), is distinguished by the brioche bun, also lightly toasted, the onion confit and the same dose of American cheese. And if you add two duck burgers, you get the Quack Burger Double (€11.90).
To accompany all this, don’t even think of leaving without trying the crispy, salty fries (€3), which are to die for… and even more tempting if you add the special Dijonnaise sauce for just €1 more.
As for the bar, there are the traditional soft drinks, but also Kombucha and Minis, and our suggestion goes to the house beer created by the Musa brewery, Quack Shack Beer by MUSA (€3.50), which is very light and refreshing.
Finally, don’t forget to try one of the best-known sweets from Chef Rodrigo Castelo’s homeland, Pampilho (€1.90), which is brought here by the Bijou pastry shop in a mini-dose that will leave you salivating.
Perhaps our expectations were too high, because we love duck meat, and the truth is that we would have liked to try it in a more “degrading” way, along with a sauce that would do it some justice, without fear of getting our hands dirty,
However, even though we weren’t surprised by this duck burger, we applaud the new concept, which is completely different from the rest of the gastronomy on offer throughout the city and is a daring proposal that deserves to be tried by all burger enthusiasts.
Address: Rua Marquesa de Alorna 27C (Alvalade)
Opening hours: Tuesday to Sunday, from 12pm to 10pm (with Uber Eats + Glovo deliveries)
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