In the list of top 100 hundred, there is serious contention for the top spot at number 1. For years the dizzying and intoxicating effects have been battling it out against the creamy and delicious forces of the milkshake. Finally however the spot has been clinched as the milkshakes of Dublin’s best shake shop, ‘Shake Away’ have pushed the milky beverages to the top.
In the days before social networking and when there were still only 150 Pokémon, we only had three simple flavours of milkshake, Vanilla, Strawberry and Chocolate. Delicious but eventually boring, something new needed to come along and thankfully it has. Shake Away is a brightly coloured new store on Liffey Street Dublin. Boasting over 150 types of milkshakes we had to venture in to see what all the fuss was about. Gorging ourselves on sweet dairy goodness we had to know more about the people behind this heavenly shop and so we grabbed Damian, manager (man with one of the greatest jobs ever) for a chat about the shop, the shakes and of course video games…
Can you tell us a little about yourself?
My name is Damian, I’m 26 years old and I’m a true Dub, true blue been living here most of my life. Studied in UCD and then I headed off to the University of Sheffield to do my Masters there in Management.
The store opened in August, what has the reception been like from the people of Dublin?
It’s been very good – we’re so popular a few copy cat shops have opened up around us but you know we’re having a great run and people seem to really like the place.
Can you tell us a little about the Shake Away franchise?
I came across it four years ago. The whole thing kicked off way back in 1999, it started in a café in the South of England, it was just a regular little place and they did milkshakes, one day one of the guys came in with a packet of rolos and decided to blend them up and it all just started from there. The rolo and Oreo milkshakes they were doing started to sell more than their teas and coffees so they decided to take the idea and run with it and here we are today!
How many flavours do you sell? Is there any option for those of us who might be a little bit health conscious?
There’s a 150+ but we can do anything you want. One guy in a store in the UK blended a milkshake with 56 flavours in it; I think it took him something like 20 blenders to get it.
For people who are a little more health aware, we have different options, stuff that contains less calories, ones with no dairy, soy milk stuff and gluten free products. In fairness most people coming n though want a good proper milkshake but the options are always there.
What’s the most popular milkshake? Do you have a personal favourite?
The most popular is the ‘Dave’, it’s a Kinder Bueno and Frerero Rocher blended and a crumbled flake on top. Mine at the moment is the ‘Janice’ it’s strawberry cheesecake and Oreo with marshmallows.
We are starting to face into the winter now, and given Irish weather it’s going to be pretty cold, for those of us in the mood for a good shake will we still be able to get our hands on some?
We’re seasonal so we are going to be affected slightly but we are going to be bringing people a hot milkshake! Yeah it sounds kind of unnatural but trust me it’s one of the best hot chocolates you will have in your entire life – it’s a chocolate muffin blended with a Dime bar. And we can make any of our others hot if they wanted any of those too!
Can customers suggest milkshakes?
Absolutely yeah! As long as we have stuff in the stock we can do that and we’ve had people coming in with chocolate bars we don’t have suggesting types of milkshakes we can mix and I just have to run everything by head office to make sure I can serve it on the menu.
Finally if you were trapped in an Arcade for eternity what one game would you play to pass the time?
Just one? If that’s the case then it would have to be Street Fighter, one of the first games I ever played!
We struggled with this interview only because we were so distracted by the amazing Minstrels Milkshake that we were sampling. As professional and seasoned milkshake samplers, we can honestly tell you that you will not find a better shake anywhere in the city of Dublin
The milkshakes are cold but the service is warm and fun and with over 150 flavours we can guarantee that we will be back to try more.
Join Shake Away Dublin on Facebook here
Don’t forget to check out the official Shake Away website here
Want to drool over one of the greatest menus ever written? Click here!
Shake Away, is located on Liffey Street, just up from the Jervis Shopping Centre.
