Cara enjoys restaurants for all occasions, from fine dining to casual, with zero effort in dressing up. Just wear your trainers and a relaxed top.
Shrimp Shack is just the destination for that: shrimp made simple and humble in a casual setting, with neon sign lighting and booths.
Inspired by South African flavours, the diner serves shrimp, seafood boils and lobsters across two locations, Camden and Streatham.
Between my guest and myself, Camden was the perfect middle, and so we met here. The Camden location is just a short walk from Camden Town tube station.
The menu is simple to navigate. Choose between fried, steamed or boiled and pick your shrimp size. The portions range from small to sharing, including snow crab, lobster and calamari for the mains platters.
While the starters offer some meat options, such as spiced lamb chops, which immediately caught my attention. So I’m having them.
Four thick cuts for £12.50 make a generous portion, enough for a light main or to share as a starter. The signature African paprika-inspired rub is aromatic rather than spicy. A little bit chewy for my liking, but nevertheless they taste very fresh.
Meanwhile, my guest goes for the shrimp tempura. Unlike the Japanese stretched-out style, these are rounded prawns with a light, crisp crust, topped with fresh shredded carrot, spring onion and sweet-and-sour sauce. They’re super fresh and plump inside.
The drinks are fruity today, we’re washing everything down with smoothies. I can hear the blender working hard, mushing the fruit. Mine is earthy kale, spinach and a touch of mango.
A decent portion, with a thick consistency that suggests a high fruit and veg content. My plus one opts for the classic banana and strawberry, both priced at £5.95.
The mains are shrimp of course, we keep going back and forth indecisively between fried, the seafood boil or steamed.
I pick 30 Prince prawns, which also come with two sides and a sauce. And the surf and turf for my guest. Same Prince prawns but in a set of four.
The meat is done well: medium-rare wagyu steak, juicy and tender. All mains also come with a sauce and two sides each to choose from the list.
There are quite a few carby options, from mac ’n’ cheese and spiced rice to fries and corn ribs.
We’re copying each other and both have a set of fries and corn ribs, which are particularly nice.
I find corn ribs can occasionally be dried out when they spend too much time on the grill. But these are juicy and firm, and the spicy rub complements them perfectly.
Sauces to pair with our many prawns are herby butter and sesame & honey for me. I expected a bit more sesame here but it’s rather creamy with barely noticeable sesame.
My 30 Prince prawns have enough flavour as they are, to be honest. The mixed spice adds plenty of aroma, while the prawns are meaty and not overcooked.
So do the fries. Thin, crisp coating and soft middle — frankly, I can’t fault them.
For anyone wondering, the difference between the prawn sizes is simply the size. They’re the same variety of farmed prawn, just with some raised a little longer for them to grow a little bigger.
We order Prince and Queen to compare, and it’s about a centimetre difference.
Shrimp Shack is a casual diner, but it offers good value for money when you simply crave a straightforward prawn dish or a seafood-boil overload.
There is also snow crab, lobster and even black cod on the menu, the cheapest I have seen in town at only £22. It goes to show, I suppose, that it’s often more about the wrapping and presentation than the ingredients that brings the price up.
Shrimp Shack Camden, Unit 2, 10 Jamestown Rd, London NW1 7BY