For context, a 30 ringgit burger is near 3 times the price of Big Mac, according to the Big Mac Index and current exchange rate.
If it’s anything like the original shake shack, I don’t think it’s worth the premium. I think it’s pretty mid but then again, I’m not one to eat any fast food burgers
Shake shack is not good for the money. How hard is it to cook a ground beef patty? Are there local burger places?
Sometimes it seems like Asia fetishizes the West. Watch some of those Korean and Japanese shows on Netflix. Sometimes they’re like “Wow, look at this cool Western thing!” and it’s like a Nespresso machine or something dumb. Or some random wine that looks like crap. Not everything from the West is good, and I bet the good stuff isn’t exported in large quantities.
There are definitely homegrown burger shops, from roadside stalls to myBurgerLab (inspired in part by Shake Shack etc.). Yet you have brands like Five Guys that also recently opened here. The fetishizing you say does happen, but to a lesser degree since these foreign franchises are not as affordable, for now at least.
Some fast food brands like Subway and Texas (Church’s) Chicken managed to keep their prices reasonable by sourcing locally and expand their outlets to rival McD and KFC.