Grilling Burgers 7 pm onwards- Char Grill Central
It has been a long time since we had an interview session in our ‘Chefling-to-Chef series’. We, however, have a perfect story to break this silence- today we tell you the story of the best burger makers in Islamabad (and well in Pakistan too!)- Char Grill Central (CGC).
How they started, their secrets to a good burger recipe and what were the best moments from the journey to become one of Islamabad’s favorite burger places . They took a simple idea of making good burgers (yes beef burgers) and made it into a successful take away food business. Who is the king of their recipe? Its the beef patty!
I have friends who come from Lahore and other cities to just have their burger. We had a session with Saif ul Haq, one of the two gentlemen who started this project. The other half contributing to their success story is Jawad Rehman.
Char Grill Central
1: What is your chefling tale?
Well, for me personally, the main drive behind starting CGC, was this itch to try something different and to take a few risks. I was actually pursing a PhD, from the US before this, but I figured that I had jumped into a PhD way too early, and still had a few years to try out different things (which I couldn’t had I continued on with it) so, I moved back to Pakistan, with the intention of starting something, doing something different, - (not particularly CGC). I wasn’t sure of the particularities, but something different! Living in Islamabad, I realized that there are very few options when it comes to quality food. We’re both burger enthusiast, and were able to identify a market for fresh beef burgers, and it all just somehow came together.
2. How are your burgers different from so many other burger chains?
They’re fresh! The meat is never frozen, something that the bigger chains in Pakistan can’t afford to do. At best, they only make ‘fresh’ patties, from frozen meat. I feel this gives our burgers an edge. Also, I would say, the peppery overtone in our burgers is distinct.
3. If I have to make a perfect burger what would be your one advice
Don’t use chicken :p !
4: How did you get the word out for your burger chain?
We’d been cooking and experimenting in my kitchen for around 6 months. Initially, we were regularly having people over for tasters, just cooking for them for fun. Just seeing how they would rate our burgers; Islamabad is a small place, word gets around quite easily. Before launch, family and friends helped a lot in getting word out, especially on twitter and facebook. Also, we’ve received a lot of honest support from random people, LUMS alumni, random coworkers, acquaintances etc for which we’re really grateful.
5: What was the biggest hurdle in making your chefling tale true?
Honestly, it’s been pretty smooth sailing so far. I guess, the ‘mental’ hurdles have proved to be the only significant one’s.
6: Tell us a disaster story from the days you started? and any good memory?
Well, a few weeks back, due to some issues with the power lines, we didn’t have electricity for a couple of days. So we lit up a few candles and cooked the burgers under candle lights!
As for the memories, we’ve had a few interesting customers, like one really old gentleman, who called to say that he’d drive from Peshawar to taste ours, and see if it compared to what was sold, in the 60′s, in some (now defunct) Islamabad hotel. Otherwise, it always feels nice whenever you get a complement from a customer. Especially when they say, that they normally don’t prefer beef, but make an exception for CGC
8: Who guides the cooks?
We’ve set out SOP’s for each burger and have hired some kitchen staff. We’re there daily, to check the quality of the ingredients and to supervise the cooking.
7: Future plans?
Oh yes, among other things, we’ll definitely be expanding our delivery zone and menu. Hopefully, they’ll be a few nice surprises for our customers in the future 
the double patty beef burger by CGC
Chefling-in-Chief
