Anyone who knows me would gather, sooner or later that I am rather fond of burgers and sandwiches. Most meat between a pair of carb brackets. A while back, a friend of mine kept on telling me about how he wanted to try this relatively new place that specialized in making burgers. Not just any ordinary burgers, gourmet burgers. I decided to give it a try myself a few days ago, having my girlfriend accompany me.

The Daily Grind is located in a quiet little corner of Bangsar Village 1, at least it was quiet when I went there on Sunday night. Its uniqueness derives from them preparing their burger patties fresh everyday, which I assume is how it got its name. The look of the premises intends to give off some vintage feel like an old American diner, which I think, was a good intention though the lighting of the place was too dark for my liking. They probably save a bit on electricity bills with the reduced lighting.

There weren’t many patrons at the time so we got seated instantly. Thanks to my friend who showed me the digital copy of their menu, I more or less already knew what I was going to try, I have to admit that with names like Satay Burgembira and Lamburgeni it was difficult not to give into ordering those. My belief was always being able to get the basic simple dishes right before pulling off grander things well. Instinctively I ordered the Classic Cheese Burger, thinking that if it was good, the rest should follow suit and I wouldn’t hesitate in being a little more adventurous the next time around. My girlfriend went for the Satay Burgembira. We also ordered onion rings to start with a glass of root beer each. The soft drinks were not refillable like in other places to my disappointment.

After the waiter left to process our order I looked at the two bottles of condiments at our table. I remembered that they were the shop’s own made ketchup and chili sauce. They say it is made fresh in their store thus having no artificial flavorings or preservatives. Our drink and onion rings arrived shortly.

The onion rings weren’t anything great to shout about. They were basically large onion rings fried in flour. The only thing that was great about the onion rings were that it was made fresh. To me they were just larger versions of those you get with yong choong kai at your nearest Chinese dai chow. The onion rings tasted rather bland so I thought it was an opportunity to try their own made ketchup and chili sauce. They tasted pure alright. The tomato sauce was without the sweet or savory taste you would get from commercial brands and it was a little sour for my taste. The chili sauce tasted a whole lot like it was a few ingredients short of being sambal. It was okay. The onion rings tasted better after I added some salt.

Our burgers arrived and I perused the toppings that made up our order. The Classic Cheese burger was really basic; cheese, ketchup, their own made mustard, pickles and some scarce bit of onions. My usual line was that it had to be really something for them to justify charging the amount they were for their burgers. They over toasted the top bun of my burger a little bit leaving it to be too hard and it almost broke up into pieces. The beef was really really good. It was tender and juicy and had freshness in the texture.

I would suggest getting them to hold the ketchup on their burgers. It was a distracting taste for the burger on the whole and didn’t felt like it went well together.

I sampled the Satay Burgembira. It was a beef burger topped with satay peanut sauce, cucumbers, onions and carrots. Aside from the carrots, it was satay in a bun. I never had imagined fashioning a burger with satay elements or even thought that it would taste well together. These guys got it right. Our burgers came with sides of some greens and fries. Their fries were yet again made fresh. Both the greens and the fries had a subtle taste of garlic which made the fries really tasty and didn’t feel too jelak.

My youthful days of being able to eat more than one person’s portion are over. I was quite filled and had to decline the waiter’s recommendation of cake for dessert which looked really tempting mind you. Especially their chocolate cake that glistened in the light and looked so moist. I am thankful that the experience was an okay one though I am not sure if I would make returning visits there democratically on my own. With the prices of items on the menu, it makes places like Chili’s and Tony Roma’s more inviting.

Oh, I almost forgot. They only have one rarity for their beef. Medium. Just the way I like it. Tough luck for those who like theirs well done.

You can download their menu from this link; which is from their site anyway.