You have to be serious about your burgers, seriously interested in them, if you wish to dine at Outpost. Because it’s a dark and winding Ring Road, a labyrinth of a route that you’ll lose your way on at least twice before you get it right, that’ll lead you there. This is DHA’s newly planned Phase 8, a locality that is coming up as potentially posh but is currently marred by poor signage and weak illumination. You may easily drive through Bhatt Chowk and make it to Phase 8 but navigating your way to Outpost and more importantly, getting back from the new burger joint is something you’ll need an experienced guide for.

The good thing is that the trek is worth the effort. Outpost BYOB is for red meat lovers, which is most of Lahore, and so it’s no surprise that the place is always packed with a queue in waiting. You’re handed an order sheet upon arrival, where you have to construct your own burger in several simple steps. The burgers come in racks of single, double and triple patty and while chicken options are available, it would be close to sacrilegious to bite into anything short of beef.

The blend of ground beef is near perfect and will encourage protein lovers to skip the bun and devour the meat alone. And before you indulge into the main course, it is recommended to order the Outpost starters, especially the chicken wings and bites. It’s a good way to prepare the palate for the beef attack ahead.

The burgers come with options of plain and seeded buns, patty stacks, a choice of salad, side additions, sauces and finally chips, wedges or onion rings. What you order is exactly what you get.

I ordered a plain bun, which to be honest was the only element that could have been better. My single beef patty, however, made up for the bun and my salad additions - lettuce, tomatoes and onions - gave the right amount of fresh crunch to the beef. Though honey mustard sauce is ideally suited to chicken, my combination of honey mustard and barbeque sauce went very well with the beef. Since I love a dot of sweetness with my beef, I indulged in a slice of grilled pineapple in my burger; it complemented the saltiness of the beef perfectly. One slice of cheese and a selection of French fries later, I had built my own burger for something close to 600 rupees.

The meal was worth every penny spent. However, to take it to the next level, Outpost will have to pay some attention to dining details. The outdoors need a little more than fans for mosquito control and the indoor seating needs to be cooler and perhaps a little more brighter. Dim lights and trance music would be great if the customers were all cool and hip but Outpost attracts family diners more than anyone else and the ambiance needs to be a little more suited to them.

It’s a humble initiative and one that works because of the experience and commitment of the owner, Raza Rahman, who trained at Les Roches School of Hotel Management in Switzerland before returning to open his own restaurant. Outpost has been around for close to two years now, gaining popularity slowly and steadily. It’s a highly recommended burger joint and simply needs a little bit of extra oomph to become the highly recommended hang-out that it’s designed to be.