[Bondi Burger c. 2003, what's happened?]How the mighty have fallen. When did Oporto stop being Oporto? When did the grand old girl of Portuguese chicken burger's, pictured above in her prime, become a mere shadow of its former self? When did the Big Bondi become the exceedingly dull sounding Triple Chicken Fillet Burger? I'm not even sure the government could come up with a more bureaucratic name. Why does the chilli sauce now looks so...erh, unnaturally orange?
I am not sure what happened, I can't even say when it happened and whether it was a slow or fast death. The observations I make are from the viewpoint of someone who has returned recently from 18 months overseas, who used to crave the Oporto taste, more specifically a Big Bondi. I used to enforce monthly quotas upon myself. However, somewhere between Jan-07 and Aug-08 the self-styled pan-Portuguese-Australian chicken burger from Bondi lost its luster and with it my commerce.
Was being purchased by QSR (the owners of Red Rooster) the catalyst (Jul-07)? Probably. Needless to say, since my return, the Oporto I knew has become a mere shadow of its former self.
Why is it not the same? Well I can't remember in huge detail, but the current offering is not working. Let's look at the 3 core ingredients: the chicken, the sauce, the bun. I beg to argue that the chicken fillets are no longer blackened when cooking, hence no more chicken char. A fundamental error. The chicken also seems drier, but this could be linked to the sauce. The chilli-sauce of old did not look and taste so fake. Did there used to be two sauces, a mayonnaise and chilli? The difference between the Norm and the Bondi being the addition of the chilli-sauce? The picture above suggests so. Now the sauces are combined, or just different, in any case poorer. Finally, I always thought the roll was less doughy, but this could merely be a by-product of the sauce and chicken not providing the burger with enough moisture.
For those who want to remember what a good burger taste like, then I recommend The Coup in Rozelle (previous post here). Now this is an inspired Portuguese chicken burger. In any case, mark the day, Thursday, 25th June 2009, it could well be the last time an Oporto will pass my lips...
...and who would have ever thought that possible?
Keep truckin'
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8 comments:
How do you achieve scale and retain the same quality? Get rich and open a chain or stay true to your product and never cash in?
Thank goodness for independents like The Coup.
I'm just waiting for the first Burger Project store to open.
I remember emailing you about this in New York. It's been like that since the take over.
It's now a fast food chain, which means it's more about the idea of the food, rather than the taste of the food itself.
If Shakespearemate is off the Oporto, then I'm off the Oporto.
thanks for the insightful comments gents, glad we all agree. I was asking someone else about this on Friday night and they agreed also. apparently, the takeover was all in the name of expansion, but this burger wouldn't last two seconds in a sophisticated quick-eats market like the U.S.
unfortunately, I can't always bring good news to the [fodder].
Speaking of great fast food- I did a bit of research a while back into the feasibility of a Chipotle franchise in Sydney (and by research, I refer to the fact that I went on their website).
Unfortunately- Chipotle don't do franchises (at the moment anyway). They have only one shop outside of the U.S. which is in Toronto (which doesn't count IMHO).
like the research Jay. Ritchie will be particularly disappointed with the news. I was meant to have a Sydney Chipotle open before he arrived!
There was a story in the UK papers over Christmas that the first Chipotle in the UK is due to open in August. I have no idea if it is still on track......
I have never found Oporto to ever be anything but uninteresting. It even seems the age of the staff dropped by about 10 years when it all changed.
Red Rooster = Suburban + family take away that the parents can understand how to order off the menu.
Oporto = metro shopping centre + young, dumb not so hip youths too stupid to recognise taste over brand that would not be caught dead buying from red rooster, too cheap with an attention span too short to buy from Nandos.
We made the mistake of buying from Opotos only a week ago. The menu had about 12 burgers all that looked exactly the same apart from extra slabs of chicken. I asked the lass at the counter what the difference was between the one on the far left to the one on the far right. She said that one has extra chicken and is on a larger bun. I asked then what the difference was between the one in the middle and the one on the far right. She said that one has the same size chicken but it is on a smaller bun. HUH?!
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