Just Gotta Go

The steady decline of Oporto has been the sauce of great angst for chicken burger lovers across Sydney over the past few years. Possibly brought on by the $60 million takeover by QSR (owners of Red Rooster) in 2007, the burgers simply don’t pack the flavour that they used to. The famous piripiri sauce isn’t the same, the chicken is dry and more often than not my visits to Oporto have been serious disappointments.

A few years ago a small cafe in McMahon’s Point made amazing Portuguese chicken burgers (pictured) and rumour had it that the owners were originally half of the partnership with Oporto founder Antonio Cerqueira. But the cafe had to close after a lengthy court battle, possibly over council zoning laws.

Sure, good alternatives exist in Petersham (more on this later), but I haven’t found anyone who does the Portuguese chicken burger quite like Olies. Located in the original shop where the Oporto phenomenon was born in 1986 in North Bondi, Olies is a living shrine to the original Oporto taste.

Olie’s classic burger is grilled chicken, lettuce, cheese and mayo. They also do the classic with chilli, which I was told was the most popular burger, and big versions of both.

I went for the Ben Buckler burger which included tomato and avocado but I asked for a splash of chilli sauce as well. Named after the area and a convict who, as legend has it, lived in a cave in the cliffs of North Bondi, the burger really hit the spot. Lightly toasted buns enveloped chicken that was grilled to perfection, crisp and golden brown on the outside and tender on the inside. A generous dollop of creamy mayonnaise sat atop a thick slice of tomato and blended nicely with the melted cheese. On the bottom slice, lettuce lay among a layer of avocado cream. It was rounded out with a portion of thick potato chips heavily dusted in chicken salt.

They also sell whole chickens, butterflied Portuguese style but if chicken’s not your thing there were plenty of other options including beef and veggie burgers.

It seems that North Bondi is the sauce of the great Portuguese chicken burger once more.