Picture it, late 1990’s. @mysticgreg is working in Sydney and living in the southern suburbs, right near one of the early Oporto stores. IT WAS GLORIOUS. Double-Bondi burgers with tender, juicy chicken fillets bigger than your head, and chilli hot enough to melt the paper they came in. Rappas so good they would launch you into another dimension.
Time moves on, I return to Victoria. Decades later I stumble upon an Oporto and think OH YES, IT HAS RETURNED TO MY LIFE. I order. I unwrap the food. I look confused. I taste it. I cry. I mourn. I leave.
I went out of my way to try one when they first came to Australia, and underwhelmed is an understatement.
It’s basically Hungry Jack’s, but somehow worse.
I remember trying Oporto when they first opened a store in Chapel Street. A good friend of my ex-gf insisted we try a burger at this joint that’s like Nando’s but 1000x better.
Even as we were trying to find parking at midday in the side streets of South Yarra, insisted it would be totally worth it.
(This would have been around 2004-ish?)
I was dubious, but went along for the ride.
And I remember that it was actually not that bad.
And that’s not something I’ve ever felt eating their food since then.
@mysticgreg Unfortunately, they’re now owned by the same conglomerate that turned Red Rooster into a home brand KFC knockoff. And also Chicken Treat (ask your friend from Perth, they’ll tell you).
Oh man don’t get me started on Oporto.
Picture it, late 1990’s. @mysticgreg is working in Sydney and living in the southern suburbs, right near one of the early Oporto stores. IT WAS GLORIOUS. Double-Bondi burgers with tender, juicy chicken fillets bigger than your head, and chilli hot enough to melt the paper they came in. Rappas so good they would launch you into another dimension.
Time moves on, I return to Victoria. Decades later I stumble upon an Oporto and think OH YES, IT HAS RETURNED TO MY LIFE. I order. I unwrap the food. I look confused. I taste it. I cry. I mourn. I leave.
It is but a shadow of its former self :(
@mysticgreg @Baku Not surprised about Carl’s Jr.
I went out of my way to try one when they first came to Australia, and underwhelmed is an understatement.
It’s basically Hungry Jack’s, but somehow worse.
I remember trying Oporto when they first opened a store in Chapel Street. A good friend of my ex-gf insisted we try a burger at this joint that’s like Nando’s but 1000x better.
Even as we were trying to find parking at midday in the side streets of South Yarra, insisted it would be totally worth it.
(This would have been around 2004-ish?)
I was dubious, but went along for the ride.
And I remember that it was actually not that bad.
And that’s not something I’ve ever felt eating their food since then.
I thought it was just me!
Definitely not just you! If I ever get my hands on a time machine one of the first places I’m heading is Brighton Le Sands Oporto in 1998!
@mysticgreg Unfortunately, they’re now owned by the same conglomerate that turned Red Rooster into a home brand KFC knockoff. And also Chicken Treat (ask your friend from Perth, they’ll tell you).