First look: Wonderburger—a retro wonder in old Kingston

Posted on 30 January, 2024

If the problems of the world are pressing down upon you and you hanker for simpler times, the opening of Wonderburger may just be the antidote you need.

Under the glow of retro red-and-white signage which has been teasing Kingston locals for the past few weeks, Wonderburger promises a return to the wonder years—the ’50s and ’60s—where taste reigned supreme, and the simple things meant a lot.

Like a hot fudge Sunday, a burger groaning at the seams, crinkle cut fries and a bucket of golden fried Chickenettes.

Located in the redeveloped Eyre Street Market in old Kingston, right next door to Gelato Messina, the place is soaked in nostalgia. From the red plastic trays to the vinyl bar stools, venetian blinds, stainless steel straw dispenser and row of Cottee’s flavour pumps for the thickshakes, every small detail transports you back in time.

Wonderburger is the new baby for local hospitality veterans Olek Czezowski, Andrew Olejniczak and Vlada Makic, who have pulled together a throw-back eatery sure to become a busy new haunt for Canberrans wanting to suspend reality with a soft serve cone with bubblegum sherbet, or a Wonderdog hotdog drowning in liquid cheese, mustard, ketchup, jalepeno, pickles and onion.

Photo by Jess Di Scipio

But don’t be fooled by the simplicity of some of the menu items. May we mention that the man powering the enormous stainless-steel grill is burger maestro Andrew Cooper. “Coop” formerly ran Munroe’s Burgers and Beers in Melbourne and has worked under Heston Blumenthal and Neil Perry.

So it kind of makes sense that some of the burger options are a little fancy and use patties that contain a special double-ground mix of three meats. Take, for instance, the Truffle Wonderburger which combines beef with raclette cheese, fig jam, crispy onion, rocket and truffle mayo. Or the Tikkaville, combining fried chicken with Tikka sauce, coleslaw, pickled onion and mint chutney.

“We have put a lot of effort into making sure every menu item is good as it can be, while also keeping it simple,” Coop said.

Photo by Jess Di Scipio

There’s a cute menu for kids of meal packs including the “I wanna go home” which features chicken nuggets and chips with a drink, and the “I’m not hungry” featuring beef, cheese, ketchup, and chips.

Olek says the chickenettes, which are doused in 11 of Wonderburger’s proprietary special spices, will win over anyone who may be partial to any other type of fried chook. Or as they say, “Wonderbirds are go!”

While the eatery has only long bench seating, there are outdoor tables making this the perfect family haunt or relaxed after-work hunger-stopper.

And the final thing to mention is that it is licensed. So you can pair your fried chicken with a craft beer, pre-mixed cocktail or wine. Now does that sound wonderful or what?!

Main image by Jess Di Scipio