Attempt #5 - 'The Skinny Dog Hotel'

 

[info]

When? - 12th of May, 2010

Where? - The Skinny Dog Hotel, 155 High St. Kew

Price? - $25

Barry? - No

Website? - http://www.skinnydoghotel.com.au/

Reviewers - Adam Y, Bec, Cale, Emma, Janet, Kathleen, Lauren, Lee, Luke, Matt, Nikki, Pat, Shanan, Stefo, Tanya[/info]

The Skinny Dog is an odd one, there are heaps of posts on online forums floating around online claiming it as the biggest and the best parma in Melbourne, with photos to back it up! The problem is it seems that around late 2008 the parmas took a downward turn, The good reviews started to drop off, more and more unimpressed opinions seemed to pop up (with the odd exception of a positive opinion every now and then).

Looks like a job for Parma Daze!

We loaded up the cars and took our biggest review team yet out to Kew to try the Skinny Dog Parma, I was a little worried about parking, but there was plenty available at the supermarket carpark that resides out the back of the pub.  Walking in to the Skinny Dog gives a very good first impression, recently refurbished its an impressive looking pub with a great range of both tap and bottled beers, sports on multiple big screen TV’s and a very nice looking beer garden (complete with separate bar) out the back.

After everyone arrived we realised just how big this weeks team was, 15 hungry folks had turned up for a parma, and seeing as we were without a booking (not making that mistake again!), we were pretty much screwed. There would have been a 45 minute wait for a table in the very busy restaurant section, so we opted to re arrange all of their bar furniture into an area for ourselves in the front bar, which the staff seemed fine with.

So with seating sorted we all ordered our parmas off the bar menu - at $25 it was the most expensive parma we had reviewed to date … high hopes! Some of us got the unique option on ordering of ‘chips or coleslaw’, but not everyone was asked and even with the choice, everyone opted for chips.

The turnaround time was very quick, I was expecting a long wait but within about 15 minutes our parmas started arriving (although not all at once … which is fair enough as we had ordered quite a few).

Helloooo? salad? where are youuuu?

The Parma looked impressive when it arrived, nice big plates, chips served in a separate bowl (fantastic!) the parma itself looked big, certainly not the biggest in Melbourne, and considerably smaller than some of the photos floating around online, but big none the less. The one thing that shocked us all was the lack of any form of salad! apart from sprinkling of green things over the top of the parma, salad of any kind was nowhere to be found.

On first bite the parma was good, real chicken breast, with what tasted like home made & spiced breadcrumbs, no nude bits of schnitzel, a generous slice of double smoked ham and even a few basil leaves under the cheese … all seemed well! But as I got into the parma things seemed to change, first of all it was majorly undercooked - don’t get me wrong, there were no pink bits (thats what she said) but the crumbs were soggy with absolutely no crispness and the breasts thickness was not consistent at all, some parts were fine, but in other spots it got dangerously thin. The sauce was sparse and a bit watery. The double smoked ham had a very prominent smokey flavour, which I personally didn’t mind but could have been a bit overpowering for some. One thing almost everyone commented on was the cheese - there was a lot of it, ill say it again to make sure you take it in there is a lot of cheese on this parma. i’m a big fan of cheese at the best of times but this was too much, bordering more cheese than schnitzel! I’m not sure if the cheese was the culprit of the soggy crumbs, but in the end just couldn’t shake the taste of undercooked chicken.

It was a big parma, I had fear at one point that I wasn’t going to be able to finish, but after a quick break to digest and a pot of cider, I managed to polish it off with ease (again, thats what she said).

The Chips had good and bad points, they were well cooked and nicely salted, I loved that they were served in a separate bowl, this should be law for all parmas. They stayed fresh and crisp throughout the meal but in saying that, the bowl was a little small. The chips were thinly cut french fries, which you don’t see with chicken parmas often (not that theres anything wrong with that) but they looked like they belonged next to a medium quarter pounder meal, not a chicken parma.

The chips would have felt right at home next to this bad boy … and there would’ve been more salad on the burger than on the plate!

The Salad was … nonexistent, as I said at the start of the review a few of the team members got offered coleslaw instead of chips, I’m sorry but when I’m paying quite a premium for a parma I expect to have a full range of sides, not the choice of sacrificing my chips to get a bowl of coleslaw instead.

All in all its a great looking pub, and a good looking parma with the potential to be the best! its big enough and the chicken itself is darn good quality, they are trying different things with the parma without straying too far from the norm (I was impressed by the fresh basil leaves) but it was a let down in lots of other ways … too much cheese, the ham was too strong, without the option to leave it off, the sauce was barely there, and it was just so undercooked - try as I might, I couldn’t get the bad taste out of my mouth … Thats what she said.

*EDIT 31/03/2011 - Score amended under the ‘You don’t win friends with salad’ ruling of March, 2011

*EDIT (AGAIN!) 14/10/11 - We went back! After getting word of improvements made to the parma, we gave it another review! See the results! Here

Parma - 5.5
Chips - 4.9
Salad - N/A
Value - 4.9
Total - 5.18

The search continues …

Skinny Dog Hotel on Urbanspoon

Attempt #4 - 'The Doutta Galla Hotel'

[info]

When? - 5th of May, 2010

Where? - The Doutta Galla Hotel, 339 Racecourse Rd, Flemington

Price? - $18.90 regularly, with a $12 Parma & Pot Night on Wednesdays from 6pm

Barry? - No

Website? - http://www.douttagallahotel.com 

Reviewers - Adam Y, Bec, Cale, Emma, Fridge, Kathleen, Lee, Luke, Matt, Shanan, Stefo, Tanya, Tony Q & Tony S[/info]

We rocked up at the Doutta Galla Hotel at about 7.30 to find a fairly full pub. Split down the middle by the bar with the drinkers on one side & the eaters on the other, the Doutta Galla (or the ‘Doot’ as its known to the locals) looked promising. The restaurant side was very busy, most of the tables were taken, so we were forced to sit on the massively long outdoor table that runs the length of one side of the building (not really a fault to the pub however, as there were fourteen reviewers and we arrived without a booking)

We claimed a table and joined the long queue to place our order - I took the large amount of people eating as a good sign, hard to imagine a bad parma attracting this many people! The service on the register was slow, it took quite a while to get to the front of the queue, but the order was eventually placed without too much hassle. We were there on ‘Parma Night’ so it came to $12 with a free pot, winning points on the price, and who doesn’t love a free beer?! Another thing worth noting, apparently if they dont ask you if you would like a garlic bread with your parma, you get one for free.

The pub itself had a good atmosphere, a pool table in the pub area and a video jukebox always adds to the fun, plenty of TV’s to keep you amused and a good range of beers on tap (including Bulmers cider, a personal favourite & great accompaniment to a parma). There was also a rather cosy room at the front of the bar with an array of couches & plenty of outdoor seating if its a warm night, unfortunately for us it wasn’t a warm night on the night of the review, but as dedicated reviewers we suffer for our parmas!

Apologies to the quality of the photo, it was dark outside and the lighting is the combination of about 4 mobile phone screens

The parmas arrived, the reviewer who ordered last (and separate to the majority) got his parma about 5 minutes before everyone else, but soon enough we were all digging in. I had high hopes for this parma & first impressions were good! … I was sorely disappointed.

On the plate, the parma looked kind of small, not an unforgivable sin if its tasty, but the chicken was terrible quality, thin, cheap and more breadcrumbs than chicken. There were many nude parts of the schnitzel & the cheese that was there tasted plastic. There was an included slice of ham, which is always a bonus point, but the napoli sauce was virtually nonexistent.

The salad was a mixture of shredded lettuce, carrot and other vegetable with some tomatoes thrown on the side, it tasted more like coleslaw than a parma salad, one reviewer commented “this is what I used to feed to my pet rabbit”.

The one redeeming factor was the chips, they were beer battered, plank style chips, wouldve been great if they had’ve been salted just a little. There were salt shakers on the tables inside, but being relegated to the outdoor seating, we didn’t have access to them.

After the meal we moved inside to warm up, played a few games of pool & had a drink. The general consensus was that the parma was cheap, small and we all played pool ‘like Betty White’ because of it.

Betty White hates shitty parmas

All in all it’s a cheap & nasty parma for a cheap price, if you are looking for a low priced parma you are gonna pay for it in quality and this definitely qualifies, if we had’ve gone on a night that wasn’t their ‘parma night’ and paid the full price of $18.90 I would have been severely disappointed & its score would’ve been significantly lower. It’s passable for what you are paying, but its always a bad sign when after the meal half of the reviewers are feeling sick, and the other half are considering going to McDonalds up the road to have a proper dinner.

Parma - 4
Chips - 5.9
Salad - 2.3
Value - 7.3
Total - 4.74

The search continues …

Doutta Galla Hotel on Urbanspoon

Attempt #3 - 'The Leveson'

[info]

When? - 28th of April, 2010

Where? - The Leveson Hotel,  46 Leveson St. North Melbourne

Price? - $23 normally with a $20 ‘Parma’s of the world & Pint’ special on Tuesdays

Barry? - No

Website? - http://www.theleveson.com/

Reviewers - Lee, Matt, Shanan & Tony Q[/info]

Whenever I ask for recommendations for good parmas, or simply google ‘good parmas in Melbourne’, The Leveson is up there with The Palmerston as one of our supposed ‘best’, so from the get go it was high on our queue for review.

The team arrived at about 7:15 on a wednesday night to a fairly empty pub, there were a few people in the restaurant section up the back but we opted to eat in the front bar where there was an open fire, pool table and sports projected on to the wall as well as a plasma over our heads.

We ordered our parmas from the very friendly bar staff, grabbed a beer and had a game of pool to pass the time. There were a good selection of beers on tap & in bottles available, with my pot of Hoegaarden and parma the cost came to $31 ($23 for the parma and $8 for the pot) which in my book is a little pricey, but bearing in mind I ordered a premium beer and hadn’t tried the supposed ‘famous’ parma yet, I was ok with shelling it out.

The food arrived as our first game of pool ended and ‘Hey Hey it’s Wednesday Saturday’ started on the plasma and I must say it looked impressive (The parma, not Daryl Somers)

Don’t worry, there are chips there too! they are playing hide-and-seek under the parma

The chicken breast was very tasty, decent size, a little on the thin side for my taste but it had a good flavour, the napoli sauce was very thick and rich and a little overpowering for some of the reviewers, there was a welcome slice of ham, the cheese was in abundance & had a great flavour, although on a couple of the parmas it was over-cooked and burnt in places.

The salad was very good, it was a rocket and cherry tomato salad with balsamic dressing, but what set it apart from the others was the generous chunks of mozzarella cheese tossed through, a rarely seen and much appreciated addition to usually ignored garden salad.

The chips that I found hiding under the chicken were damp and bland, not seasoned or salted and the clogged up salt shaker that was supplied was useless until I unscrewed the top and stabbed through the hardened salt with my fork, Although the pots of tomato sauce brought out by the staff were greatly appreciated.

By the end of our meal the pub had filled up a bit more but there was still plenty of room to move, Its also worth noting that on Tuesday nights they offer a $20 ‘Parmas of the World & a Pint’ night with a selection of 5 different novelty parmas with a pint of Carlton Draught and happy hour from 6 -7. Something I’d definitely be interested in trying.

The parma was good, but a bit expensive for what you are getting. If the cheese wasn’t burnt and the napoli wasn’t so rich (in some spots it tasted like pure tomato paste) it would be a great contender, the chips were a let down but the true standout of this meal was the garden salad, I can safely say it is one of the best garden salads I’ve ever had the pleasure of accompanying my parma.

The pub itself had a good atmosphere, good staff & a great range of beers. The open fire was a nice touch and a pool table is an always welcome addition - they also boast to be the ‘Only place in the area with Foxtel’, a claim I find to be a tad unbelievable but amazing if true!

Parma - 7.5
Chips - 5.8
Salad - 7.1
Value - 5.5
Total - 6.68

The search continues …

The Leveson on Urbanspoon

Attempt #2 - 'The Palmerston Hotel'

Palmerston outside  

[info]

When? - 18th of March, 2010

Where? - The Palmerston Hotel, 51 Palmerson Cres. South Melbourne

Price? - $17 for the ‘No.1’ Parma, $18 for the ‘Palmie Parma’

Barry? - No

Website? - None

Reviewers - Lee, Nikki & Shanan [/info]

 ** Edit 21/08/14 - If you're here this review is no longer valid - We have re-visited The Palmerston 4 years later .. find out how the redo went by clicking here!

The Palmerston has a BIG reputation to live up too, once voted Melbournes No. 1 parma by the now defunctwww.superparma.com, It is known all around town as ‘the best parma in Melbourne … and they like to boast about it too!

This review session was supposed to take place the night before, on the 17th of March, but due to St. Patricks day it was pushed back a night, and as a result we had a considerably smaller group than the bunch that attended the ‘Mrs. Parmas’ review - but we pushed on none the less.

It’s classic Aussie pub atmosphere from the get-go at the Palmie, it was a warm night so there were a few people eating & having a beer on the outdoor tables, upon entry there are a few TAB machines, tables of all shapes and sizes and the walls are lined with plasma screens showing race results & other sports, and of course the always essential Barry pub trivia machine was there, the perfect accompaniment to the after dinner pot. As we walked around the back of the pub, to the dining area, we were rushed by about 30 school students leaving, who were obviously just finishing their own parma night, they looked satisfied so we were excited when we were seated in the newly deserted dining area.

The staff were fantastic, bread rolls on arrival, table service for drinks & it wasnt a problem at all when we requested to move tables when we found out another reviewer was joining us later.

They have a couple of options for the parma, you can either go the ‘No.1 Parma’ which is your standard parmigiana, and the one voted ‘best in melbourne’ or for an extra dollar you can upgrade to the ‘Palmie Parma’ which is the same, but with bolegnaise sauce instead of napoli - a nice option! there is also the choice between chips & salad or Mashed potatoes & vegetables as a side, winning points so far!

We went with the boasted ‘No.1 Parma’, saving the Palmie Parma for another time. It arrived in about 5 minutes flat, and what a parma it was!

Palmerston Parma

At around the time our parmas came out, we had word that our extra reviewer was about 10 minutes out, so we ordered his, after about ten minutes we were told his parma was ready, he ended up getting stuck in traffic and didnt join us for a good half an hour after that  & I was fearing a soggy, ruined parma that had been sitting under the heat lamps - but to our surprise when he arrived, a freshly cooked parma awaited him!

The parma was thick and juicy, lightly crumbed and cooked to perfection, there was a spice in either the crumbs or the napoli that was quite unique, and yet we couldnt put our finger on what it was exactly. One criticism I do have is that it was a little light on the sauce, lots of cheese, lots of chicken, even a slice of ham! just a little dry on the napoli. Normally the inclusion of ham on a parma can be a bit overpowering, but I didnt even notice it was on there until about halfway though. I have had many parmas in my time, and this chicken breast is the first one ive had thats come close too … maybe even beaten out the Jimmies Parma

The sides were ok, but not great, the salad was a little too finely chopped for me, there was not a piece in the entire thing that looked over a square cm in size, it actually looked like it’d be more suited sprinked on toast and served as a bruschetta. But it was tasty and cant complain too much, the chips were standard fried, not salted but there were salt & pepper shakers on the table, the one gripe (and a common mistake) is that they piled the parma on top of the chips, so by the time I ate through to them they were a bit sweaty and damp, but the chicken itself definitely made up for it.

I tried some of the mashed potatoes, and they were very much to my liking, smoothly mashed and buttery, although they were *very* peppery, and may not be to some peoples liking, the boiled vegetables seemed to have suffered the same fate as the salad, too finely chopped and one vegetable was almost indistinguishable from the other.

The parma itself is the best ive tasted in a long time. The staff are great, love the table service and bread rolls - $17 is a very reasonable price for what you get! If they upped their salad quality, put on a bit more napoli & served their chips beside their parma, theyd be in contention to beat the Jimmies parma - I’ll definitely be going back for another Parma, pot & game of Barry

*EDIT* 13/09/2010 - I visited the Palmerston this weekend for another parma & Game of Barry to discover the Palmerston’s Barry machine is no more. Theres still a TAB though so plenty to keep the gambler inside us occupied while waiting for our tasty parma to arrive.

Parma - 9.6
Chips - 7
Salad - 4
Value - 7.8
Total - 7.30
The search continues …

The Palmerston Hotel on Urbanspoon