#325 - 'Barton Fink'

Where - 816 High St. Thornbury

Price - $18 for regular, $20 for mexican

Website - http://www.bartonfink.com.au

Reviewers – Fridge, Lee, Nikki, Stefo

Named after a 1991 Coen Brothers movie, High Street's Barton Fink instantly struck me as a cool little pub I could waste away hours in. 

I normally try and start these reviews with an interesting story of how this pub came to be on our radar, but to be honest this week it was a case of "What haven't we tried around Thornbury", followed by a little bit of Google-fu. I picked it because it didn't strike me as the kind of bar that would serve a parma. From the aesthetic of the place it seemed more like the kind of pub that would serve dip platters and toasties - I mean, they do have both of those on the menu, but seeing a parma was a surprise. 

I expected Barton Fink to be a little hole-in-the-wall, but it was surprisingly spacious inside. Plenty of tables if you want to sit in and enjoy the live music, and opening out to an unexpectedly nice beer garden out the back. 

We snagged a table and checked the menu. I wasn't expecting options ... There were options. 

I'm not normally one to go with the novelty toppings, but I am a sucker for a good Mexican parma. We split the load and got two of each. 

Also worth noting that while the menu says its an extra $1 to add ham on the classic parma, we were told that the menu is soon to be updated with the surcharge removed. 

We started with a serve of onion rings to whet our appetites. Quite good. I had never had onion rings with sweet chilli sauce before but the flavours worked well together. A good start so far!

Quality beers on tap. Steam Ale & Two Birds to name a couple, with Hawke's available in cans from the fridge (among other things). Plenty to choose from. 

Before we get to the parmas I want to apologise for the photo quality this week - Barton Fink was rather dark inside and didn't lend itself to the fine art of parma photography. I cranked up the brightness in post as much as I could in an effort to save them, but I freely admit they aren't my best work. 

The Mexican

The Classic

Getting the worst out of the way up front - the schnitzel was probably the most disappointing element of the dish. As you can see from the photos below the crumbs were quite thick and the chicken inside seemed to have shrunk in the cooking process, leaving a loose shell of crumbs around the chicken inside. It was a little dry and flavourless. As far as foundations go this one started off quite shaky.

Luckily, for the Mexican at least, the toppings did their absolute darnedest to save it. Completely smothered in sour cream, salsa, guacamole and spicy jalapeños, the mountain of stuff atop my parma brought it back from the brink ... If anything I'd say it was bordering on topping overload. 

Close call, Barton Fink ... Close call. 

I've been on the fence about putting this in the review, but in the interest of full disclosure I'll cover it quickly - There was a bit of a snafu in the kitchen when we ate at Barton Fink. Nothing major, but one of the classic parmas came out with sour cream on it as if it had been half prepped as a Mexican. Props to the staff however, when we brought it to their attention they replaced it ASAP, apologised profusely and even threw in a free cocktail for the wait. Mistakes happen, but the staff's response in handling it was all class. 

Anyway, on to the sides. 

The serving of chips was absolutely massive. Served hot and liberally seasoned with chicken salt. We don't get chicken salt often, but it was a more than welcome change. A fine side to the dish. 

The garden salad was simple. Crisp, flavoursome and heavy on the red onion just how I like it. I don't have too much else to say about it other than that... Yep! It was a good one!

“Parma was nice. I got the Mexican, the toppings were a little overloaded, but still nice. Was good to have wedges as a change, Salad was tasty... A very cool little bar with some great live music”

— Fridge

“Enormous meal! I had the classic and personally enjoyed the parma. I found the taste of parsley a tad overpowering but it was on the subtle side. There were plenty of chips (at least half the plate) covered in a large amount of chicken salt - Was a good decision to ask for a side of (complimentary) aioli to balance the flavours.
Didn’t think the salad was anything to write home about, but it was inoffensive. ”

— Stefo

“would have enjoyed this parma much more had it not been for the quality of the schnitzel. Everything else was great ... and huge servings! ”

— Nikki

The ingredients to the Barton Fink parma weren't of the highest quality, but I'll be damned if they didn't use every available square inch of plate space. Nobody walked away from the table hungry as all the servings on the plate were more than generous. $18 for the regular and $20 for the Mexican is pretty good considering the sheer amount of food delivered, however I'd rather chip an extra few bucks their way to up the quality of the schnitzel used as a foundation. 

I liked Barton Fink. It was a very cool little bar that I'd happily head back to. From the live music to the beer garden to the Twin Peaks Pop! vinyls over the bar its definitely a place I'd return to. 

The parma was close to being great but stumbled at the starting block and didn't quite manage to catch up. I'd give it another go in the hopes that things improve. 

Now I'm going to check if Barton Fink is on Netflix. I like the Coen Brothers (Fargo FTW) and if the movie is good enough to have an entire pub named after it, surely its worth checking out! 

Parma - 6.25

Chips - 7.25

Salad - 6.75

Value - 6.75

Total - 6.65

The search continues...

#324 - 'The Wandi Pub'

Where - 580 Morses Creek Road, Wandiligong

Price - $28.50

Website - http://www.thewandipub.com/

Reviewers – Darren, Johno, Lee, Mel, Nikki

If you missed the last couple of days, this week we have been going back-to-back with reviews from Victoria's Alpine Region. Starting with the Happy Valley on Wednesday, the Snowline Hotel Yesterday and finishing things off today, and trust me ... We saved the best for last. 

On the final day of Alpine week we have the Wandi Pub! (Or the Wandiligong Hotel ... or the Mountain View Hotel, depending on which sign out the front you prefer to read).

To be honest the Wandi pub popped up out of nowhere. Unlike yesterday's visit to the Snowline the Wandi Pub hadn't been recommended to us at all, until another ParmaDaze reviewer was up in the area a few weeks ago, stumbled onto it and recommended we give it a try. 

Unsurprising, considering its location, but the Wandi just screams "country pub", with most of the inside of the pub seemingly constructed from corrugated iron and trees (not wood, full on trees)

To the right of the front bar is a dining room that seems to be going for a slightly finer dining experience than the pub proper. We grabbed a table in there and checked the menu -

$28.5 is definitely pricey for a chicken parma, so to have any chance of earning a decent score the Wandi pub was going to have to bring both the noise and the funk. 

Outside and surrounding the Wandi lies a massive beer garden... Actually "garden" seems like to small of a word to accurately describe the area - It's more like a beer field than anything. with an outdoor stage for entertainment, I'd have to call this one of the best spots for a bevvy in the sun I've seen for quite a while. 

Absolutely huge and worth the trip alone. 

Tap list at the Wandi was enough to satisfy most beer drinkers. Hawkers, Bridge Rd, Brick Lane, Coopers, and a few more options on tap and in the fridge. 

After a 15 minute wait our parmas arrived...

Don't be deceived by it's size - They say good things come in small packages, and this is definitely the case for the Wandi parma. 

I honestly have trouble faulting it. The earlier statement that it was a little small is probably the only thing I can think that I have against it. The schnitzel was cooked to absolute perfection. Kept thick to retain its juiciness, just how we like it, and crumbed just enough to add a delicious crunch and nothing more.

On the first bite I knew this was something special. On to the toppings.

Holy crap where do I start. The Yack free range leg ham is an absolute triumph. Thickly cut and laid on with gusto it was (if you'll excuse the cliche) the absolute star of the dish. 

The napoli saucee was abundant, rich, chunky and packed with flavour and the cheese was perfectly browned with a sharp bite that brought everything together. 

This was the best parma I've had in quite a long time. Fingers crossed the sides could hold up their end of the bargain. 

Fat chips! Just shy of perfection. A generous serve, piping hot, crunchy on the outside and pillowy soft on the inside - The only way to improve them would be the addition of a gravy or dipping sauce of some kind. A fine addition to an already fine parma. 

As far as salads go the Wandi's was pretty impressive. Packed full of ingredients and dressed from top to bottom before being plated (how it should be done). I'd normally want a seperate bowl but the genius way in which the Wandi parma was plated kept everything seperate without anything needing to be in top of everything else. 

“Even though it was pricey I’d happily pay it again and recommend it to anyone as it was a fantastic tasting parma with top quality ingredients. Without a doubt the highlight of the year for me.”

— Nikki

Value. This is the tough one as on any other day I'd say $28.50 for a parma would be a bloody outrage, However for this parma ... I think I'm okay with it. Everything on the parma was top notch made from the highest quality ingredients. You could taste the extra cash paid in the parma as you ate. It loses a couple of points for being so pricey - But to be honest I'd pay it again any day of the week, and would have no qualms giving it my seal of approval for others to do the same. 

I feel a little guilty rating a parma that is a 3 hour drive out of Melbourne so highly, as it is a legitimate pain in the ass for anyone who doesn't already live near/visit the region often to get to - But honestly, this one is worth the trip. It more than deserves its honour of Best Regional Pub in Victoria 2017 from Time Out, and is definitely one for any parma lover to put high on their priority list. 

And with that we wrap up Alpine week! Hope you enjoyed our little experiment to get some more regional Victorian pubs checked off the list, with the quality of the parmas we discovered I'm calling it now as an unmitigated success, and don't worry - We'll be back to something a little closer to home next week.

See you then!

Parma - 9.63

Chips - 9.13

Salad - 7.30

Value - 7.68

Total - 8.67

The search continues...

#323 - 'Snowline Hotel'

Where - 237 Great Alpine Rd. Harrietville

Price - $25

Website - http://www.snowlinehotel.com.au/

Reviewers – Johno, Lee, Mel, Nikki

If you missed Yesterday's introduction, this review is the second of three in a back to back barrage of reviews coming at you from Victoria's Alpine region. One yesterday, one today and the finale tomorrow. Be sure to check them all out!

Ahhh the Snowline. If I had a dollar for every time someone recommended me the Snowline I would have, I dunno ... What's 2 or 3 bucks a week for the last seven years? Behind the Toolshed in Noojee it is without doubt the most recommended parma we've had. It always held near-top position on the now not-sure-if-it's-still-being-updated parma.com.au, and to be honest this was the pub I was most excited about visiting during our weekend away to the Alpine region. 

Expectations could not have been higher. Lets see how it did. 

Every time I heard about the Snowline in the past it was always referred to as the "Harrietville Snowline", so much so I thought that was the name of the pub, imagine my surprise when I saw the signage that it was just the "Snowline" and the "Harrietville" is just where it was, kind've like how I always thought the pub at Melbourne Central was the "Melbourne Central Lion Hotel" and not the "Lion Hotel" that happens to reside in Melbourne Central. I'm not very bright. 

The weather wasn't as kind to us on our visit to the Snowline as it was on yesterday's trip to Happy Valley, so rather than enjoy the sunshine we quickly huddled into the pub, snagged a table in the already quite busy dining area, and grabbed a menu.

Sounds good to me! We quickly placed our orders. 

The pub itself is hard to describe. Picture a backpackers for skiers combined with the dining hall at a school camp you went on in grade 6 and you're halfway there. It's got a dimly lit, laid back bohemian vibe that is both inviting and super easy to get lost in. The Snowline isn't like any pub I've been to in Melbourne, and I liked it. 

After ordering I spotted a break in the rain and quickly snuck outside to the spacious deck to grab a pic - A shame that the weather wasn't better as this looked like a damn fine place for a drink in the sun.

For a country pub, I would describe the beer list at the Snowline as good bordering on excellent. Options from Coopers, Bridge Rd, and the nearby Bright Brewery and others on tap, along with an expanded selection in stubbies if the tap list doesn't tickle your fancy. 

For a pub that was heaving with hungry customers I was surprised at how quickly our food arrived - Ten minutes wait and our meals fell before us. 

First up the schnitzel - It was big on the plate, but not "holy crap look how big this thing is". Real chicken breast that appeared quite thick but  on closer inspection that seemed to be in part due to some liberal use of the crumbs - Not criminally over crumbed, but thick enough to irk me a little... Although we are up in the mountains, maybe the chicken just needed some extra layers. 

The dish was served piping hot and cooked well, The chicken could have been juicier, but it was full of flavour and quite enjoyable with or without the toppings. 

The toppings were a bit of a mixed bag. The Mt. Beauty ham was pretty damn tasty and laid on quite thick, just how we like it. Great coverage of flavoursome cheese (although a little oily in parts), that was grilled to golden brown perfection. 

The biggest disappointment with the toppings on the Snowline's parma would be the napoli - or lack thereof. It was somewhat visible when the plate hit the table but it was all but undetectable while eating the parma, to the point where I couldn't even tell you if it was good or not, if this was a grade 6 school camp I'd be marking the napoli as absent for the day. 

The chips were a marked improvement on Happy Valley's. We upgraded to beer battered this time around and these ones were actually seasoned. Although served a little cold, as if they had been cooked separately to the parma and plated up at serving time - they were crisp, in abundance, and a decent side to the parma. 

If you're a fan of capsicum, the garden salad to the side of the parma was pretty good, if capsicum salad isn't your thing then you probably won't be as pleased. I liked the salad, it was fresh, crisp and not overdressed. Nothing outstanding, mind you, but a fine addition to the meal

“Pretty good, but not blown away like I was expecting”

— Nikki

There is a lot of value in here for $25. All the ingredients used were top notch and applied liberally - Considering the price if this one is the same price I paid for yesterday's parma and it is a marked improvement on that one then I'd definitely be happy to shell out another 25 clams to have this one again.

Might be a case of overblown expectations, but I was underwhelmed with the parma at the Snowline. I was more than hyped to be floored by this parma and burst through the doors singing its praises but ended up walking away thinking "Yeah ... That was pretty good I guess".

The pub has an outstanding, fun vibe and is definitely worth stopping in on your way up the mountain, it's not perfect, but as long as you don't go in with sky high expectations like the ones I had there is a lot of good to be discovered here. 

Parma - 7.90

Chips - 6.5

Salad - 6.65

Value - 7.00

Total - 7.19

The search continues...

#322 - 'Happy Valley Hotel'

Where - 4994 Great Alpine Rd. Ovens

Price - $25

Website - http://www.happyvalleyhotel.com.au

Reviewers – Lee & Nikki

For quite a while now I've been promising to get out a little further, to leave our Thursday-night-10km-radius-from-the-CBD comfort zone and check out some of the parmas that regional Victoria has to offer. But which pubs do we pick? Even if we pick a town or region there are just too many pubs out there to get to them all. 

So welcome to my idea. We picked a region in Victoria, did a bit of a road trip over a weekend and basically chain ate parmas until it was time to come home, managing to hit up three pubs in Victoria's Alpine region over the course of a weekend.

Here's the fun part, rather than bank these reviews and dole them out over the next three weeks, I hereby declare it "Alpine Region Week", and will be posting a new review today, tomorrow and Friday. 

So strap in! The first pub on the Agenda - The Happy Valley Hotel in Ovens, Victoria. 

The Happy Valley hotel, a name so sugary sweet that I almost got diabetes reading the sign, is an odd little spot. The other two pubs we will get to this week both came highly recommended - This one I had never heard of, but driving past it catches the eye as a fantastically inviting country pub. The abundant green grapevines snaking their way across the facade is a fantastic visual, making this a very hard pub to drive past without stopping in for a cold one. 

The Happy Valley pub is a bit of a dichotomy. The front bar screams old school country pub straight out of the 60's (apart from a few modern touches). A place you could pull up a pew and forget your troubles for a few hours. Walk to the back, however and it feels more like a cafe than a watering hole. You could forget you are in a pub entirely if you wanted to, making it a much more modern experience, at the expense of a bit of it's charm. 

We took a seat in the back room and checked the menu -

Looked good to me! 

It's also worth noting that the Happy Valley has an impressive and spacious beer garden. Plenty of seating, protected for the weather and set up with an outdoor stage for live entertainment, I could really see this pub getting quite enjoyable on a Friday or Saturday night. The Sunday lunch crowd, however, was a little less rowdy. 

It's a country pub, so you aren't going to be blown away with the selection of beers. Draught, Furphy, VB ... And I did hear a rumour that they pour a mean Guinness. 

About 15 minutes after ordering our parmas arrived -

The schnitzel quality was top notch. Thick and juicy, just how we like 'em, and served steaming hot to the point I had to let it sit for a few minutes. The crumbing had a little trouble gripping the chicken and flaked away quite a bit, but this was a minor complaint. 

It wasn't huge, but big enough that nobody would walk away hungry. Overall a solid foundation to the dish. 

Unfortunately, other than the top notch schnitzel, things took a bit of a turn from there. 

The toppings were quite bland. No ham on the parma meant that all the responsibility for flavouring the dish fell on the cheese and the napoli - But neither of them were strong enough to drive this parma home. 

Don't get me wrong, there was plenty of cheese and heaps of napoli, but neither added much to the flavour profile, making this a parma that was well prepared on a technical level, but not really memorable once the plates were cleared.

The chips followed in the same vein as the parma. They were fine, standard pub chips - But it didn't feel as if any love was put into them. No seasoning, no salt, no dipping sauce, just chips. 

They were cooked well and plenty of the plate - But like the parma, completely forgettable. 

The salad looked great on the plate, and I'll always appreciate a side bowl - However the execution of this one was also a bit of a disappointment. All of the ingredients were piled into the bowl and topped with a massive sploodge (its a word, shut up) of very thick, rich dressing. It needed to be tossed. The first forkful of salad was 90% dressing and 10% salad, the second forkful was about 50/50 and the third and remaining forkfuls were just dry salad leaves with no dressing whatsoever. The parma and chips were forgettable but still pleasant. I'll be remembering the salad for the wrong reasons. 

“Could have been great. Would have loved a slice of ham and some seasoning on the chips. ”

— Nikki

It's always hard to assign value to a parma that I didn't overly enjoy. I walked out with my hunger sated with an overall pleasant meal. Would I pay another $25 for the experience? I wouldn't rush to, but at the same time if I found myself at the Happy Valley again I could be convinced to give it another crack.

The front half (and beer garden) of the Happy Valley is a great pub - it's a slice of history that is definitely worth dropping in on your drive and experiencing at least once, however when I walked through to the dining area I felt as if the personality had been sucked out of the room - Too many renovations have pulled all of the life out of the place and it has become just another anonymous cafe the likes of which you'd expect to find in Parkville or North Melbourne.

This review is coming off harsher than I had intended. It wasn't that bad. The parma had an A+ schnitzel as a foundation, but just faltered when it came to the toppings and the sides. Not bad by any stretch, but not great either. 

Parma - 7.1

Chips - 5.8

Salad - 5.5

Value - 6.5

Total - 6.40

The search continues...

#321 - 'Little Peacock'

Where - 10 - 14 Hope St. Melbourne

Price - $17

Website - https://littlepeacockcafe.com.au

Reviewers – Kyle, Lee, Nikki & Shanan

UPDATE 10/10/19 - IT HAS BEEN BROUGHT TO MY ATTENTION THAT LITTLE PEACOCK HAS CHANGED ITS NAME TO “LITTLE HOPE EATERY” AND HAS REMOVED THE PARMA FROM THE MENU. SO LONG, LITTLE PEACOCK!

We don't normally do the cafe thing on ParmaDaze, and we definitely don't do the cafe-that-closes-at-4pm thing at ParmaDaze - However when I heard that one of the chef's from our current #1 spot holder and 2016 Golden Chook winner The Birmingham Hotel had spun off into his own cafe and was also serving parmas... We had to make an exception

As it stands our mission to find Melbourne's perfect chicken parma doesn't exactly pay the bills - Which means that the ParmaDaze review team have a full time jobs outside of their quest, so to get to Little Peacock during opening hours we had to forego our standard 7pm on a Thursday parma night and opt for a Saturday afternoon visit instead.

Situated on the ground floor of a brand spankin' new apartment complex on Hope Street Brunswick (just off busy Sydney Road). Little Peacock looks like any other Brunswick cafe. We arrived just after noon and the place was already a buzz with activity. Cappuccinos were flying out of the baristas hands, plenty of people were sitting around enjoying a lazy smashed avo and the front counter was constantly stacking up Uber Eats deliveries. For a relatively new establishment they are already doing quite well. 

We grabbed a table and checked the menu to find ... No parma. Not to worry, the Little Peacock parma is currently residing on the specials board by the kitchen window. Great news for us, bad news if you want it delivered via Uber Eats as it's not technically on the menu (Yet. I have been assured that it will be migrating to a more permanent menu spot shortly).

We placed our orders and awaited the arrival of our parmas.

This is normally where I talk about the range of beers available to pair with our chicken - Unfortunately Little Peacock hasn't quite got their liquor license yet. There are notices posted on all windows around the pub and it doesn't look like it's going to be too far off before you can grab a beer with your bird, but at the time of this review we were a bunch of teetotallers. 

15 or so minutes after placing the order our parmas arrived from the kitchen. 

Well well well. This sure looks familiar! 

The chef from the Birmy did more than just bring his skills over to his new cafe - He brought the parma as well! Right down to the wooden board it is served on this looks exactly like a Birmy parma. But does it taste the same? Does it measure up to our highest rated parma to date?

We quickly gathered our cutlery and tucked in. 

The schnitzel was spot on. Thick. Juicy. Cooked perfectly with just the right amount of crumbs retaining the crunch that we love. Fantastically sized (you're not going home hungry) and great quality, pure chicken. A fantastic foundation on which to build a parma. 

The toppings, for the most part, were also just as good as a Birmy parma. So much ham it's bordering on ridiculous (look at the photo above and you can see - so much ham).

The cheese blend was spot on - Gooey and grilled to perfection with a sharp bite doing its very best to shine through. Great coverage and perfectly cooked. 

The napoli is where things at the Little Peacock start to differ from it's Birmy counterpart. The Birmy's napoli is rich, chunky, stacked up high and bursting with flavour (most notably garlic. The Birmy parma is an insanely garlic-y parma. Vampires should stay away) - Unfortunately I didn't quite get this from the napoli on the Peacock parma. It was close. But everyone at the table agreed that it was somewhat lacking in that final punch that drives the Birmy parma home. 

The chips were delightful. Not quite the same as the Birmy's, but decent in their own right. Crispy and hot, herb dusted and a communal tomato sauce pot was supplied for the table when our parmas were delivered. 

The salad was fresh and crisp - Well dressed and flavoursome. I could have done with a few more ingredients (where is my cucumber?) but overall it was a win. 

“Beautifully crumbed, plenty of toppings on the parma but the napoli could have used a bit more flavour. Lovely chips and a cool little cafe”

— Nikki

“Tasty salad, decent parma and a good price!”

— Kylie

“A good sized feed, felt the napoli sauce was missing a bit of a kick”

— Shanan

The Little Peacock's parma is priced at an entirely reasonable $17 - a full $5 cheaper than it's Birmy counterpart (although the Birmy does offer their parma for $12 on a Tuesday night, which the Peacock does not). I'd gladly have it again ... It's kind of a relief that this parma hasn't made it to their Uber Eats yet because if I could get this parma delivered I'd probably never leave the house again. 

The Little Peacock parma is like a really good tribute band that plays at a local. Sure its not quite up to par as the original, but it's still damn impressive and could probably have its own solo career one day - Plus you don't have to travel as far and the tickets are cheaper. While the Peacock won't be knocking the champion off it's perch it is still a damn fine meal in its own right and deserves a place in our top 10. Definitely worth checking out if you're in the area. 

Parma - 8.38

Chips - 8.00

Salad - 7.88

Value - 8.75

Total - 8.28

The search continues...

#320 - 'The Edinburgh Castle Hotel: Redux'

Where - 681 Sydney Rd, Brunswick VIC 3056

Price - $19 (small), $24 (large)

Website - http://edinburghcastle.net.au

Reviewers – Al, Bearder, Grace, Janet, Lee, Nikki, Matt, Tony

The Edinburgh Castle is one of those pubs that I've always thought never got a fair shake. We visited back in 2012, and although it was our 102nd review the review team for the night was inexplicably infiltrated by a bunch of prosciutto-haters that brought the Castle's final score down. 

There is no room for prosciutto hate in a person's life. It took a few years to shake them, but we have ditched those horrible people and once again headed to the Edinburgh Castle to see if their parma holds up (or has even improved) after 5 years. 

The front bar of the Edinburgh Castle is as spacious as it is busy - Drawing in an eclectic array of patrons from all walks of life. Mums with prams toast their drinks with hipsters and senior citizens - It's a true menagerie, but its a great atmosphere and a hell of a lot of fun. 

We had the foresight to book ahead (recommended, this place gets packed), so our table was waiting for us when we arrived. Checked the menu and (even though there has been a few $ price bump in the five years since our last visit) spied our target for the evening...

We worked our way to the dining room and placed our food order at the food-order-booth. The dining room is a much more intimate (and quiet) space, but it doesn't quite have the atmosphere of the front bar. The beer garden out the back is also pretty great and definitely worth checking out on a summer night. 

The tap list at the Edinburgh is nothing short of fantastic. Hawkers, Feral, Pirate Life, Two Birds, 2 Brothers, 4 Pines (it's starting to sound like a sesame street counting game in here). The list goes on and on and on. Very impressed. 

After a 20 minute wait our parmas appeared from the kitchen... As is tradition with redo's lets compare the 2012 parma with its 2017 counterpart...

2012 -

At the very least I hope my photography skills have improved in 5 years.

2017 - 

Much better! 

Okay - First up, I really dug the schnitzel at the Edinburgh. After a few weeks of so/so schnittys it was nice to find one that was undoubtedly real chicken breast. Although it was a skosh on the dry side it was a thick, pure, high quality piece of chicken.

The crumbing was fine also - A little on the soggy side but not criminally so. Overall this was a pretty damn good foundation for a parma. 

Hello prosciutto, my old friend. 

As I stated in our last review - If you don't like prosciutto, you won't like this parma. If you do like prosciutto, you're in for a treat. Crispy, salty and applied liberally - The prosciutto on this parma was an absolute star. 

Back in 2012 we mentioned this parma was extremely cheesy, almost too cheesy. I didn't get that at all this time around as they have backed off the amount of cheese to a much more sane level. Still great coverage and grilled to perfection. Complimented the dish well. 

If I had to critisize the toppings my negativity would definitely fall to the napoli sauce - There just wasn't enough of it. I mentioned the schnitzel was already a little dry, and the lack of a juicy napoli didn't help matters either. It seemed fresh and quite tasty, but a few extra spoonfuls would have worked wonders. 

The chips were pretty good, Well cooked, well seasoned and a decent serving mostly out from underneath the soggy death of being wedged under the parma. But at the same time I wasn't blown away. Maybe a dipping sauce or something would have helped. I'm quibbling on minor issues. They did their job well. 

The Salad was pretty much on the same level as the chips (After 320 reviews I've noticed a trend that the chips and salad are usually on par with each other). It had plenty of ingredients and was rather tasty - but a heavy-hand on the olive oil left it a bit wilted. As with the chips it was good, but not great. 

“The salty tang of the prosciutto brought this parma to life! Not perfect, but would definitely have again.”

— Nikki

“A great parma. I didn’t like the chips they used to have and I’m not a massive fan of the new ones either - But the parma is good enough to make up for it”

— Bearder

I'd happily pay another $24 for this parma again. A little pricey, yes, but high quality chicken breast and liberal application of toppings is worth the price alone. A couple of tweaks and this parma could be top tier. 

I'm not sure if our tastes have evolved or if the Edinburgh Castle's parma has improved (maybe a bit of both?) But if you're a fan of prosciutto this is definitely one to try. If you're on the fence the "small" parma is only $19 so a relatively cheap outlay to test the water with. 

I like the Edinburgh. Good pub, good food, great beers and very cool beer garden. In my opinion one of the better pubs on Sydney Rd. and definitely worth a crack if you're in the area. 

Parma - 8.13

Chips - 6.11

Salad - 6.25

Value - 6.25

Total - 6.97

The search continues...

#319 - 'Garden State Hotel'

Where - 101 Flinders Lane. Melbourne

Price - $20

Website - http://gardenstatehotel.com.au/

Reviewers – Lee & Matt

Readers that have been with us a while (and have a ridiculously good memory) will remember that we tried to visit the Garden State Hotel once before, back in August of 2016 - However the gods weren't on our side that night, we couldn't get a table at the absolutely packed pub, and we wound up doing an impromptu redo of Transport instead.

Well it's been over a year since that night, surely the hype around the Garden State has died down a little by now - Right?

Having been burned before we took no chances. Rather than our usual 7:00pm Thursday catch up time I snuck out of work just after 4 in the afternoon and was cosied up in a booth by 4:30. Good thing too, as Garden State was filling fast. 

If you've yet to visit Garden State, do yourself a favour and make it a priority. The guys at Sand Hill Road know how to make a stunningly unique pub experience with design work that is unparalleled in the Melbourne pub scene.

You will never see Garden State this empty. 

We had our booth, some pre-game chips and pork buns, and were ready for the main event. We checked the menu and located our target for the evening -

The tap list at Garden State is impressive. I won't bother listing them all here as whatever I write will probably have rotated out by the time you read this, but take a gander at their Now Tapped listing to get an idea of what I mean. What more could you want?

Before we get to the parma, I need to lay my first criticism of the Garden State. The floor staff need to calm down with the removal of empty glasses and plates from the table. As we were finishing our pre-parma bucket of chips we were asked no less than four times in the space of 2 minutes if we were done with them yet. Here's a rule of thumb Garden State - If there are still chips in my bucket of chips, then I'm not done with my bucket of chips - I understand that we were three people in a booth that you probably wanted us to clear out of to make room for a bigger party, but take a breath. Let us finish our food in peace. 

Okay. This is interesting. I wish I had've put a fork or something in the frame for a size reference, but both the plate and the schnitzel it lay upon was quite small. It was a compact little dish - The schnitzel was thick enough that it didn't feel like a rip off or anything, yet I think that the parma pictured above is not quite indicative of reality, even though it was presented quite well, and looked great (albeit miniature) on the plate. 

Okay. The schnitzel. Hand crumbed (crunchy crumbs - on point), hammered minimally to be served quite thick (how we like it at ParmaDaze), and juicy throughout. 

However I don't know if they used thigh meat, or left the skin on the parma before crumbing - But my chicken had a lot of fatty gristle through it, a massive turn off, and to be honest, for me, pretty much ruined what could have been an outstanding little parma. 

Despite the let down in chicken quality the toppings were mostly solid. Plenty of fresh, flavoursome ham and chunky homemade napoli were probably the highlight. 

Not a huge fan of the cheese, I find mozzarella on its own to be quite flavourless and bland - would have much preferred a blend. 

The chips were fine. The same as we had as an entree. Nothing to write home about, but they did the job. Hot, fresh and well salted.

I didn't think I would enjoy the salad as, to be honest, it looked quite bland - However the strong citrus dressing that was used elevated this basic greenery to the next level. I was enjoying it immensely ... Then a member of the floor staff came past and snatched my plate before I was done. They really wanted us out of that booth. 

“While everything was alright, this, it’s not one I will remember. The serving was on the small side, not filling for me, and I found nothing special with the toppings, chips or salad. The salad dressing was a standout - a cleansing, acidic taste that was quite refreshing.”

— Matt

Would I pay $20 for the parma at the Garden State again? Probably not. The pork buns and other entrees we had before the parma were great, and I can't see myself opting for the parma over something like that again. 

With a couple of tweaks the Garden State parma could be fantastic, with the quality of ingredients they put into the toppings this dish could really shine with a top tier schnitzel underneath - It pains me to say, however, that in it's current state I can't recommend it.

Go to the pub, definitely go to the pub. The Garden State like all of the Sand Hill Road pubs are an experience unto themselves, and are a must-visit to all pub lovers in Melbourne. 

Parma - 5.23

Chips - 6.22

Salad - 6.25

Value - 4.78

Total -5.54

The search continues...

#318 - 'Foresters'

Where - 64 Smith St. Collingwood

Price - $5

Website - http://www.forestershall.com.au/

Reviewers – Cale, Lee, Stefo

Sitting around the table at Foresters last week discussing how this review would go, we tossed out the idea of the entire article consisting of one line -

"It's only five dollars"

However we decided that would be a bit of a dick move to our readers. People come to ParmaDaze for long form reviews, not tweets. So rather than a single line review we're giving the Foresters Five Dollar Parma the full treatment.

First up, Foresters is an impressive establishment. An unassuming facade gives way to a beautifully restored, two level pub (and yes, you can sit in the clam shell).

At 6pm on Thursday they were already getting surprisingly busy, so we wasted no time securing a seat and checking the menu

Not much else to say! Oh, other than there is a choice between chicken and eggplant, for the vegetarians among us. 

We placed our order at the bar. 

The beer list at Foresters is something that has to be seen to be believed, I'd even go as far to make the (totally unfounded and unresearched) statement that they have the most comprehensive tap list that Collingwood has to offer. A must for any craft beer lover, Check it out for yourself.

After about 15 minutes of waiting, the moment finally arrived. Please be aware that Foresters is a horribly dark pub, I did my best to lighten up these photos as best I could, but the results aren't perfect -

The schnitzel is exactly what you would expect for a $5 parma, namely an oversized chicken nugget. As heart shaped and processed as you can get. But you know what? I didn't hate it. Using the cheap as buggery ingredients they had they still managed to pump out a piping hot, fresh schnitzel. 

The toppings were on par with the schnitzel. When we ordered we were offered the option of adding some extra toppings to the parma for an additional cost (ham, salami, etc.), I didn't do this, as I wanted to try the pure $5 parma experience, but it is definitely something to consider if you don't mind chucking them an extra buck or two. 

The napoli and cheese could have used a bit more coverage - If I were them I'd be doing everything in my power to cover as much of the schnitzel as possible - But like the schnitty the toppings, while completely plastic, were prepared and served well.

The chips were chips. A surprisingly decent serving for what we paid, but they were just chips none the less. Could have used some salt - and the lack of salt shakers on the table made it a little difficult to remedy this issue. Like the parma they were served hot and well cooked.

The "Salad" was two cos lettuce leaves doused with a cream dressing. At any other pub I would have thrown the plate across the room at this point, however our mantra of "it was only five dollars ... it was only five dollars" kept me calm and centred. 

“It was $5. For that price, I’d come back. ”

— Cale (A man of few words)

“For $5 there is very little to be offended about here! Like, seriously, it’s $5! It’s not pretending to be fancy - I’d definitely go back to have another. It’s an enjoyable, cheap feed with good beers!”

— Stefo (Who was a little enthusiastic with the exclamation points this week)

For a value score this is hard to fault. It's $5. You can't even get a quarter pounder meal for that price anymore.

The parma at the Foresters won't rate well because there is only so much the "Value" score can do - However this is one of the rare occasions where I would actually reccommend trying a low scoring parma. If you understand what you're going in for from the get go then it's hard to be disappointed. The worst thing that will happen is that you have a few fantastic beers in a great pub with a so/so parma to soak it up. If you keep your expectations low you might be pleasantly surprised.

It's only five dollars.

Parma - 4.83

Chips - 4.17

Salad - 2.67

Value - 9.33

Total - 5.17

The search continues...

#317 - 'The Drums Hotel'

Where - 613 Sydney Rd, Coburg

Price - $18.50 for the full serve, $14.70 for a half serve

Website - http://www.drumshotel.com.au

Reviewers – Grace, Lee, Shanan, Stefo & Tony

The Drums hotel is one of those pubs that’s been around forever. Established in 1875 up the Coburg end of Sydney Road it has been wetting the whistle of thirsty patrons for over a hundred and forty years, and while it has been around for well over a century we hadn’t gotten around to visiting - To be honest driving past the Drums it looked a little corporate - With all of signage for pokies and the TAB bigger than the signs of the name of the pub itself I had all but written it off as another pokies palace and had little confidence that they would serve up any sort of decent parma. Until recently, when Reviewer Stefo sent me a message from the Drums...

A peek behind the curtain at the rigorous ParmaDaze pub selection process...

It actually looked okay. He vouched for them, and suggested we give them a proper ParmaDaze review - The following week we were walking in the doors of the Drums Hotel. 

Inside the Drums I was surprised at how much atmosphere it had. I was expecting a sterile pokie den but was genuinely surprised at how inviting the pub was. It had the standards - TAB, Bottle shop and gaming room, but I was surprised to find a cosy lounge, a spacious bistro with a veritable museum of old pub paraphernalia and a spacious bluestone lined front bar with big screen TV and plenty of space to pull up a chair for a quiet pint. 

The pub was filling fast so we grabbed a table and checked the menu - It’s worth noting that the Drums offers up a half serve parma for $14.70 while the full sized parma clocks in at $18.50 - Unfortunately the Italian Parma that we were sold on was no longer available when we visited the Drums. Sad times.  

We placed our order at the bar, along with an order for an entree we spied in the menu ... The perennial favourite - Bad Boy Chips.

As usual, the Bad Boys hit the spot. Such a good chip, and presented well with a side of aioli and sweet chilli sauce. 

The tap list at the drums was relatively small. Furphy, Carlton, the locally brewed Coburg Lager, VB, Cascade Light and Coopers Pale. If you feel like something a little craftier the stubby range could have what you are after. I spied Mountain Goat Pale, Barrow Boys, Pentridge Pale and Stone & Wood Pacific, White Rabbit and Hawkers at the very least - So you should be able to find something you like. 

It's also worth noting that the little cake & coffee area between the front bar and the bistro serves up what they claim to be "Coburg's Best Vanilla Slice". I don't know how competitive the Coburg Vanilla Slice scene is, but I will say that they looked damn tasty. 

When we ordered the staff apologised and said there was going to be a wait - I braced myself for a long wait, but it turned out to be only 20 minutes or so before our dinner arrived. Perfectly acceptable. 

The parma, as a whole, was presented quite well - Everything had a lot of space to breathe on the plate. Without hesitation we picked up our cutlery and tucked in. 

The Schnitzel was served piping hot - Mouth burning hot, and it retained its heat throughout the meal, no time under the heat lamps for these parmas, they were served fresh out the gate. 

The chicken was hammered a little thin for my liking but not criminally so, and the crumbs were laid on quite thick. My biggest gripe with this parma was it was quite oily throughout. As I ate it the pool of oil left on the plate continued to grow, and the flavour of the oil permeated the dish throughout.

The toppings were a bit of a mixed bag. The cheese blend was spot on. Gooey and tasty with just the right level of golden brown. I was surprised to find a slice of ham included for a relatively inexpensive parma - However I couldn't quite taste it as I ate, it's flavour lost among the others on the plate, as was the napoli, I could see it on the parma, but couldn't taste it as I ate. 

Bad Boy chips these were not. I enjoyed the wire cage they were served in but beyond that these were pretty unremarkable. Cooked well and a decent serving, but criminally under-seasoned. Not bad ... Not great. I would have happily paid extra (as reviewer Shanan did) to swap out the standard chips for the Bad Boy chips we enjoyed before our parmas. 

The side salad was a lot like the chips - A large serving that was presented well, but stumbled somewhere in execution. The dressing didn't hit all of the leaves and those left without were quite dry and a little bitter. It did the job, but didn't blow me away by any means. 

“A few minor improvements and this parma could be great - More flavoursome ham and more of it along with a much needed salad makeover would see this parma scoring much higher.”

— Grace

“Parma was quite thin, but overall an okay meal”

— Tony

“Good feed, it was worth paying the extra $1.50 to have Bad Boy Chips”

— Shanan

“This thing doesn’t appear huge but bloody hell it’s filling!”

— Stefo

As far as the value for money on the meal, anything under twenty dollars for a parma in this day and age is rare, so a parma for just $18.50 is refreshing to see. For that price I could see myself having this parma again should I find myself back at The Drums - To be honest, however, I'd rather chuck in an extra $1.50, bring the price up to an even $20 and substitute out the lacklustre chips that came with the parma for the outstanding Bad Boys we received as an entree. 

All in all I was wrong about the Drums, What looks from the outside like a lifeless pokie cave is actually a surprisingly decent and inviting pub. The parma wasn't outstanding by any stretch - But it also wasn’t bad, and I think with a simple tweaks it could be greatly improved.  I wouldn't travel far for it, but if you're nearby it might be worth stopping in and checking it out.

If only for Coburg's best Vanilla slice. 

Parma - 6.30

Chips - 4.90

Salad - 4.20

Value - 6.60

Total - 5.66

The search continues...

Crossing the Road #4 - 'Toto's Pizza House'

Where? - Shop 13/383 Keilor Road, Essendon

Price? - $26 + Delivery fee (Uber Eats)

Website? http://totospizzahouse.com.au/ (Essendon location not yet listed at time of writing)

Reviewers – Lee & Nikki

Delivery areas - Uber Eats doesn't have this info, lets just say "Essendon and surrounding suburbs"

If you grew up in the Essendon area in the 90's you would remember Toto's. Their Keilor Road location churned our quality pizzas for years before a (controversial) fire in 1998 closed their doors for good. 

Well almost 20 years later Toto's has moved about a hundred meters up the road from their old digs and set up shop again. I was always a fan of Toto's as a kid, so when I saw they had re-opened I was absolutely itching to check them out once more (that, or my dermatitis was acting up again). 

There are a few Toto's locations in Melbourne, One of which (Lygon St.) has been open since 1961 and claims to be Australia's first ever pizza parlour (and that's not just a marketing claim - Research suggests that it is because of Toto's that Lygon Street became the Italian restaurant mecca that it is today, and they have been inducted into the World Pizza Hall of Fame for their achievement). 

Scrolling through Uber Eats looking for a feed I noticed Toto's was listed. As we discussed in our last Crossing The Road, I'm not a huge fan of Uber Eats - I've yet to have a meal delivered from them that didn't take forever to arrive and turn up mostly cold. Unfortunately I checked the other delivery services in the area and could not find Toto's listed, They only just opened and I'm hoping that this is just a temporary situation as I'd like to avoid Uber Eats as much as I can, but in the meantime I'd have to go with the only option available. 

Target acquired. A bit pricey, but what the hell. 2 parmas and a 1.25L coke for $60 ... Pretty much what I'd pay in a pub, so I wasn't too torn up about it.

I placed the order and got an estimated delivery time of about 30 minutes which, surprisingly, they managed to stick to. Half an hour later I was unpacking the parmas ... Fingers crossed they would be good. 

Okay ... Looks fine so far. Lets crack this bad boy open and see what we've got!

Disaster! The cheese had fused to the top of the lid in transit and everything lifted off when I opened it up. I salvaged as much as I can, reconstructed the parma as best I could, and plated it up for a glamour shot...

Despite being quite the ugly duckling after it's car ride, the schnitzel underneath the mess of toppings was actually damn tasty. A house made, pure chicken breast fillet that seemed hand crumbed with care. The crumbs were top notch - Crunchy and flavoursome. The chicken itself was pure white, thick, juicy and cooked to perfection. 

As far as schnitzels go this was hands down the best home-delivered schnitzel we have had since starting these Crossing the Road delivery parmas. 

The toppings, or what I could salvage of them from the lid, where also great. A generous helping of flavoursome ham topped with rich, fresh napoli sealed the deal on this fine example of a parma. Most of my cheese was lost on the trip, but what was there seemed fine as well. 

As expected it could have been hotter, and losing a lot of toppings to the lid definitely didn't help with it's presentation, but as far as parmas go I was super impressed with this offering.

Compared to the stellar parma, the chips weren't great - But what delivery chips ever are? It was a small-ish serving. Well seasoned but a little over-cooked and oily for my liking. They did the job, but I won't be singing their praises. 

The salad was well dressed with plenty of ingredients - A little limp after its trip on top of the parma, but fine as far as delivery salads go. 

Value wise would I be happy to pay $26 again for this parma? That's a tough call. Yes it's pricey, but it was also a fine quality meal that didn't cheap out on the ingredients. Yeah, I could see myself ordering again. 

I know this doesn't sound like a big statement after only #4 issues of Crossing the Road, but I'd have to say that this was hands down the best delivery parma I have ever had, and not just in review capacity for ParmaDaze. 

As well as delivery Toto's also offers a dine-in option, and to be honest I regret not experiencing this parma in-house to try it at its best - Don't be surprised if we do a proper scored review of this parma in a few months time, A parma as good as this deserves the full ParmaDaze treatment. 

Until then, if you live in the delivery zone definitely give this one a try. 

And who knows ... If there's hope for Toto's to re-open after 20 years maybe I can still hold out hope that Melbourne's best parma of all time can return as well. Fingers crossed. 

#316 - 'The Cricketer's Bar @ Hotel Windsor'

Where - 111 Spring St. Melbourne

Price - $24

Website - http://www.thehotelwindsor.com.au/

Reviewers – Cale, Lee, Matt, Nikki, Stefo & Tony

With all our visits to the Imperial Hotel over the years my brain never managed to connect the dots as to where I thought the Windsor Hotel was. I knew it was near Parliament station somewhere, maybe behind Parliament house? Or further down Spring Street... I never put together that the beautiful Renaissance Revival architecture building I spied many times directly across the road from the Impy rooftop was, in fact, the Windsor itself.

It had been a while since we visited the CBD (funnily enough our last visit was for the Impy redo back in May), I was itching to get back to the big smoke to try another parma so I googled around for a pub in the city that we were yet to try and the Cricketer's popped up. I have it on good authority that the Queen reads ParmaDaze weekly* - So surely the Windsor's wouldn't lend their name to an inferior parma! 

We loaded up the parma bus and ventured into the Cricketer's Bar to find out. 

First things first - The Cricketer's Bar is an awesome little pub. It's cosy, quaint and oozing history (the Cricket memorabilia lining the walls is worthy of of a museum). Table space is limited so we pulled up seats along what is possibly the widest bar in Melbourne - A meter at least of bar space separates the patrons from the bartenders. It's a slice of history I am so happy to see still exists in our fine city. 

Proximity to the 'G makes me think that it would get quite cramped on game day, While it was busy on the Thursday night that we visited we had no issues pulling up a pew at the bar. 

We checked the menu and located our target for the evening -

The tap list at the Cricketer's is pretty standard (Carlton, Creatures, Squire, Furphy etc.) with the addition of one rotating craft beer tap for those after something a little different - Check out what's on rotation when you visit as it seems to change monthly. 

When nature calls after a few beers (as it tends to do) the walk to the gents' will take you through the halls and down into the bowels of the Windsor Hotel - It's a great walk, very pretty, if you want to experience the Windsor Hotel it's worth checking out, even if you don't have to go so badly. The Ladies' is closer, but you still need to walk across the sprawling hallways of the Windsor, so it's worth the trip. 

The schnitzel was bordering on the small side, but pure chicken breast throughout - Unfortunately when it was served the chicken was quite dry and a little stringy - Not the best start to our parma experience. It was crumbed well and had the appropriate crunch, it just wasn't award winning on the inside. 

The toppings were a mixed bag. The cheese was plentiful and flavoursome, although could have used a few more minutes under the grill. The thick cut ham was appreciated and made its presence known. The napoli sauce, however, was pretty much pure tomato paste. It was quite strong and overwhelmed a lot of the flavours trying to punch their way through. 

The chips were also fine - Didn't blow us away or anything but there was a decent serve (despite the above aerial shot showing a lot of white space on the plate, we managed to rescue them rather quickly). They were cooked well, just could have used a bit more seasoning to finish them off.

The fennel salad was, without doubt, the best thing on the plate - Surprising, as I normally hate fennel and any dish that uses it as an ingredient - However here its use was subtle. It paired with the fresh, well dressed salad perfectly - And the healthy whack of freshly shaved parmesan thrown in for good measure really elevated this to a salad that we will remember for a long time to come. 

“The best part of the meal was the salad ... So that says a lot!”

— Tony

“I was pleasantly surprised with the quality of parma offered here, although I seemed to have lucked a better serving than the other reviewers. The chips reminded me of what was once the norm for a ‘pub’ parma - Or perhaps that was due to sitting at the bar like old times. Enjoyed it all, will definitely keep in mind when I’m out and around the Windsor Hotel area, looking for a good value lunch”

— Matt

“The best thing on the plate was the salad - The rest of the meal left a lot to be desired unfortunately”

— Stefo

“A pretty average parma - For the price we paid I would expect more. Great little bar though.”

— Cale

“Liked the pub but the parma just missed the mark. Amazing range of Cricket memorabilia though. ”

— Nikki

I'd hesitate paying another $24 for the parma at the Cricketer's. It's a passable parma, however with the Imperial across the road serving up one of the best in Melbourne it is really hard to justify not crossing over there and putting your hard earned dollars to better use. 

Don't get me wrong, I loved my visit to the Cricketer's Bar. It's an iconic institution that is just as vibrant in 2017 and it was in 1898. If you've ever visited a sports bar you can think of the Cricketer's as the genesis of that kind of pub.  It's a slice of Melbourne's History that simply must be experienced, especially if you are a Cricket fan. The parma didn't blow us away by any stretch but it's worth trying at least once if only to experience this classic Melbourne pub. 

Parma - 5.50

Chips - 5.58

Salad - 7.08

Value - 5.17

Total -5.77

The search continues...

*Not really. Please don't sue, I was pro Monarchy in the '99 referendum!

#315 - 'Stuzzi'

Where - 325 High St. Northcote

Price - $25.90

Website - https://stuzzirestaurant.com.au

Reviewers – Lee & Nikki

Although we tend to avoid the cafe/restaurant parma scene as much as we can, Stuzzi has had enough buzz around it recently that it has become impossible to avoid. 

Their big draw is on Monday nights, when they hold "Parmageddon Monday" - 42 varieties of parma for just $15...

That's an impressive list!

But if this isn't your first time at ParmaDaze you'll know that most of the time we are parma purists - Novelty toppings don't rev our engine as much as a good standard parma done well. Also, our parma night is on Thursday, and as we are firmly creatures of habit, Parmageddon Monday wasn't an option. 

Instead we resolved to check out the parma at Stuzzi on one of the other 6 days of the week, Not the $15 special but the standard menu variety. 

We arrived at Stuzzi on a Thursday night, grabbed a table and ordered up our parmas. 

The restaurant itself is quite pleasant. It's a big space with plenty of tables and a quality bar dividing the large room. Stuzzi is first and foremost a cafe, with the walls, bar, and glass cases lining the walls temptation patrons with a plethora of cakes, milkshakes and other dessert items. 

The tap list was fairly simple. Carlton, Pure Blonde, Steam Ale, Peroni, Grandridge and Cider - Surprisingly though, as well as pots and schooners, Stuzzi also offered any of their tap beers in impossibly tall beer towers, going for between $45 and $50 depending on the beer - Something I would expect to see at The Sporting Globe, not at a quiet little Northcote cafe. 

Quick as a flash, our parmas arrived from the kitchen. 

On the plate, Stuzzi's parma looked impressive. With a massive schnitzel on one side, a hefty serve of chips (90% of which had their own space on the plate and not underneath the parma) and an impressive looking portion of greek salad - We eagerly grabbed our cutlery and tucked in. 

The schnitzel was hammered quite thin, I was worried at first as the edges were reaching credit-card levels of thickness, however it thickened up in the middle to a much more respectable size. I normally prefer a thicker parma - The less pounded with the mallet the better in my opinion - However many prefer a thinner schnitzel with a bigger circumference (much like the thousands that get pumped out of Mrs. Parmas on a daily basis). 

After a few bites it became clear - This was a very traditional Italian style parmigiana. Not traditional as far as using eggplant instead of chicken, but traditional in the thin, pan fried schnitzel with no ham and minimal toppings. Serve it with a side of spaghetti and it'd be very similar to the many Chicken Parmesan's we have come across on our trips to the USA.

While not what we usually get, the combination of quality house-made schnitzel, flavoursome napoli and perfectly grilled cheese worked very well. I was expecting Big Parma Syndrome to kick in, but I found it mostly enjoyable the whole way through... I say mostly as the thickness of the schnitzel (or lack thereof) gives this parma a half-life of about 10 - 15 minutes before all heat has escaped and it has started to get cold. If you find yourself at Stuzzi don't stop and dilly-dally while your parma is on the table - scoff it down as soon as you can!

The beer battered chips were delightful - Fresh and crispy. Could have used a little more seasoning but otherwise perfectly fine. After the behemoth of a parma I had just ingested I honestly couldn't get through them all, this is a big feed.

The salad looked great on the plate but fell a little short when it came to the crunch - The lettuce, while fresh, was dry and the drizzle of dressing over the top doesn't impress nearly as much as a salad that has been dressed and tossed before plating, to ensure the dressing love gets passed around appropriately.

“Great flavours to the parma but it got cold fast. Eat it quick!”

— Nikki

As I mentioned at the start, the real deal at Stuzzi seems to be on Parmageddon Mondays, just one look at their Instagram reveals a gorgeous gallery of novelty topped available for Monday consumption - A staggering 42 different types of parma for $15. After seeing the quality of the standard parma I'd call this an absolute bargain, and definitely one to check out (although from what I can see the Monday night parma comes with McDonald's style fries, not the beer battered chips we received last night, they're an extra $4).

As for the parma we had? There's no denying it was a huge meal, and nobody at the table walked away hungry - $24.90 is on the pricier side of things, but to be honest I'd happily pay it again for the good, honest feed we received. 

Stuzzi is a weird one. While not perfect it's a hefty feed prepared with quality ingredients. Would I have preferred it with a slice of ham? Probably, although it was just fine without. Parmageddon Mondays is definitely the time to drop in. It's a family friendly venue with a large, inoffensive menu - so if you're looking for somewhere to catch up with the rello's for an event (*cough* Father's Day Sunday *cough*) then its definitely one to remember. 

Parma - 7.50

Chips - 7.00

Salad - 6.00

Value - 6.75

Total - 6.95

The search continues...

#314 - 'The Clare Castle Hotel'

Where - 354 Graham St. Port Melbourne

Price - $24.00

Website - http://clarecastle.com.au/

Reviewers – Fridge, Lee, Nikki & Stefo

I came across the Clare Castle Hotel when I heard someone refer to it as "Port Melbourne's best kept secret for the past 100 years". Best kept secret is right because in the nearly 8 years I've been running ParmaDaze it has managed to completely sail under my radar. 

I like to do a bit of research on our targets before we visit, but the online presence for the Clare Castle is minimal - Their Facebook Page is quiet, the Instagram is the same, It's almost if they are going out of their way to remain mysterious.

And of course, I couldn't accept that. So last night we loaded up the Parma Bus™ and headed to Port Melbourne, and the oh-so intriguing Clare Castle Hotel. 

Nestled beside the Graham Street bridge you could blink and miss the Clare Castle, however they are in good company, with both the Colonial Brewery and Starward Distillery now only a stone's throw away.

The best way I can describe the CC is an old school country pub that just happens to have landed in the middle of Port Melbourne. It is absolutely dripping with old world style and charm. 

Walking into the front bar, if it weren't for the TAB machines and LCD Screens, you could swear you were stepping back to the 80's. From the sports memorabilia to the ashtray trough at the bar, the Clare Castle is a pub out of time. 

Through to the bistro, however, things take a much classier turn. White tablecloths are abound, there's a crackling open fire and the walls are covered in some fantastic art of Melbourne and surrounds. 

The Clare Castle's primary interest appears to be steak, with jaw dropping steak selection headlining the menu, as tempting as a hearty, well cooked piece of steak would be, we managed to tear ourselves away - finding the parma listed under "Old Favourites", along with other old school pub classics such as lambs fry, housemade rissoles and crumbed lamb cutlets. 

Sounds delightful. I do believe I shall partake. 

As you'd expect from an old school pub such as the Clare, the tap list was pretty basic. Carlton, Blonde, Great Northern. There were a few more options in bottles behind the bar (Not often you see VB Longnecks for sale at a pub these days) but if you're a fan of craftier beer options you're probably going to be disappointed.

The schnitzel was impossibly fresh, pure white and insanely juicy - I suspected we would get top notch ingredients with this parma and was not disappointed.

Decently sized but not huge. The crumbing was applied sparingly, which was great - however the moisture in the schnitzel took away the expected crunch that we enjoy with our parmas, hardly a criticism though, the schnitzel was piping hot, fresh, and laid fantastic groundwork for the toppings above. 

The cheese was gooey and delightful. Applied in abundance with a subtle tasty bite. The napoli tasted as fresh as if the tomatoes were plucked out of the ground this morning and the ham was applied liberally. An expertly executed parma. 

However I can't help but feel that the toppings were missing something. The cheese, the ham and the napoli were all technically great - But the Clare Castle's parma needed something to drive it home. Maybe a stronger smoked ham, or a dash of tobasco through the napoli - Something to give it a bit of personality. Don't get me wrong, this was a super enjoyable meal, it just needed a bit of flash to make it a home run. 

The beer battered chips were great. Well seasoned and piping hot - I couldn't help glance over to the other tables with the massive hand cut, house made potato wedges that accompanied all of the steaks, and wonder what I could do to get those beauties with my parma - They should really share the love with those things... But the beer battered ones we received were fine none the less. 

When the plates hit the table the salad looked like a bit of an afterthought - However I was pleasantly surprised to find a well dressed, fresh garden salad with a decent amount of non-lettuce ingredients thrown in, including a liberal whack of capsicum - a most enjoyable side. 

“Juicy, Tasty - Nothing offensive at all. Just needed a little more “zing””

— Stefo

“Chicken was nice and juicy but could have been a little bigger. Napoli was lovely, just didn’t have the punch I was looking for. Chips were alright. ”

— Fridge

“A very enjoyable meal overall. Could have been a little bigger and had a little more flavour, but pretty good!”

— Nikki

I'd happily shell out another 24 clams for the Clare Castle's parma - There is no denying that they use top notch ingredients to turn out a top tier meal. If $24 is too rich for your blood, however, I did notice that the parma in the front bar clocked in at $18, and all the meals looked like they were coming from the same kitchen - Might be worth a crack in there if that is more your speed - But I was happy to shell out the extra cash for the much nicer atmosphere of the Bistro. 

I love old school pubs, and a visit to the Clare Castle is like a trip through time. The pub itself is almost a tick in every box, and is a few craft beer taps away from being the perfect local watering hole.

The parma is definitely worth checking out, however, if I were to head back I don't think I could look past getting one of the outstanding looking steaks - And I fully intend to head back this weekend and try one of them for myself. 

Parma - 6.88

Chips - 6.25

Salad - 6.38

Value - 6.75

Total - 6.63

The search continues...

#313 - 'The Baden Powell Hotel'

Where - 61-65 Victoria Parade, Collingwood

Price - $23

Website - http://www.badenpowellhotel.com.au/

Reviewers – Grace, Lee, Nikki & Tony

The AFL footy season is winding up for the year, so its probably not the best time to talk about an MCG-adjacent footy pub - But I suppose if your team makes the finals this year you've got another month to get in and check it out. 

I've been aware of the Baden Powell for a while, however I had mentally written it off as a "non parma pub". Having skimmed the menu once or twice in an effort to find parmas to review the parma at the Baden Powell eluded me ... Because it was in disguise. 

Despite the Baden Powell's website claiming that they do a "ripper parma", and their Wednesday $15 parma night being called a "Parma Night" - The Baden Powell doesn't actually have a parma on the menu...

Fancy. 

Once I realised that the "Chicken Cotoletta" was basically a gourmet parma we loaded up the parma bus and headed to the Baden Powell. 

To be honest, when I saw that the Baden was seemingly trying to hide the fact that there was a parma on the menu I was expecting an upmarket gastropub. Tablecloths, sommeliers, the whole shebang - Imagine my surprise when I found the Baden Powell to be a down-to-earth, quality pub. 

We grabbed a table in the bistro, checked the menu (pictured above) and ordered our meals. 

While waiting I had a bit of a snoop around the Baden, as their website claims that they have the “Best Beer Garden in Collingwood” I figured it was worth some investigation. 

I’ve gotta say, they’re not far off. While the front bar of the pub seemed a tad crowded (I can imagine it particularly packed on game day), the beer garden was a spacious, open affair with separate bar, plenty of tables and big screen TV’s to catch all of the action. Will definitely back in summer for a pint in the sun. 

The tap list is impressive. Ranging from “Caaarlton” (literally how it’s written on the chalkboard) to craft, with something for all tastes in between.  

After a 20(ish) minute wait, our Parma arrived from the kitchen... 

Well this is different.

All of the discussion for this Parma is in the toppings, but lets talk schnitzel first.  

It was fresh, perfectly cooked and had a fantastic home-style taste to it. Not too thick and not too thin, it was big enough with a light layer of crumbing which carried a fantastic crunch. A great foundation for the dish.  

The toppings are where things get interesting - First of all, yes, there is cheese on this Parma - its hidden under the generous lashings of the star of this dish - the ham. As soon as the plates hit the table the fragrance of the smoked ham wafted forth. It was thick cut, flavoursome and utterly delightful. 

The Baden Powell has forgone a traditional Napoli sauce in favour of a freshly cut tomato salsa. Imagine what you’d get on a bruschetta, that’s what they’ve put on this Parma.  

A bit of a contentious point around the table, some liked it, some thought a more traditional Napoli would have suited the dish better. I thought it was a fresh twist, great if you’re in the mood for something a bit different.  

The chips were pretty standard. Decent enough serving, adequately seasoned, but nothing to write home about. 

Long time readers of the site will know that I’m a sucker for cheese through a garden salad. Nothing makes a salad as delicious as stripping out all nutritional value one might gain by stirring through a handful of Parmesan. I was a huge fan of this one.

“A different type of parma with the cheese under the ham, but a tasty parma, and the toppings all worked well”

— Tony

“Loved the ham and the beautiful quality ingredients, however I think if the salsa was swapped with a chunky home-made Napoli it would have been amazing. The salad was nice however the chips definitely need a revamp”

— Nikki

Would I happily pay another $23 for this Parma again? I think so. It was different, but I definitely enjoyed every mouthful. The ingredients were great quality all around and it was definitely a filling dish. Wednesday night at the Baden Powell is $15 “Gourmet Parma” night, so if you’re on the fence about if you would like their take on a Parma then this is definitely the night to check it out. 

I liked pretty much everything about our visit to the Baden Powell Hotel. The pub was cool (beer garden especially), the tap list was solid and the Parma was very tasty and definitely worth checking out if you’re looking for a unique take on the dish. Oh, and it’s walking distance to the ‘G if you’re heading to the footy this weekend.

Parma - 8.33

Chips - 6.00

Salad - 7.17

Value - 7.17

Total - 7.40

The search continues... 

#312 - 'Two Johns Taphouse'

Where? - Terminal 4, Melbourne Airport. 

Price? - $20

Website? http://www.twojohnstaphouse.com.au/

Reviewers – Lee & Nikki

A few months ago I was at Melbourne Airport on the way to Sydney (The trip where we tried The Grand Hotel). While waiting for our flight at 8:30am, fuelling up on a sausage McMuffin and some hash browns, I noticed a pub across the food court that looked rather cool. We had already reviewed the airport's P.J. O'Brien's back in 2011, and the notion of a pre-flight parma has always piqued my interest. 

I checked the menu, confirmed they had a parma available, locked it away in my little mental "Parmas to do list" and whisked away to a lovely few days in Sydney, intending to try Two Johns Taphouse the next time I was passing through Terminal 4. 

Well, it's three months later, I don't have any travel plans until later in the year (PD goes to PD #3 coming in October), but damnit ... I've gotta know if it's any good! Screw it. Without any intent to board a plane, last night we visited Melbourne Airport's Two Johns Taphouse. 

The first difference between our trip to P.J's and Two Johns is that P.J's didn't require a trip through the airport security scanners to visit - But as the food court at T4 is located past the ticketing and security and stuff, we had to strip down and take a trip through the metal detectors before we could get to our parmas. Once on the other side we managed to grab a seat amongst the many hungry travellers (I don't know if a flight was delayed or what, but it was bloody packed), and checked the menu.

We didn't have to check far, as the "mighty" chicken parma at Two Johns has top billing on the new menu -

We ordered at the bar and took in the view out the large glass windows of planes taking off and landing - This would actually be a relaxing spot to sit, unwind and take in the view, if parking didn't cost a ridiculous amount per minute of relaxation. 

Two Johns website mentions a beer garden, which struck me as odd, being in the middle of the airport food court. I had a look for what they meant by "beer garden" and found it ... in the gap between the "pub" area of the food court and the seating area for Brunetti's next door is an area with tables amongst a few fake trees and plastic shrubs. Not a beer "garden" in the strictest sense, but it'd have to do.

The beer list at Two Johns is pretty tame, despite touting themselves as a "Taphouse". Carlton Draught, Fat Yak, Furphy ... I think I saw a McCracken ... If this were a "taphouse" out in the real world I'd be much less forgiving, but I'll give them a pass, considering they are a pub in a food court in an airport waiting lounge.

After a short enough wait, our parmas arrived from the kitchen...

It looked impressive on the large plate. A healthy serve of sides served to the side and not sandwiched underneath, with a parma that still looked rather sizeable.

We hurriedly picked up our cutlery and tucked in. Unfortunately, this is when things went downhill. 

Getting the worst out of the way up front - the Schnitzel used in the Two Johns parma was pretty horrible. First up - it was lukewarm, bordering on cold. The toppings were hot, but the schnitzel itself barely had any heat in it, almost as if it were pre-cooked (not that I'm accusing them of that as I don't know for sure ... But I have my suspicions). 

As well as the lack of heat the chicken was dry and flavourless. The crumbs, while crunchy on the surface, were horribly thick, and the bottom layer flaked away and remained on the plate every time I cut off a fork-full. 

When your crumbs are almost as thick as your chicken (remember, this photo doesn't include the bottom layer of crumbs), its a bad start to a parma. 

The toppings did their best to save this dish. The cheese and napoli were plentiful (although the napoli tasted like it came straight from a tin). The ham, while not "torn" as the menu touts, was thickly cut and flavoursome. 

However as much good as the toppings tried to do, they struggled to make up for the foundation on which they were built. 

When the plate fell in front of me my first thought was that the chips looked like they were in desperate need of a minute or so more in the fryer, showing a colour more golden-white than golden-brown. 

Imagine my surprise when they turned out to be the best thing on the plate. Generously seasoned, hot, fresh and plenty of them. 

Back in 2015, at our review of the excellent parma at Abbotsford's Aviary Hotel, Reviewer Stefo coined the term "Sal-Slaw" to describe a salad that was a hybrid of a garden salad and a coleslaw. The salad on the parma at Two Johns definitely falls into the Sal-Slaw category. 

Which isn't a bad thing - the sal-slaw was crisp and fresh and generously dressed (much like the chips were liberally seasoned). It was a huge serving that, after my parma and chips, I struggled to get through. A fine side to the dish. 

“Good chips, good salad, decent toppings - All negated by a horrible schnitzel. Won’t be back. ”

— Nikki

I try to define the value score in these reviews with the rule of thumb "Would I be happy to pay the price I paid for this parma to eat this parma again", and by that rule, my answer would be a resounding No. $20 is a fine price for this parma, but the schnitzel that we received was one step away from being inedible, and as the most important part of any parma dish, I wasn't at all happy paying the $20 I paid for the parma that I received.

For a pub in a food court in an airport Two Johns is pretty good. I'd recommend it as a great spot to stop into for a pre-flight pint and maybe a bowl of wedges - But unless there are some major changes I wouldn't touch the parma again. Every element of the dish was good bordering on great, with the exception of the schnitzel which, unfortunately for Two Johns, is the element of the parma you have to nail if you want customers to make a return flight. 

Parma - 2.75

Chips - 7.00

Salad - 6.00

Value -  2.50

Total - 4.20

The search continues...

#311 - 'The Golden Fleece Hotel'

Where? - 120 Montague St. South Melbourne

Price? - $24

Website? https://www.goldenfleecehotel.net.au/

Reviewers – Lee, Nikki & Stefo

Of the 311 parmas we're reviewed for ParmaDaze I'd say at least 100 of them have involved a trip down Montague Street to get to - And on each one of those I've looked at the Golden Fleece and thought to myself "I wonder if they do a parma". 

After surviving a trip under the Montague St bridge unscathed a few weeks back the parma bus was stopped at a traffic light and I glanced over at the Fleece - It looked different. Gone was the lime green perspex signage that used to plague the exterior, and the inside looked as if it had undergone a bit of a revamp as well. I checked the pub's menu on my phone while we waited, confirmed a parma was indeed on the menu and made a mental note to check it out in the future. 

A few weeks later (last night) we arrived, and the Golden Fleece was looking great.

This pub has a great vibe. From the open spaces of the sports bar up the front to the intimate candlelit bistro at the back - This was a pub I could happily settle into for a long session.

We grabbed a table in the front bar. It was easy pickings as, surprisingly, we were one of the only groups in there at 7pm on a Thursday night. 

On checking the menu we realised that we had a couple of options for toppings...

Damn that Mexican sounds good. The addition of chilli beef is rare in the mexi-parma game... But parma purists that we are, we all opted for the traditional parma this time around. 

While waiting for our meals to arrive I wandered upstairs to check what else the Golden Fleece had to offer, Imagine my surprise when, just above our heads, was one of the best pinball machine rooms I've seen in recent memory...

Not visible in frame was Star Wars, Game of Thrones and AC/DC, along with 3 or 4 vintage arcade games (Raiden II, Police Trainer and a couple of others I can't remember)

What a find! Complete with a change machine and everything - This is definitely a spot to remember for any pinball fan. 

The tap list at the Fleece was pretty decent. 4 Pines and Mountain Goat catching my eye at the bargain Thursday night price of $5 a schooner. The fridge behind the bar was stocked with the full range of Colonial Brewery cans - Also a fantastic choice. 

About 20 minutes after ordering our parmas arrived at the table -

First of all, We ordered the side of gravy separately for an extra $2. I've got more to say on the topic of the gravy, but I'll save that for later. 

The schnitzel was top notch. Pure, thick, juicy chicken breast with crumbs that carried a fantastic crunch. As far as schnitzels are concerned this one was hard to fault - And it's clear now as to why they offer a plain nude schnitzel as one of the parma options. They've got a right to be proud of this bad boy. 

The toppings were ... Okay. The napoli was fresh, chunky and seemed home made. The ham was plentiful and thickly sliced and there was a solid coverage of well grilled cheese... However all three elements just missed the mark in terms of flavour. 

They were fine, don't get me wrong, however they needed something to bring them home. I'm not sure what ... Maybe a stronger smoked ham? This is one of those rare cases where the quality of the schnitzel overpowered that of the toppings. 

Still, a very enjoyable meal. 

The chips were well cooked and in plentiful supply. After a quick rescue from beneath the parma they were quite enjoyable. We all opted an extra $2 for some gravy as a chip dip, but that didn't go too well...

Okay, so I'll preface this next paragraph by saying that, as the gravy was an optional extra, our opinion of it in no way factored into our scoring for the parma itself. But it wasn't good. At all. We couldn't quite put our fingers on what they were going for in terms of gravy, but it had an odd, very powerful spice through it - I want to say it was curry powder, or maybe cinnamon ... maybe both. But it wasn't a pleasant chip dip and most of our gravy pots ended up going unused.

The salad was fine. Nothing offensive, plenty of tomato and cucumber throughout. Dressing was a little watery but the seperate bowl was greatly appreciated.

“Loved the schnitzel, the toppings were fresh but just missed the mark in terms of flavour. Not a fan of the gravy. ”

— Nikki

“Hot tip - Don’t order the gravy as a side! It won’t help improve anything!”

— Stefo

I'd happily pay another $24 for this parma for the quality of the schnitzel alone. The Golden Fleece runs a few special nights including a $15 parma night on Monday (Including the nude and the Mexi-parma) as well as some solid happy hours and other food specials - be sure to check their website for more info.

The Golden Fleece is a great little pub that was criminally quiet for a Thursday night (Granted it was about minus ten degrees outside, so that may have contributed to the hibernating patrons). The parma had a fantastic foundation that just fell short of the mark - I instantly regretted not getting the Mexican parma instead as I think the addition of those extra toppings would really make this bird a home run. 

Worth a crack, But I'd say go for the Mexican over the traditional. 

Parma - 7.33

Chips - 6.33

Salad - 5.83

Value - 6.67

Total - 6.70

The search continues...

Crossing the Road #3 - 'The Pizza Bar'

Where? - 150 Mascoma St. Strathmore

Price? - $19 + Delivery fee

Website? Facebook Page

Reviewers – Lee & Nikki

Delivery areas - Uber Eats doesn't have this info, lets just say "Strathmore and surrounding suburbs"

In case you missed the first issue of Crossing the Road back at the start of March, and the second one in June, This is a review category dedicated to delivery parmas, the ones we would never get to if we stuck to pubs alone ... Let's be honest, delivery parmas are usually pretty terrible, but lets call this an effort to find that diamond in the rough. 

The first two Crossing The Road's were ordered via Menulog, and even though I could stare at Jeff Goldblum's loveable face for hours at a time, for the sake of switching things up I decided that this week we would give Uber Eats a crack.

Cards on the table, I have used Uber Eats a few times for non-parma related deliveries and I've yet to be blown away by the service. In my experience it's expensive, takes forever and the food often arrives cold. 

Scrolling through the available options The Pizza Bar in Strathmore caught my eye. It had a decent range of pizzas, pastas and even a couple of burgers available. Then I saw the category I was after - A category devoted entirely to a single menu item -

I think this is the first time in our many years of reviewing that we've come across a parma with a Christian name. In honour of this I'll be referring to this parma as Italiano for the remainder of this review. 

Italiano looked good, if the photo supplied was anything to go by this would be a tasty dish. With an expected delivery time of 45 minutes I kicked back and waited for our food to arrive. 

One of the best features of Uber Eats is, once your food is on its way, you can follow it's progress from the store to your house in real time...

Nice to see that Italiano took a detour past the Kerrigan's house from The Castle before coming over. 

Can't really put this on the Pizza Bar, but Italiano took forever to arrive. Taking a massive detour what should have been a ten minute trip was blown out to 25 minutes at least. 

But he finally turned up, and it was time to meet Italiano in all his glory -

As discovered last time, these things never photograph well in their take away containers. Let me plate this bad boy up so we can really see what we're dealing with...

Much better! It look a bit of effort to extract the chips that had been fused to the top of the parma in transit, but I did the best I could.

Time to tuck in!

As expected, Italiano was bordering on the cold side when he arrived. Not horribly so, but I would have loved to try him fresh as the flavours in this parma were actually pretty solid. The schnitzel was real chicken breast - not the biggest we've come across and a little overcooked, but mostly a quality foundation. 

A surprise addition to the mix was a healthy heaping of ham (possibly prosciutto) not mentioned on the menu - really added a salty punch. Cheese was fine, as was the napoli - All bursting with flavour ... I just wish it had've been a bit hotter.

The chips were overdone and a little oily, but not inedible. Its amazing to see the sheer amount of chips that they throw at you with delivery parmas that you never see at a pub. Points for quantity, thats for sure. 

The salad was fresh and crisp, however underneath the grated carrot, cucumber and single cherry tomato on top there wasn't much going on underneath other than lettuce, lettuce and more lettuce.

For $19 I'm pretty happy with the price. It was pretty tasty and with the added convenience of home delivery I'm calling it a win. 

I'd happily invite Italiano over again, although next time around I'd opt for pickup and cut Uber Eats out of the equation - I don't know if its their mapping system or that the food has to sit and wait for a driver to come and collect, but I have consistently received lukewarm food when using the service. 

Of the 3 delivery reviews we've done so far I'd probably rate this second. Better than Tram Stop but not quite as good as The Gates. Worth a crack if you live in Strathmore, although I wouldn't travel far for it.

The search continues...

#310 - ‘The Fifth Province: Redux’

 Where? - 3/60 Fitzroy Street. St. Kilda

Price? - $22.90

Website? http://www.thefifthprovince.com.au/

Reviewers – Lee & Nikki

When we first visited the Fifth Province back in 2015 I walked out in two minds. I loved the pub. I loved the staff and the parma was pretty good. At the time I described it as "unique" as it had a lot of flavours through it you don't commonly find on a traditional parma. I enjoyed it, but it was a divisive one that a few of the review team did not enjoy, and their score suffered because of it. 

So when I heard that the parma at the Prov had undergone a bit of an overhaul it was high on my list for a redo. Last night we headed back to see just what had changed at the Fifth Province. 

The pub itself is exactly as it was, and that's a fantastic thing. 

I said it in the first review, but a traditional Irish Pub is not something you'd expect to find in the middle of St. Kilda, yet the Prov goes to show that there's always room for a quality Irish watering hole no matter where it's located. 

We grabbed a table and checked the menu. At first I thought I had been misinformed and the parma had been dumped from the menu, then I spotted it, hiding in the "Comfort Food" section - 

A dollar cheaper than it's 2015 counterpart! This redo is already kicking goals. 

The Fifth Province has an impressive tap list - Ranging from the stalwarts you'd find in any Irish pub (Guinness, Carlsberg, Kilkenny etc.) to a great selection for the craft beer lover (3 ravens, Stomping Ground, Kaiju, Feral ... The list goes on). Basically if its beer you're after you'll find something you'll enjoy at the Fifth Province. 

About 15 minutes after ordering our parmas arrived. As is tradition with Redo's lets see a comparison between the 2015 parma and the 2017 attempt...

The Fifth Province Parma - 2015 edition

The Fifth Province Parma - 2017 edition

On aesthetics alone it was already a marked improvement. The schnitzel was bigger, served piping hot and cooked to perfection. I sampled an un-topped sliver of schnitzel and it held up on its own. A fantastic foundation to the dish. 

The cheese blend was flavoursome and grilled to perfection. What was a bit of a cheese overload last time has been throttled back, definitely for the better. What were huge chunks of Irish bacon have also been toned down into smaller ham chunks, another improvement without doubt. 

Gone is the off-putting sweetness that turned us off the napoli in 2015, however the replacement isn't perfect - A little too similar to pure tomato paste for my liking, but a minor complaint to an otherwise outstanding dish. 

The chips have jumped from a mini fry basket to a mini metal bucket. Fresh, crisp and flavoursome. They could've used a little seasoning but thats just nitpicking at this point - A great addition to the meal.

In 2015 I called the salad an "afterthought", This is by no means the case anymore. Massive crisp garden salad absolutely bursting with ingredients (I think I had a full tomato in mine). Drizzled with a well balanced balsamic - A fantastic side all around.

“Other than a tomato-pastey napoli this was an all round great parma - Much preferred the smaller bacon bits to the larger chunks last time!”

— Nikki

I'd happily pay another $22.90 for this parma, no hesitation whatsoever. As a bonus on Wednesdays this dish goes for a mere $15 (not to mention Parma Knights get this $15 deal 7 days a week! What an amazing deal.)

Before writing this review I read over our 2015 visit, compiled a list of our major complaints, and determined if they had been addressed or not. Lets see how they did. 

• Overly sweet napoli - Fixed
• Overcooked schnitzel - Fixed
• Thick crumbs on schnitzel - Fixed
• Cheese overload - Fixed
• Unusual Irish bacon chunks - Fixed
• Lackluster salad - Fixed
• A bit pricey for the end result - Fixed

That is the biggest comeback I've seen since Robert Downey Jr. got cast as Iron Man.  If you're in the area the new and improved Fifth Province parma is definitely worth a try. 

Parma - 8.38

Chips - 7.60

Salad -  7.20

Value -  8.00

Total - 7.91

The search continues... 

#309 - ‘Parkview Hotel’

 Where? - 131/137 Scotchmer St. Fitzroy North

Price? - $10

Website? http://www.parkviewfitzroy.com.au/

Reviewers – Lee & Nikki

A few weeks ago, on the ParmaDaze Facebook Page, I put out a call for suggestions. My "ideas" board was getting a little thin and needed an injection of new blood - Boy did it receive it. A torrent of suggestions came in, enough to keep ParmaDaze running for a few more years at least - And one venue that came up more than once was the Parkview Hotel. 

We've been past the Parkview many times (in fact when we pulled into the Carpark I noticed that the Fitzroy Pinnacle was literally across the street). But never thought to go in, and if it wasn't for the readers suggestion it probably would have gone by the wayside - But the people wanted the Parkview, so the Parkview they shall have. 

Oh, on the way to Fitzroy last night I noticed just how close the Parkview is to last week's attempt at A Fan's Notes in Cartlon. My apologies, we normally try and not do two consecutive parmas so close together - We'll be on the other side of town next week, pinky swear. 

We entered the pinnacle, and the first thing that struck us was the advertising for their parma special...

This was gonna be a cheap feed!

On entry to the pub there is an area with a pool table, dart board and trivia machine. Past that is a quasi indoor/outdoor seating area that was surprisingly packed and well warmed with heaters - Unfortunately we couldn't snag a table in there so we pushed on to the main area, which has much more of a Sports Bar vibe than a dining area.

We ordered our parmas for ten bucks a pop, even though the old menu still says $18,  and grabbed a pint of the Parkview's own $5 pints ($15 for a pint and a pot? Kicking goals so far!)

After a short ten minute wait, our parmas arrived from the kitchen. 

Hmmm. For $10 I wasn't expecting the highest quality meal, but I've gotta call them like I see them... The schnitzel wasn't great. 

Credit card thin and overly thick crumbs - This was your quintessential "processed" supermarket deli window schnitzel. At the very least it was served piping hot, but the schnitzel alone was not a pleasant experience.

The toppings did their best to resurrect this parma - Ham is usually the first topping to go when we get into the "discount parma" category, so I was pleasantly surprised to find its inclusion on the Parkview's offering. The napoli was canned but palatable and the cheese carried its flavour well.

The chips and salad were both pretty good. The chips were beer battered and well cooked and the salad was fresh and crisp with a flavoursome dressing. However they both suffered from the same drawback - There just wasn't enough. I could almost count the amount of chips I had on two hands and the salad, while tasty, was gone in moments. Double the amount served on both and we'd have some quality sides on our hands.

“For the price it wasn’t terrible, Had I paid any more I would be a lot less impressed.”

— Nikki

The Parkview's parma isn't great if you try and rate it against a normal, full priced parma - However if you're after a dirt cheap feed then it's not terrible. "For the price" is a good qualifier for the Parkview. Is it good? Yes, for the price. Were the cheap pints okay? Sure! for the price.

If you want a decent meal and a beer for the kind of cash you could fish out from between your couch cushions then this is definitely one to try, but I wouldn't go expecting too much. It's not a bad parma, for the price. 

Parma - 3.80

Chips - 6.25

Salad -  5.75

Value -  8.25

Total - 5.57

The search continues... 

#308 - 'A Fan's Notes'

Where? - 787 Nicholston St. Carlton North

Price? - $22

Website? Facebook Page

Reviewers – Lee & Stefo

It's not often a pub goes from completely off my radar to it's all I'm hearing about, yet that is what Carlton North Hole-in-the-wall "A Fan's Notes" managed to accomplish.

A month ago if you had've asked me if we had reviewed the parma at A Fan's Notes I probably would have responded with "Huh? What is that? Is that a place?", Yet in the past two weeks I have been on the receiving end of a barrage of recommendations - All for A Fan's Notes.

So what is A Fan's Notes? Nestled in a cosy spot in Cartlon North lies a little cafe/bar/record shop. There aren't many seats in the front so if you're keen to try I'd advise making a booking. It's dimly lit (mostly by candlelight) with smooth tunes echoing through and a laid back, chilled vibe. 

Credit to Where's The Beef? for the photo!

We arrived on Thursday night (without a booking) and after nursing a $7 pint of Coopers (happy hour from 4-7pm) at the bar for a little while was lucky enough to snag a table. 

Was itching for a parma, so we checked the menu...

... Spied our target and placed the order - It's worth noting for the vegetarians that they have both vego and vegan options available. 

A lone tap behind the bar was pouring Coopers at $7 a pint, so I didn't look far beyond that. I did spy an empty can of Pirate Life on one of the other tables, so if that is anything to go on A Fan's Notes has decent craft beer chops. 

About 15 minutes after ordering our meals arrived.

You'll have to excuse the quality of the below photos ... Taking food photos by candlelight isn't ideal, so had to really crank up the exposure in post. 

First things first - The schnitzel that A Fan's Notes uses in their parma isn't the best. It was a little thin, fairly heavy on the crumbs and a rather dry.

A shame, as from here on out I'm going to have almost universally positive things to say about this parma - However a higher quality foundation could have easily launched this parma to the top of our list. 

The toppings were sensational. The napoli was bursting with a zesty, citrus flavour while the cheese blend was flavoursome, applied liberally and grilled to gooey perfection.

Normally a parma without ham would get a recommendation that a slice of ham would be appreciated - However with the parma at A Fan's Notes I don't think its even necessary - the toppings are flavoursome enough without it, and unless you used some sort of quintuple smoked ham I think it would be lost amongst the other elements of the dish.

The chips were shoestring, McDonalds style fries, which I normally don't like - But you'll see why these were fitting in a moment. They were cooked well, a decent serving and for Maccas fries they were decent enough.

The reason I thought the shoestring fries were an appropriate side was due to the dill coleslaw accompanying the meal. A huge mound of 'slaw greeted me after moving aside the parma, and as soon as I tasted it a very familiar flavour hit me ... The "dill mayo" this coleslaw was swimming in tasted exactly like McDonalds Big Mac sauce. You could slap the parma in a bun with a spoon full of this coleslaw and get away with calling it a Chicken Big Mac it was so spot on. It was a tasty salad, but quite rich. I could only get through half of it before needing to stop.

“A lot of flavour in this parma. Well presented, and despite the chips-under-parma dilemma there was no sogginess at all! The sal-slaw was delicious but overpowering towards the end of the meal. Crumbs were crunchy with a herby flavour that I couldn’t pick, but was delicious none the less. I feel like I need another to fully take in the flavours once again.”

— Stefo

$22 for this parma is acceptable, I enjoyed it enough that I'd happily pay that price again (and $7 pints definitely sweetened the deal). I have heard rumours of a $10 parma night at A Fan's Notes, which would be an amazing deal - Although I'm not sure what night of the week that runs. If you can find out when its on I highly recommend checking it out yourself

**UPDATE** According to our mates at The Happiest Hour, A Fan's Notes $10 parma special runs on both Wednesday and Saturdays, for both the chicken and vego/vegan options. 

Last night was a unique parma in a unique restaurant. A surprisingly cool little find and a spot to which I'd be happy to return. The parma was good, with the potential to be great should they upgrade their schnitzel quality. Even so, worth a crack. 

Parma - 6.80

Chips - 6.50

Salad - 7.00

Value - 7.50

Total - 6.92

The search continues...