Monday 31 December 2012

In Parms Way - Favourite Parm of 2012

Today is the last day of the year. And with the chances of a New Years Eve parm being relatively slim it's a perfect day to announce the favourite parm of 2012. It's been a big year for In Parms Way, heading to 21 different establishments and having a chicken parm at each. We also had a guest review which went down really well (more of those please everyone, it's good fun). As well as a few missed opportunities where the amber liquid played too much of a part in the evening and the parm review didn't happen.

But enough about that, what was In Parms Way favourite parm of 2012?


There was nothing bad about the meal and everything great about it. For $15 it's amazing value and a parm I would recommend to anyone.

Thanks for reading my crappy little blog. 2013 is going to be another big year, looking forward to it!

-Dave the Mega-Parm

Monday 24 December 2012

Ettamogah Pub

This last weekend we made a trip up to the Sunshine Coast. Eumundi markets were a bit lame, and the chef at the cafe we went to for breakfast in Noosa completely screwed up one of the orders, but the day was saved by the awesome and really strange looking Ettamogah Pub. Which was where we went for lunch.

And would you believe it? They do a chicken parma. How was it? Picture is below.


I was a bit sneaky this time and went with their Hawaiian chicken parm. It's pretty much the same as a regular parm except it has pineapple on it. The reason why is their regular parm doesn't have shredded ham on it. So it's either have a meal with one ingredient missing, or an extra ingredient. I like tropical pizza, it was an easy decision to make.

At $20.50 the price is in the middle of the ballpark. And the food came out relatively quickly. It was a nice day to sit outside on their balcony (and enjoy the sounds of the motorway go by).

Size: A fairly large piece of chicken. Was nearly too much for me to handle. A good amount of chips too. The salad was small but really who cares. We're not here for that.

Chicken: Cooked well, nice crumbing. Though the chicken was a little thin it's only a minor gripe.

Sauce: Very mild sauce, but I don't think that detracted from the meal. The pineapple brought a lot of extra flavour to the parma. And the mild napoli sauce complimented it very well. There was just the right amount of sauce too. There was also a bit of onion in the sauce which worked perfectly.

Ham: Shaved ham, a good amount of it but not enough to overpower. You got a hit of ham every bite.

Cheese: Nearly covered the whole parm, but if it did that would have been a lot of cheese. A good crusting on the cheese. Cooked very well.

Chips: Probably the weakest point of the meal, the chips were rather boring and needed seasoning. Didn't eat them all.

Salad: Small, but was quite tasty. Had a nice dressing on it that made it quite appetising.

All in all I was impressed with the chicken parm from the Ettamogah Pub. The schnitzel topping was pretty much perfect, they've gotten the balance just right. A thicker chicken breast and some nicer chips and this would certainly be in my top three for the year.

-Dave the Mega-Parm

Tuesday 18 December 2012

The Boundary Hotel

I was so excited, The Boundary Hotel in West End was going to be great. When you clicked on their link for what happens on a Monday night it showed that it was International Super Parma night, with ten different types of chicken Parms to try, from Traditional to Texas, Pacific to Italiano and many others. It was going to be awesome! So we got there, went to the bar and was told the site was incorrect, there's no International Super Parma on Monday night, but we could still have a regular parm...

So we did.

How was it though? Picture is below. Sorry about the photo quality, the lighting is quite dark in there.


For $17.90 it's one of the cheaper parms. The food came out quickly, quicker than we could finish our first beers so that wasn't too bad.

Size: Chicken was on the smaller side. Not many chips and the salad was very small. Was still a bit peckish at the end of the meal, which isn't really what chicken parms are all about.

Chicken: While it wasn't the tastiest chicken I've had it was cooked well enough. Was a fairly thin bit of chicken though. Could have been thicker and would have made the meal much more enjoyable. 

Sauce: A huge amount of sauce, oozing out from under the cheese each time a cut was made. Seemed like it was tinned sauce as well, no zing or pizzazz.

Ham: One big slice of ham under the cheese, was quite thin and rather un-flavoursome. 

Cheese: The cheese was cooked pretty well, had a nice crusting while melted underneath. Went to pretty close to the edge of the chicken too.

Chips: Standard pub chips, they were cooked pretty well and had a nice seasoning on them. Probably the most enjoyable part of the meal. Not enough of them though.

Salad: Very nice dressing on the salad, not much of it though. Not that a small amount of salad is a bad thing. Made it easier to push to the side of the plate.

All in all I was disappointed with our outing to The Boundary Hotel. I was so excited about trying an international parma, only to rock up and it not be available. Sting and the Police were playing in the background as we ate our dinner though, that's pretty cool right?

-Dave the Mega-Parm

Sunday 16 December 2012

Irish Murphy's

This is a return visit to Irish Murphy's after my first parma outing there ended in being too far gone to remember what the meal was like the next day. We were going on a 12 Pubs of Christmas pub crawl and instead of starting on an empty stomach we visited Irish Murphy's for a meal. No jokes here, it was a warm day and we were hungry and Irish Murphy's was the perfect place to go. The beer was ice cold, the food came out quickly and the aircon was on nice and strong.

So how was the parm? Picture below.


The picture really doesn't do the parm justice, it was a lot nicer than my photography skills can show. As part of their $15 menu, you can't go wrong though. Options also include a side of veggies instead of salad and chips but I was having none of that.

Size: A medium to medium large size meal. There were enough chips to fill my up after I'd finished the parm without there being any wasting. The salad was also pretty well compacted into the little bowl too.

Chicken: Very nice chicken, slightly overcooked on the edges but not enough to detract from the meal. Uniform thickness throughout the chicken too.

Sauce: Tasty tomato sauce, not overpowering to underwhelming. Just enough to say "Hey, I'm here, but I'm not going to unbutton my shirt and hog the microphone".

Ham: Strips of ham, very nice. Like the sauce there wasn't too much or not enough. Just the right amount of ham.

Cheese: Awesome cheese and cooked perfectly. Like the other toppings the balance was just right. My only gripe here is the cheese didn't cover the whole parm. Was pretty close though, probably only two or three fork-fulls that were missing all three toppings.

Chips: In one word, perfect. The best chips I've had with a chicken parm meal since starting this blog. Crunchy beer battered chips, fluffy in the middle. Doesn't get any better than this.

Salad: For once, a nice salad. In a separate bowl, with what I've been lead to believe was a french dressing. Had a bite or two and passed it on to my better half. She finished it.

For $15 a chicken parm doesn't get better than this. Couple that with a nice atmosphere, relatively cheap beers and aircon blowing a winters chill into the dining area makes this the best chicken parm I've had since starting this blog.

I'm sorry Irish Murphy's for being too drunk the first time, but I am glad we went back.

-Dave the Mega-Parm

ps. I didn't get any cucumber in my beer this time. A big FU to MC and PS.

Sunday 9 December 2012

The Mill Hotel

Friday lunch this week, we went out for a pub meal because it was a colleagues last day. The Mill Hotel was chosen as it's pretty close to work, we've all be there for after work drinks and they do a chicken parm. The Mill Hotel is also great because on a Friday afternoon they do (or at least did) a free sausage sizzle. So rock up, get your pint of beer and enjoy the sausages...

How was their chicken parm though? Picture is below.


For $17.95 it comes in on the cheaper end of the scale. The food came out relatively quickly, especially considering there was about 10 people on our table. Though the place wasn't very busy so they wouldn't have had too much trouble.

Size: Quite a small meal. Not too many chips on there, and the chicken was very thin. A lot of salad on the plate (both before I started and after I finished).

Chicken: Overcooked on the outside, wasn't dry on the inside though, but a little bit too crispy. The chicken was also quite thin in parts with the crumbing being quite thick.

Sauce: The menu has Napoli sauce as an ingredient but I really couldn't taste or see it.

Ham: Two enormous slices of ham, both as thick as the chicken. I had to leave some ham at the end it was that thick. It was good ham, just way too much. Plus I don't think it got enough time under the grill so it wasn't as hot as it should be.

Cheese: Lots of cheese, like the ham it needed more time under the grill to give it a bit of a crusting.

Chips: Boring chips, not many of them either. Was a little cold and needed salting.

Salad: Very boring salad, don't think there was any dressing on it. Too much salad too, and in a separate bowl would have been nice.

All in all I wasn't impressed with this parma, very little sauce, way too much ham and most parts just not done very well. I still love The Mill but I don't think I would order a parm again. Someone else on our table had a steak that looked really good. I'll go with that next time.

-Dave the Mega-Parm

Monday 3 December 2012

It Happened Again

It's dangerous that most places you can get a chicken parm are also places you can get pints of beer. Went to the Newmarket Hotel on the weekend with some workmates but waited too long to get dinner. Here's a picture of the parm but the'll be no review.


As it's Christmas season the restaraunt was full so we had to eat in the main pub section. It was nearly pitch black so I didn't really get to see the parm I ate (photo above is taken with a flash). It was pretty nice though, and three others had parms and ate them all too, that's a good sign.

Will certainly go there again, and will get a proper review up too.

-Dave the Mega-Parm

Sunday 25 November 2012

Manly Hotel

I knew this was going to be a good lunch when I went up to get drinks in my awesome Broncos jersey and the barmaid said "cool shirt mate". Awesome.

So this weekend we traveled to the Manly Hotel for lunch. We've passed this place many times going to the Manly Markets and always wondered what it was like inside. It was good to finally check it out. We got there just as the restaurant opened and about 10 minutes later the place was packed. Is it because the food is good? Or could it be the $12.90 roast dinner lunch they do? All I can really talk about is how the chicken parm was. Picture is below.


Coming in at $21.90 it's on the more expensive side of average, but the service was good and the meals came out quickly. The drinks were also quite cheap, which is always a plus in my books.

Size: A thin piece of chicken but it was quite large in area. Also a solid serving of chips and the salad was packed right into the little salad bowl.

Chicken: Very nice chicken, cooked just right with a slight bit of charring on the edges. Nothing to detract from the flavour. It was a thin but consistent thickness all over.

Sauce: Very sweet sauce and not a huge amount of it on the meal. In one section it had pooled a little bit, but once again it didn't detract from the niceness of the meal.

Ham: Thin layer of ham, covered nearly all of the parm though and was noticeable yet not overpowering.

Cheese: Very good cheese, runny in parts and crispy in others. Good flavour and covered the whole piece of chicken. A bit had fallen off and looked like it was cooked on the hot plate, was a great little bonus. They also sprinkled a little parsley on top, fancy!

Chips: Fairly ordinary chips, but the kitchen had cooked them pretty well. Needed salt to get flavour out.

Salad: Not a bad salad, and extra points for being in a bowl. Lots of lettuce too (which is good).

All in all the Manly Hotel was a great place to go for a Sunday lunch and I would certainly recommend the chicken parm for anyone even remotely interested in parms. And to be honest, everyone should be interested in parms...

There was also a meat tray raffle, but since it was real meat and not prawns I had no chance of winning.

Dave the Mega-Parm

In Parms Way, now on eParmony

Quick post to say a huge thank you to the people at eParmony for adding my little blog to their site. I highly recommend checking it out, not only if you're looking for Parms in areas other than Brisbane* but because all the blogs on there are good reads.

In other Parm related news, today we're off to the Manly Hotel for lunch. Looking forward to it! Review to come this afternoon.

-Dave the Mega-Parm

*In Parms Way is where you go looking for Brisbane Parms :)

Sunday 18 November 2012

Brunswick Hotel

Part two of an awesome Parm weekend. Usually what happens is I drink beer while eating and am somewhat sober when I write the blogs but this post is a little different. Is that good or bad, I don't know. Does it really matter?

Today we went to the Brunswick Hotel for lunch. The plans were actually cancelled until AU decided to message me at 12:15 asking when we'd get there for lunch. So we changed out plans and went into New Farm for lunch.

The Brunswick hotel has been on my radar for a while. I've heard lots of talk of their round pool tables (which makes no sense to me), but recently a colleague said their better half went to the Brunswick and didn't enjoy the parm very much. So I had to see (and eat) it for myself.

How was it? Let the picture do the talking.


First of all, when this chicken parm came out I thought I was in a pizza parlor. It smelt exactly like a neapolitana special from New York Pizza Slice.

For $19.50 it was pretty good value and the meal came out within the allowable time frame (within two pints of beer). But what about the different components?

Size: Medium small. Not enough to be full as a car boot at the end of the meal, but it wasn't tiny like a fun size Mars bar. Oh, imagine that, a fun size parma. Hmm.

Chicken: Well cooked, the meat was very thin all over but there was no problems with it. Slightly over-cooked on the edges but not enough to detract from the tastiness of the meal.

Sauce: Pizza sauce. It smelt and tasted like pizza sauce. But it was pretty nice and kind of worked quite well.

Ham: Solid slices of ham, was a strong taste on the parm. And the cheese and sauce slid all over it. Tasted like a pretty high quality ham though.

Cheese: Not very much cheese, but what was on there was cooked well and tasted good. It kind of slid over the ham layer though so felt like a bit of an afterthought from an eaters point of view.

Chips: Standard pub chips, not beer battered but were cooked well and fluffy on the inside. I don't think there were enough of them on the plate.

Salad: Boring, flavorless and unexciting. Looks like there is a dressing on it but I couldn't taste it.

All in all it was a solid parma effort, definitely good value and it seemed like a pretty nice place for lunch on a wet Brisbane day. Beers were pretty cheep too.

-Dave the Parm-Minister

Saturday 17 November 2012

Eatons Hill Hotel

This is one of those great weekends where there will be two chicken parm reviews. Today (Saturday) the plan was to go into the Valley and check out Fringe Bar. I'd heard (read on the net) from a reputable source (a comment on urban spoon) that someone from Melbourne said they do a great parm, and that's enough for me to want to check it out. So we get to Fringe Bar after a monster flash storm care of QLD's weather only to find it is closed for lunch on Saturdays.

So, after walking around like lost sheep for a while we decided to get out of the Valley and go to Eatons Hill Hotel for lunch. Eatons Hill came onto my radar a few years back (before this little parm blog) because a work colleague said they had 100 beers on tap. Turns out it's 100 beer taps (slightly different) but it's enough to keep it in the back of my mind as somewhere to go.

We rocked up to the bistro and I ordered the chicken parm. What was it like?


For $22 it was on the higher side of average priced but the service was great and the meal came out relatively quickly. Can't fault the ambiance of the Bistro either, overlooking a golf course and a big grassy photo area (for weddings and crap).

Size: Large chicken parm, was thinish on the outside but the middle was a solid piece of poultry meat. Not many chips but the salad was quite large. Definitely enough food though, I failed to finish the parm with a small square of chicken left over.

Chicken: Well cooked, juicy and succulent in the middle. The crumbing was great, it even had some herbs on there. I am pretty sure I tasted sage (or my better half point out it was sage, one of the two). It was a bit tricky to cut and a steak knife would have made it easier to eat, but that's a minor issue.

Sauce: Sitting on top of the cheese, which was a little strange. The sauce was very sweet and there was a lot of it. But that's not a bad thing, it was nice and suited the meal well.

Ham: A couple of thin slices of ham under the cheese, didn't really get much of a ham hit while eating it. Could have done with another layer all over.

Cheese: Best cheese I've had on a chicken parm so far. Went to the edge of the chicken pretty much all over, and was cooked perfectly. Golden all over, and crispy on the edges. This is what made the meal. Though I left some chicken at the end I didn't leave any cheese and had one big mouthful of cheese and sauce by itself.

Chips: Standard pub chips here, nothing to raise the desk over. They were cooked well and were nice, could have done with a few more though.

Salad: Boring. Way too much cucumber and the dressing was unexciting.

All in all, this is a great chicken parm and I would highly recommend it to anyone in the area. Definitely in my top three since this blog was started.

-Dave the Parm-Minister

Thursday 15 November 2012

Monday 12 November 2012

Broncos Leagues Club

A few months ago a few mates and I decided to go to Broncos Leagues Club to watch the footy and have a few beers. Something happened and we didn't quite make it there that night (we went to Easts Leagues instead).

But this weekend we finally made it!

After a few games of Keno, beers and the winning of a prawn tray we went to the 88 Restaurant Bar and Cafe and I ordered the chicken parm. So how was it? Picture below.


Size: Medium small, there was enough on the plate to be satisfied but if it wasn't for the pie from Rock N Roll Bakery beforehand I would have been hungry at the end.

Chicken: Very well cooked chicken, crumbing was tasty and the chicken was juicy. Can't fault the chickens preparation in any way.

Sauce: Not a huge amount of sauce, but what was on there was tasty.

Ham: Didn't see any ham on mine.

Cheese: Nice cheese, very well cooked. Melted with a good crusting.

Chips: Standard pub chips, but that's not bad. They were cooked just right. Crunchy on the outside and fluffy in the middle.

Salad: Boring. Had one bite and left it all. If there was dressing on it I didn't see it. As you've probably read in my previous posts I prefer the salad to be in a separate bowl.

For $18.90 (members price) it was a very good parm. Plus it was great to walk through the hall of fame at the Broncos Leagues. Shame the place was so quiet and filled to the brim with pokies. Would definitely go there again for a meal but not to drink beer.

-Dave the Mega-Parm

ps. go the Broncos! 2013 is our year!



Friday 2 November 2012

Home Made Parm!

We went to my awesome fiance's mum's house for dinner last night and guess what she cooked for us? Chicken parm, oh yeah! She is an avid reader of this blog and made it pretty much to my specifications. So good. Picture is below.


I'm not going to review it because it's not a parm you can go out and buy, but it was delicious and I want to say thank you for the lovely meal :)

-Dave the Mega-Parm

Sunday 28 October 2012

Cafe East

My partner and I had a pretty large event happen this week, the purchase of our first home settled. We're now home owners! To celebrate the occasion we decided to go out for dinner to Cafe East on Queens St Mall in Brisbane City. Why Cafe East you ask? Because my partner had a craving for seafood and this is where she wanted to go :)

Cafe East doesn't have a Chicken Parm on their menu, but they do have something called a "Chicken Parmo Schnitzel". And if they're calling it a Parmo then I think it can go on my Blog. So what was it like? Picture below.


Before I start on the Parmo I just want to say I like Cafe East because the beers come out in pints. As a strong, red blooded male I need beers in large vessels.

Ok, so about the meal. The Parmo came in at $25.90 and service was pretty quick. But how was it?

Size: Very thin piece of chicken. Came out on a larger than usual plate though, and the salad was enormous.

Chicken: As mentioned above, it was quite thin, and it was a bit over cooked. You can see on the edges of the chicken breast that it slightly burnt. If it wasn't for the cheese and bechamel it would have been very dry.

Sauce: The Parmo is a tomato free chicken parm. Not too much bechamel either.

Ham: No ham.

Cheese: Cheese was probably the best part of the meal, there was a solid amount of it on there and it really saved the chicken. I would like it to have been cooked a bit more and to go to the edges. There herbs on top were a nice touch too.

Chips: The chips were cooked, but were standard pub chips. Nothing special but at least they were hot.

Salad: Unexciting for the most part. Also prefer the salad to be in a bowl to not taint the chips/chicken with the dressing (which was a balsamic dressing of some sort).

I had to use a fair amount of salt on the chicken and chips to bring the flavour out, and this isn't your standard chicken parm so can't hold it to all the same rules. I really feel this could have been an awesome meal but in the end I was just a little disappointed. Would I go there again? Yes. Would I get the Parmo again? I think I would, but if it's not better I wouldn't get it again.


-Dave the Mega-Parm

Tuesday 23 October 2012

Guest Review: Charles Dickens Tavern - Collins St, Melbourne

Isn't life in the parm lane exciting? A guest review? Opened my mail this morning and was greeted with this.

Dear Mega-Parm...

I would like to submit the following review to be considered for your awesome blog...

Charles Dickens Tavern - Collins St, Melbourne


To keep with the standard review format...

Size: Medium... that is 2 pieces of chicken, palm sized (pardon the pun), a fairly small serve of chips, but for me it was just the right proportion to chicken and salad. The salad was fairly small, which I guess would be agreeable to most Parm lovers.

Chicken: Tender, nicely cooked, not dry at all... can I say juicy? Flavour was on the money.

Sauce: Just the right amount of sauce. It tasted very authentic, almost homemade. There were even chunks of tomato through it. Very tasty, but have a sneaky feeling it may have been a tin of crushed tomatoes with a little salt and sugar added.

Ham: There was ham! This took me by surprise on my fourth bite. At first I thought it was a hamless parm but happy to discover a thin, very tasty slice of good quality ham hiding beneath the cheese. Bad thing about this - the ham should have come right to the edge of the chicken...

Cheese: Very good quantity of cheese. Gorgeous brown colouring. Perfect time under the grill. Was extremely excited to find a super crunchy chip hiding beneath the schnitzel that had soaked up all the juices and had a mass of overcooked cheese all over it.... heaven.

Chips: Only a few chips, may not be enough for some. But they were good, well cooked, crunchy, no soggy disappointments.

Salad: Small, rather limp, salad on the same plate as the rest of the meal. Quite unimpressive. Iceberg lettuce, Spanish onion, 2 pieces of cucumber and some grated carrot... The thousand island dressing really helped. And parsley; I don't care if it looks nice, does anyone actually eat it??? Replace it with something people eat please.

At $20 it was a good price. This included a house wine or pot of beer (only Cascade or Carlton though, a bit disappointing). I would definitely go back again though. Overall, a good parm.

--------------

Dave the Mega-Parm says great review, looks like a pretty tasty parm. That cheese looks amazing, and I agree, the ham (and all toppings) should get pretty close to the edge of the chicken.

If I ever get to sunny-Melbourne I'll make sure to check it out. Oh, I am unsure if the reviewer wants their name on here so I'll check and update if they do :)

Sunday 21 October 2012

The Groove Train - King George Square

Last night the better half and I went into the city to see a few bands play. We decided to get dinner in the city and after some umming and ahhing picked the Groove Train in King George Square. It was a stinking hot day in Brisbane and where the Groove Train is situated is just perfect, a beautiful breeze blew through the restaurant  Cooling us down nicely.

There is a lot to choose from on their menu and of course, there was a chicken parm. So how did it look? Picture below.


At $23.90 it wasn't the cheapest chicken parm I've ever had, but the meal came out very quickly so one can't complain too much there. Having said that though, the chips were on the cold side and while the chicken was cooked, it wasn't that hot. Also, the meal came out well before the drinks did. I like to have a beer in the background of all my pictures but it wasn't possible this time.

Size: On the large side, the chicken was very thick. The layer of mozzarella cheese (which you can't see in the picture) was also substantial and there was a ton of sauce. I did eat all the chicken, but only just. It was a lot.

Chicken: Cooked well but as mentioned above, not overly hot. The crumbing was also rather plain and didn't have anything going for it to make it memorable.

Sauce: A huge amount of sauce, and it was very sweet. I had to put a fair amount of salt on it to suit my tastes. Not bad, just very sweet.

Ham: No ham on this parm. I think it would have made a bit of a difference too.

Cheese: Probably the best part of the meal, the Parmesan cheese on top worked well with the mozzarella cheese under the sauce. No complaints about the sauce at all.

Chips: Unremarkable chips that were cold. Didn't finish them. Plus some were tainted by the dressing from the sauce.

Salad: Boring. With the dressing I would have appreciated it in a separate bowl. And way too many of those stalk things. Left nearly all of it on the plate.

All in all it won't be a parm that I'll remember in years to come. It was serviceable and I was full at the end but a lot of little things could have been done better.

-Dave the Mega-Parm

Friday 19 October 2012

What could have been!

A few weeks back I went out drinking with a few mates with the plan was to get a chicken parm for dinner and post about it on here. It was going well and to plan, except that a lot of beers were consumed before chicken parm time. So I don't really remember much from the night, other than that my beer tasted like cucumber...

Here's a pic however of the Parm from Irish Murphy's.


Lesson was learned, chicken parm reviews need to be done with less than 10 beers in the belly.

In the famous words of Arnie, "I'll be back, to Irish Murphys to eat another parm".

-Dave the Mega-Parm


Thursday 18 October 2012

Woolloongabba Hotel

Last weekend there was an international rugby league match between Australia and New Zealand (GO AUSTRALIA!!). If there is a list of good reasons to go out and eat chicken parm and drink beer, this has to be one of them. So we headed out to the Woolloongabba Hotel in Woolloongabba (duh) for beer, parm and rugby league.

Here is a picture of their chicken parmy.


So how was it?

Size: Medium to medium large, with a good serving of chips. The salad was also on the larger size (if that's a good thing to you, then you're not a friend of the Mega-Parms).

Chicken: Well cooked chicken, no problems with it's flavour or thickness. The crumbing was also of good quality. No problems here.

Sauce: A huge amount of sauce, and it had a very Napolitano (is that the right spelling) taste to it. Not a bad thing though, quite tasty.

Ham: If there was ham on this parm, I didn't see or taste it. Could have been in the sauce but I'm not playing Where's Hamdo (Where's Waldo) with my parm.

Cheese: A lot of cheese and it was slightly under cooked. Well it was cooked but could have used another minute under the grill to give is a bit of a crust. Was nice though, no other complaints.

Chips: Good chips, nice and crunchy. And as mentioned before there was a good amount of them. Nothing amazing as they were fairly standard pub chips, but they were good.

Salad: Un-interesting and boring salad. Not a fan. And not in a separate bowl so got a little bit of salad taint on the chips and parm. If my mantra wasn't that I wouldn't change the parm in anyway I would have ordered it without.

All in all the meal was good, and for $19 it was good value. I've been told they sometimes do a two for one special. I'd certainly recommend it at two for one and would also recommend it at regular prices.

Dave the Mega-Parm

Monday 24 September 2012

The Colmslie Hotel

Does it get any better than this? First day of a week long holiday and out to The Colmslie Hotel for a few beers and chicken parm. It was a great day for it, nice and warm outside with a nice breeze blowing through the outdoor garden. Here's the parm.


At $26 it is the most expensive parm I've ever eaten, but the food came out very quickly and while the Colmslie looks a little divey from the road it's actually quite nice in the beer garden and inside. All three of us had the chicken parm and aside from a few chips on one plate and some salad we finished it off. So how was it?

Size: Medium small to medium sized meal. The chicken parm wasn't enormous and neither were the chips. The salad bowl was quite stacked but that's not why we're here.

Chicken: Well cooked chicken. A uniform thickness throughout. The crumbing was spot on. Only small fault would be the size, but it was enough to be full on at the end of the meal.

Sauce: An interesting sauce, it wasn't just sauce but also had chunks of onion, tomato and capsicum. There was a fair amount of it on the plate, but that was good because it wasn't a richly flavoured sauce. Normally I'm not a huge fan of chunks of vege's in the sauce but they did it really well here.

Ham: Just a thin layer of ham between the chicken and the sauce. Very mild ham and only just noticeable.

Cheese: Great cheese, a lot of it and cooked just right. Also, it covered the whole piece of chicken. This is something every chicken parm needs to do.

Chips: Nice beer battered chips, crunch on the outside and fluffy on the inside. Didn't get enough though, and the chips at the bottom were all small. Chips on the top were great though.

Salad: Really nice dressing on the salad but way too much cucumber and tomato. So only ate a couple of small bites.

All in all, a pretty good meal. Was it worth $26? Probably not. Would I go there again? I would, but I'd order something else. The table next to us got a massive toasted sandwich platter with chips that looked awesome.

I just noticed, in the menu on the website the chicken parm is only $21.95. I hate it when the menu online is different to the restaurants price :(

-Dave the Mega-Parm


Sunday 16 September 2012

Waterloo Hotel

Last night we went to the Waterloo Hotel for dinner and drinks to celebrate a colleagues birthday. Plenty of beer was consumed and of course, a chicken parm was devoured. Picture below.


Sorry about the picture quality, it's a rather atmospheric place with quite dim lighting.

The Waterloo Hotels chicken parm comes in at $18.95 and is served with the standard chips and salad. The other menu offerings also looked pretty good with an interesting Tapas menu and dessert pizza also being consumed by our table. But anyway, how was the chicken parm?

Size: Medium sized dish, probably more salad than would have been liked, and not too many chips. I was full at the end though and even left a few chips.

Chicken: Nice chicken, slightly overcooked on the outside but the inside was just right. The crumbing was good and the chicken was juicy. A good thickness too. Aside from the outside being slightly overcooked it was pretty damn good.

Sauce: Not much sauce on this chicken parm and it wasn't overly memorable. Was serviceable enough though.

Ham: Great ham, tasted like that really good ham you get from the deli. Sizable slices that sort of fell apart as you cut into them. Very impressed with the ham.

Cheese: Good cheese, cooked to very nearly a chicken parm perfection. Only gripe is there wasn't enough. The cheese I think needs to cover the whole of the chicken.

Chips: Not too bad, they were thick cut and quite heavy. Good seasoning.

Salad: Boring and unexciting. One mouthful, then didn't go back. The dressing didn't taint the chips or chicken though.

All in all, a pretty good chicken parm. I would have it again. They do two for one pizza's on Tuesdays with Trivia, so might try and get some people for that for a laugh.

-Dave the Mega-Parm

Sunday 9 September 2012

Hoggs Breath Cafe - Carindale

This weekend my Fiance, her sister, her mum and I went to the The Hoggs Breath Cafe in Carindale for lunch. We wanted to go somewhere for lunch and it had to be close to home because I was on call for work. Westfield Carindale is only a stones throw away and I've already reviewed the Carindale Hotel previously so why not visit Hoggs Breath?

Hoggs Breath are somewhat famous for their steaks, they are a chain of restaurants all around Australia (and even a few in New Zealand). Their steaks are cooked for at least 18 hours and are always delicious. So how well do they do a chicken parm? Lets see.


Our meal was delivered to the table about 20 minutes after we ordered it. This parm was also on the expensive side at $22.95.

Size: Medium sized. And I ordered the larger of the chicken parms on the menu (they also do a lite version). I was content at the end but definitely not full.

Chicken: The chicken was well cooked. Not over done and was a good thickness. The crumbing on the underside stuck to the plate a little but it didn't detract from the chicken too much.

Sauce: The sauce was the main flavour here. It was a nice but there was just way too much of it.

Ham: No ham. Was asked if I wanted bacon on it, which I am sure would have been nice. But it would have been an extra $3.50. Plus I order my parms as is, no extras and no taking anything off.

Cheese: Parmesan cheese, which is strange for a chicken parm. It was interesting, but as you can see in the picture there was hardly any cheese compared to sauce.

Chips: Hoggs Breath curly fries are always good, no complaints here except I could have done with more.

Salad: Uninteresting and boring. It's supposed to have dressing but I didn't see it. What isn't there cannot taint chips or chicken though, so that's a good thing.

Hoggs Breath Caraindale is a funny place. It's really hard to see in there if you're facing the window with the bright light outside and the darkness inside.

If we went there again I'd get a steak.

-Dave the Mega-Parm

Monday 3 September 2012

Chalk Hotel

I'd only been to the Chalk Hotel in Woolloongabba once previously and the visit last weekend was the first time I had walked in sober. It's an enormous place with about 50 screens all dedicated to different types of sport, which was great because we had gone there to watch the football. Plus the $3.50 Carona's between 3pm and 7pm didn't hurt either. It's quite funny to see pretty much everyone drinking Carona, and why wouldn't you?

They also have a restaurant there and guess what's on the menu? Chicken parm! Picture below.


At $16 I believe this is the cheapest parm that I have ever eaten (other than the heavily discounted parm from the Cafe Moray). So what was it like?

Size: Medium sized parm that was quite thin. Not too many chips or salad either. Enough to be full at the end of the meal but there was no stopping early.

Chicken: Mine was slightly burnt around the edges, and the chicken itself was very thin. In some spots it felt like there was more coating than actual chicken. What I could taste of it however, was nice.

Sauce: Very little sauce, didn't have any tang to it. Felt like a bit of an afterthought.

Ham: The Chalk Hotels chicken parm should really be called a ham parm. The dominant flavour of the meal was the ham. It was the small bits of shredded ham and while it was tasty, it isn't what I look for in a chicken parm.A little bit to add to the flavour is good, ham being the strongest element, not so good.

Cheese: The cheese was good, not anything to write home to mum about (I don't think she reads this blog, or even knows it exists) but it was serviceable. Wasn't over or under cooked.

Chips: Pretty ordinary chips, and no where near enough of them. Just your standard boring pub food chips.

Salad: Dry and plain, one bite and I wasn't going back.

As you can probably see, this wasn't my favourite parm. I would definitely go back to the Chalk Hotel as the place was really good, but not for chicken parm. I think I'll try the 350g grain fed rib eye next time.

-Dave the Mega-Parm

Friday 31 August 2012

The Morrison Hotel

Anyone that's lived in Brisbane for more than six months knows about the Morrison Hotel in Woolloongabba. Great steaks and a great atmosphere. So when it was suggested we go there for a mates birthday I was over the moon. If their steaks are this good, then how good will their parm be?

The Morrison Hotels parm is below.



Size: Medium sized chicken parm with a good helping of chips. Salad was on the larger side but that wasn't too bad (you'll see below).

Chicken: Well cooked, crumbed quite nicely. A consistent thickness all the way through.

Sauce: There was very little sauce on this chicken parm. What was on there was nice. Not tangy or like a pizza sauce, but tasty enough.

Ham: The ham was delicious, big chunks of tasty ham that stood out with each mouthful.

Cheese: While the ham was delicious, the cheese was the highlight of this chicken parm. Multiple types of cheese added a depth and complexity to the meal that I haven't experienced with a chicken parm before.

Chips: Good chips, cooked nicely with a good crunch.

Salad: This is the first salad I've had since starting this blog that was actually good. Caesar sauce, lettuce and croutons. Plus the sauce wasn't runny so didn't taint the chips or the the parm.

All in all, the chicken parm from the Morrison Hotel was a good meal. I would have it again over one of their steaks so they are doing something right. I'd also like to apologise to the people on the table behind us. I'm sure we were loud :)

-Dave the Mega-Parm

Saturday 25 August 2012

Lord Stanley Hotel

Two chicken parm reviews in one week, does it get any better? Last nights venture was to the Lord Stanley Hotel in East Brisbane. It's a bit out of the way being "about" 500 meters from the Gabba (its not) and when we got there the place was rocking (it wasn't). Not to worry though, we're going to watch the footy, eat parm and drink beer and the Lord Stanley Hotel has all three.

Chicken parm picture time!


The chicken parm was delivered about 15 minutes after ordering. Service was good and the seats were comfortable.


Size: Chicken was on the larger size Much larger than the toppings. Not too many chips compared to other chicken parms out there.

Chicken: Slightly over-cooked. The crumbing was darkened on the edges and the chicken was a little dry. Not by much but enough to be noticeable.

Sauce: The sauce was the highlight of this chicken parm. Was tangy and zesty and reminded me of a good pizza sauce. There wasn't enough of it to cover the whole chicken but it didn't matter, it was really good.

Ham: Nice ham, except it was one large piece of ham with the sauce and cheese on top. It kind of slid around on the chicken parm making it much harder to get a balance of chicken, ham, cheese and sauce onto the fork each time.

Cheese: Not too bad, cooked well and was tasty.

Chips: Not the best chips I've had with a chicken parm. Could be crispier, could be cooked a bit more. Plus there just wasn't enough for a parm of this size.

Salad: Tasted it, was unexciting and didn't go back after the taste.

I'd say the dish was overpriced for $20.95. It was a serviceable parm but not one that I will go back exclusively for (unlike The Moray Cafe from earlier in the week). Would go back to watch the footy and drink beer though.

Lastly, the men's toilets at the Lord Stanley are a bit strange. You can see in to and out of the area where the urinals are. A little odd in my book, but I sit down anyway so it doesn't matter too much to me, haha.

-Dave the Mega-Parm

Tuesday 21 August 2012

The Moray Cafe

There's not many online resources out there for chicken parm aficionados but parma.com.au is one that stands out. Many thanks to parma.com.au as they are the catalyst for tonight's venture to The Cafe Moray. If you head to parma.com.au and click on the picture of the chips (in the shape of the great state of Queensland) you'll see that The Cafe Moray is number one on their list of chicken parms in Queensland.  New Farm is only a short drive from where I work and seeing that Tuesday night is their "Tight Arse Tuesday" it just had to happen. The better best half was to be preoccupied with Yoga so it was a great time for a few beers and chicken parm with some mates from work.

Here it is, The Moray Cafe chicken parm.


We arrived at about 6:00pm and each ordered a chicken parm and a beer. The drinks were on the table a couple of minutes later and the parm followed about 20 minutes after that.

Size: Medium large sized chicken breast. The photo doesn't do it justice as it was hanging slightly over the edge of the plate. The number of chips didn't quite match the size of the parm however.

Chicken: Well cooked, very tasty. Mine was much thicker one one side than the other, was very flat when I got to the last bits of chicken. The other guys had pieces of chicken that were uniform in thickness however. The crumbing was spot on and golden brown.

Sauce: Tangy sauce but not overly so. No large chunks of tomato either (which is good in my book). Looked like the sauce would be really runny but that wasn't the case. Could probably have used with a little bit more sauce but not by much.

Ham: This was a ham free chicken parm. No complaints from me, I can give or take the ham. I'll eat it and enjoy it but if the other elements are done well it's not required.

Cheese: Great cheese, melted nicely on top and covered the whole parm. Which is quite impressive considering the size of the parm. If you were lactose intolerant you'd be popping off all night after eating this meal.

Chips: Crunchy and delectable chips.This is how chips should be done with a chicken parm. Lightly seasoned and sitting under the parm, soaking in some of the heat and juices. a couple more chips would have rounded out the meal nicely, but that's only a small complaint.

Salad: Salad to me is usually an uneventful afterthought and it was the same here. Standard garden salad with dressing, had a taste and it was ok but that's all I had. I could see it being serviceable to someone into their greens.

Overall The Moray Cafe was a great place to eat, with the delicious chicken parm, interesting selection of beers and great ambiance. Plus their "Tight Arse Tuesday" turning a higher quality chicken parm into a $15 meal means it's great for those of us with girlfriends that like to shop (I'm going to get in trouble for that one, haha).

Highly recommended.

-Dave the Mega-Parm

Monday 6 August 2012

Carindale Hotel

Tonight we went to the Carindale Hotel for dinner. It was a rather impromptu outing which was planned only a few hours earlier, but that didn't reduce the excitement. Plus the Carindale Hotel has only reopened quite recently after the huge refurbishments at Carindale shops and we were excited to get in there and check it out.

So now what you came here for, the parm review. Below is a picture of Carindale Hotel's chicken parm.


We ordered at about 6:30pm and by 6:45pm our dinner was on our table, service was great and the parm was well priced ($17.95).

Size: Medium sized chicken breast.

Chicken: Solid thickness, not thin but not too thick. Was cooked perfectly and the crumb on the outside was tasty and crunchy. Can't fault the chicken in any way.

Sauce: Very sweet sauce and there was a lot of it. Its sweetness became the dominant flavour on some mouthfuls but it wasn't horrible. Just could have done with a little less sauce.

Ham: The ham was nice, however some sections had a lot of ham. Unlike the chicken parm from the Normanby the ham was cut up into small pieces. What was strange is the way it was haphazardly thrown together on the parm. Some bits had no ham, others had 5 or 6 slices all on top of each other. Nice ham, just not consistent.

Cheese: Good tasty cheese that was also cooked well. Just the right amount of it too, covered the whole parm.

Chips: Crispy chips cooked perfectly with a nice batter. Not too many of them on the plate (a lot are covered by the parm in the picture) but there was enough to be full at the end of the meal..

Salad: Salad was good, didn't eat much of it however it had a very tasty balsamic dressing on it. Once I ate the bits that had the dressing on them I ate no more salad. Putting the salad in a separate bowl is something that I appreciate too.

Overall a good chicken parm. The plate was clean at the end of the meal and the good came out quickly at a good price. I was so close to ordering dessert too, green jelly with a chocolate frog in it.

-Dave the Mega-Parm

Sunday 29 July 2012

The Normanby Hotel

When I started this blog last week I was very excited. I had a Friday/Saturday night combo planed with a chicken parm to be eaten and blogged about after each. Friday night there were no problems getting a chicken but Saturday was a bit different. We had organised to catch up with some work friends that we hadn't seen in a while at The Normanby Brisbane but it didn't quite go to plan. When we got there at 6:00pm we were advised that we had to eat and be out by 7:00pm, and the menu had only three items we could choose from. The chicken parm wasn't on the list so I had a steak and we quickly moved on to a nice cafe on Park Road in Milton.

Now, while the one hour limit wasn't the best, the steak was awesome. One of the best steaks I've had this year. Couple that with The Normanby doing a deal where everything on their menu is half price for July, we had to go back and I had to get a chicken parm, so that's where we went for lunch today.

Below is a picture of The Normanby's chicken parm.


We got there very early, about an hour before the kitchen opened but the waitress let us sit at our table and wait. When the kitchen opened they were quick to take our order and about twenty minutes later I had my chicken parm. Lets break down the different elements of the dish.

Size: On the large size, the picture doesn't do justice to the size of the plate. I ate all the chicken and half the chips and I was completely full. This is the only meal that I am going to eat today and my stomach is not complaining.

Chicken: Well cooked, nice and moist inside and a consistent thickness. The outside coating was a little overcooked but it tasted delicious and didn't detract from the meal in any way.

Sauce: Nice, but not enough. No noticeable chunks of tomato, was a good tangy sauce, just needed more of it.

Ham: This is the only part of the dish I didn't like (aside form the salad). It was one piece of ham and was in between the sauce and the cheese, so anytime I went to cut through the ham would slide around on the chicken. It wasn't that hard to do and it tasted great but it would have been more enjoyable had the ham been cut up.

Cheese: Good cheese, cooked very well. Just the right amount of it too.

Chips: Very crispy, seemed like I got the bottom of the bag chips, not many of them were of any real size. The ones in the picture cover all the tiny little chips at the bottom. They had a nice batter on them however and were a good addition to the meal.

Salad: Too much cucumber. Couldn't see any sauce that looked appetizing. Didn't eat any.

In contrast to our visit last weekend, we had a really good time this week. The food was nice and the staff were prompt and helpful. The chicken parm was good and I had no problems eating it all. Outside of half-price July it would be an expensive chicken parm. Unsure if I would order it again or go with a better priced steak. The Normanby is also tricky to get to with its tiny carpark but we all had a good time though and left with full belly's.

-Dave the Mega-Parm

Saturday 21 July 2012

Easts Leagues Club

First chicken parm off the block is Easts Leagues Club. We had only signed up as members of Easts Leagues a couple of weeks ago to watch the league on a Saturday afternoon and I had the parm that night. So the plan was to visit the club again on Friday night, get some dinner and then watch the footy. My meal of course, was a chicken parm. Photo is below.


I was a little disappointed with the meal when I picked it up from the counter and even more so when halfway through the meal I got to an under cooked part of chicken. Most of it was cooked pretty well but it mustn't have fully thawed before they started cooking and I had to eat around it. I took it back at the end and they offered to make another meal for me which I declined (was already full) but I did get another jug of beer, so I am not too upset.

Size: Mid. not a huge parm, definitely nowhere near covering the whole plate, but was filling enough. Was quite thick in parts.

Chicken: Nice crumbing but under-cooked and inedible in the middle.

Sauce: Very nice, highlight of the meal. And lots of it too.

Cheese: Nice cheese, I'd prefer it cooked a little more but complimented the sauce.

Chips: Middle sized helping, but not as crunchy as I would like.

Salad: Didn't eat much of it but a good sized helping. Nice dressing and good that they put it in a separate bowl. No salad dressing cross contamination.

A few others at the table also ordered the chicken parm and they were all different. Wemade our orders separately so maybe they had different chefs preparing each one. I said last night and again this morning that I probably wouldn't eat there again but to be honest I think I will, and I'll order the parm, just going to cut it up first before eating.

Easts Leagues is a great place, I love being able to watch the footy, with the sound on out in the back room.

-Dave the Mega-Parm

ps. got some better photo's on the proper camera, will post those as soon as I can.

Monday 16 July 2012

An Introduction

Hi Everyone, I'm Dave and I love chicken parm. There is something about the combination of chicken, cheese, tomato sauce and ham combined with chips (and maybe salad) that just sings out to me. And that's what this blog is going to be, a celebration of the great pub/club meal from my vantage point in sunny Brisbane. I'm going to sample them all and post the results here.

Before we start though, what makes a good chicken parm? First of all, the chicken, it has to be cooked well. Slightly crispy on the outside but not too much, and inside needs to be just right, not too moist and definitely not dry. Then there is the cheese, I prefer it well cooked and browned, and covering the whole parm. The tomato sauce has to be tangy without sizable chunks of tomato and let them add to that whatever they want, ham, onions and anything else to give the parm a some zing.

As far as sides go. Chips, the more the merrier. And served under the parm, letting them absorb the heat and juices from the chicken. Salad, I won't eat much of it but I'll never ask them to take it off.

Size. A chicken parm is a mans meal. It's not supposed to be dainty or hoity toity. I want a enormous plate, with a huge piece of chicken and a mountain of chips.

This is going to be great!