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 31 December 2012
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
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.
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.
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
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
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
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