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

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

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

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