Mrs Parma's (Melbourne CBD). The Parma yardstick?

(degusted 15^th July 2011)  

 If you want a decent, well cooked parma, with a range of toppings choices (and even if you’re a vegetarian), you'd be mad not to go to Mrs Parma's at least once if you’re out and about in the Melbourne CBD. We have a lot of faith in Melbourne's food scene, so we would not rule out the possibility that there are better parmas to be had elsewhere, but those on offer at Mrs Parma's were pretty damn good.

The Parmageddon - Chicken Parma with chilli sauce.

The humble “Parma”. It's a relatively simple concept: take a slab of chicken or other meat or equivalent substitute, flatten it, cover it with crumbs, cook and smother in sauce and cheese. Bake until cheese melts and goes a little brownish. Serve with chips on the side (do NOT place the chips under said slab of crumbed meat or equivalent). Salad is optional and probably won't be eaten by a true “parma-phile”.

The concept is straightforward – and mastered comprehensively by Mrs Parma's – a little gem at the top end of Little Bourke street. With it's neighbours being some fine-dining heavyweights, like the Flower Drum, Grossi Florentino's, Longrain, & Gingerboy to name a few at this end of town, Mrs Parma's holds its own by doing one thing extremely well – consistently good parmas. Just as well, given the name (which for some reason whenever I hear it I can only think of “Mrs palmer and her 5 daughters”)…

Dining area at the back - looking forward to the bar.

On our visit on a Friday night, we were welcomed into what is essentially a typical pub-style scene: post-work beers flowing around the bar, and a cluster of tables beyond for the super-early or those with bookings.

The bar stocks a selection of craft/ micro-brews and has a good range of both permanent and special items. I tried a ‘limited time only’ dry hopped topaz from Hargreaves Hill  – of which they only had a single keg.  It was really nice, had a slightly fruity nose and a refreshing flavour with a good hit with a sharp hopsy finish that lingers, in a good way. A very pleasant drop to start off the evening.

Build your Parma

There are lots of options  - chicken, weiner schnitzel, or eggplant as the base – then 10 different topping suggestions – including vego options. You can of course also modify the toppings to suit. Next time, we will give some chorizo and jalopenos a try.
A re-visit to try out some new combinations are already scheduled to happen - updates soon!!

Our companions  on the night (regulars at Mrs Parmas) modified
their parma with a good scattering of Jalopenos. Thumbs up from them..

Menu has non-parma options, too

Toppings options for your parma.. You can mix and match if you like ;-)

Vegetarian

Yes indeed, there are vegetarian options here. The eggplant parmagiana with the pumpkin, feta and basil was a really good, solid alternative if you’re “that way” inclined. Even the obligate carnivours were impressed and would happily substitute this for a meat version. The eggplant was not ‘gooey’ as such, so some might say this was undercooked – however this slight resistance to the tooth was actually what made it so good as a parma.

Eggplant Parma with pumpkin, feta and basil.
Even meat-eaters would be happy with this one!

Parmageddon

As soon as The Degusters see anything advertised as “the hottest '<insert dish>' in Melbourne”, we consider it a challenge. Such was the case with the Parmageddon – apparently the hottest parma in Melbourne. This may indeed be true, but perhaps is just a reflection on the general low level of chili tolerance in this city. For us, the chilli sauce (with FOUR different types of chillies, no less) did not pose much of a challenge... It did not even elicit as much as a mild brow sweat - more of a Bunsen burner than the raging inferno we were expecting.. We should have asked for the kitchen to load up the Parmageddon with a few handfuls of jalapeños to warm it up some more (which they do supply either as a side dish to allow you to add your own as you go, or they will add it to your parma when they make it).

The chicken was real chicken – clearly a good quality fillet (not a processed mash of offcuts a-la Maccas nuggets), and the size of the feed was sensible – and realistic. We've seen monstrous schnitzels elsewhere in the past, which are more comical than anything else – where do chickens grow so big as to be able to supply a breast fillet 50cm in diameter!? The meat was moist inside, the crumb was crispy (both keys to a well-cooked parma), and there was the right amount of sauce and cheese topping off the schnitzel. The quality of the servings across all plates at our table of 8 settings was consistent; everyone at the table was impressed with their food.

Chips. Don’t forget the chips.

For the table, we were served only two bowls of community chips. When they were placed on our table we were all channelling Oliver Twist – “please sir…” … you know the rest. These two bowls, however, held some really good chips – not the best I've ever had, but still pretty good chips (the best chips we had ever degusted were served at Raze Gourmet Burgers in Mooloolabah QLD - unfortunately we believe they are no longer open – big sadface). After all the fuss, we didn’t actually finish the chips, so I reckon they’ve titrated the optimal quantity per person.

Drinks:

Cheeky Rascal Cider. We tried the Cheeky Rascal strawberry and apple cider. It was a nice, sweet cider that had a delightful stawberry flavour. Very refreshing and we have already recommended this drink to others who like a sweet drop. A top-notch effort from this Mornington Peninsula winemaker, Robello Wines.

Beer: As mentioned above, we had the dry hopped topaz from Hargreaves Hill. Much enjoyed, and it impressed us greatly.

Special thanks to K & J (Tza Tza!) for organising this visit. You guys rock.

A final thought:

Chicken Parmas... on paper they are a simple dish. Why then all the fuss about finding a good one? The question should be why do some restaurants get the parma so wrong? Perhaps because their cooks have never eaten a truly excellent parma and so, don't know how bad their own offerings are (I'm thinking of Just Degusting's experience at the pub on crown (blecgh) and a recent re-visit to Hoo Hah kitchen). We reckon Mrs Parma's could be the yard-stick against which others should reference their own efforts.

Rating:  Nom(x3)

Meh                      It’ll Do                   Nom(x3)                              Must go back!

Done and Degusted @ Mrs Parmas

-Chicken Parmageddon (Melbourne's hottest parma - according to Mrs Parmas)
-Eggplantwith roasted pumpkin, feta and basil.

Artichoke + Whitebait - Much more than expected!

At Monash Uni, Clayton campus - open to everyone.

(degusted 30/6/2011) EOFY Lunch!

3 1/2 stars.

I’ve walked past this café perhaps a hundred times, had a few sit-down business meetings over coffee here as well. I’ve always known their coffee to be some of the best on the Monash Uni Campus, and I knew Artichoke + Whitebait offered lunches and breakfasts, but until now, had never had the pleasure of giving it a go. After today’s experience, I’ll be going back, and will be encouraging anyone in the area or even those driving past to give it a shot. The young and vibrant staff are the perfect example of friendliness and good customer service, and while it's not exactly fine dining, it's entirely worthy of a good degusting..

Good friends and good food.

A good friend is someone willing to share a few plates of food with you - so I am truly blessed to share an office with a good friend. I ordered all the dishes I wanted to try, and shared them. The dishes are very generous, and while I’m a big eater, I think I would have been satisfied with any of the stand-alone lunch meals.

Bread and Olive oil.

The complementary bread and olive oil, with salt and pepper was standard fare – nothing exceptional, but all of totally acceptable quality. We started with the antipasto plate – prosciutto, artichoke, olives and octopus. Suspiciously though, none of the café’s namesake - whitebait – which would have been a nice touch. The items were good quality, good flavour, and I would have been happy to sit down to just these items alone (hint: roll the artichoke in a slice of prosciutto for a really yummy canapé!).

Antipasto - Olives, prosciutto, artichoke (no whitebait!?) and octopus.

Beetroot, bocconcini and walnut salad

Ordering the beetroot salad was a wildcard in my mind (beetroot, bocconcini and walnut) – I had no idea how this would be interpreted, bit it piqued my interest and I went with it. I should not have worried – the big chunks of sweet beetroot, generous pieces of bocconcini, and crunchy walnuts all combined to make this a hearty and solid meal - ideal as a stand-alone dish. (The photo does not do this salad justice).

A new addition to their menu, the Moroccan lamb on a bed of mash was the second item to be ordered. Wow. Uber-tender lamb, great tasting marinade/sauce, and cooked just right. With it came one of the creamiest of creamy mashes I’ve ever had – smooth as silk. If I had to order one item again it would be this one. A winner, and something for which to come back again*.

Moroccan Lamb and creamy mash. Standout dish.

Spaghetti w/ bacon, chilli and capsicum. Yum.

I ordered the spaghetti with bacon, chilli and capsicum – on the basis of three facts: (1) who doesn’t love bacon? (2) Chilli is awesome and (3) to see how the chef would handle a pasta dish. First impression was that there was a good amount of heat from the chilli – a pleasant surprise for myself and my Vietnamese friend who assumes that western cafés tend to err on the side of mundane to cater for the bland masses.. The saltiness of the bacon was offset by the sweetness of the capsicum – so a great balanced dish. The spaghetti was not over-cooked, perhaps just a fraction past al dente, but I don’t think it’s fair to compare a one-chef café’s spaghetti to that of a multi-hatted chef’s 5-star Melbourne restaurant (I’m comparing in my mind to a recent Grossi Florentino dish). To the ordinary punter (or student), this is a dish really well done – hearty and full of flavour punch thanks to the bacon and chilli. If you order your Nandos with the lemon & herb dressing, then this might be a touch too hot for you.

A look and a small bite of the chicken parma was all I sampled – the parma itself looked to be of good size, it was well cooked and on the small corner that I sampled, was crisp enough to make it worth a try. I guess that because the kitchen is so small there is no deep fryer, so there are no chips, just veggies. If you can overlook the lack of chips, the parma seems to be a reasonable option and good value - although I probably wont be trying it myself.

Chicken Parma with Veggies (no chips).

A few others on the table had some risotto, which looked average, and is not something I'd waste my time with either here or anywhere else - unless there's something really nice or unusual about it, like duck, truffle and chocolate, or something equally quirky to sucker me in.

My overall impression of Artichoke & Whitebait is of a small café that has tailored its menu to its strengths – meaning it can reliably pump out good quality, and value-for money dishes consistently. The chef, Chandra (I believe that’s his name), is doing an amazing job – getting out our group’s 15 covers simultaneously, and handling orders from the other 20 or so in the dining area. He works behind a glass spash-back so you can see him in action, and watch the occasional flambé go up in style! I hope the management realises his value and holds on to him.

If you’re in the area, traveling past or just looking for something to eat around Clayton at lunchtime, I would suggest coming into Monash Uni for a bite to eat here – it is open to the public, and there are usually plenty of paid (meter) parking (see the Campus map I put together here).

NB: Not Licensed.

Espresso was good and solid, nice crema, full bodied. The barista’s seem to know what they are doing.

* My experience of this lamb was exceptionally good. Another friend reported that in one visit she had a much saltier version, but the next time she tried it, it was back to perfection. Perhaps the chef had a bad day?

Rating: NomNomNom!
Meh                  It’ll Do                   Nom(x3)                              Must go back!

 Done and Degusted @ Artichoke + Whitebait:

-Antipasto plate (4 items)

-Moroccan Lamb on creamy mash

-Beetroot, bocconcini and walnut salad

-Spaghetti with bacon, chilli and capsicum

-Chicken Parma

-espresso

(+complimentary smiles)

 

artichoke + whitebait  Tel: 03 9905 3174

Grnd Floor, Building 10 - Centre Campus Monash Uni Clayton, VIC 3168

E-Mail: artichokeandwhitebait@gmail.com

Open time: Monday to Friday 7am-6pm

The Pub at Crown - Crown Casino (underwhelming :-/ )

Underwhelming Dinner at The Pub @ Crown

(degusted 24th June, 2011)

Summary: If you’re stuck for a meal you could do worse than ordering a few of the good starters here at Pub at Crown, but there are so many better pubs in Melbourne (within walking distance) that you really should get your pub-grub elsewhere.

Normally I would avoid eating at these “mass produced meal places” that obviously bank on the captive audience of casino patrons, rather than having to compete "out in the street" with others on levels of quality and service. However, as a result of hunger, circumstance, and since I'd had a couple of "not bad" meals here way back when (I was perhaps a decade younger), I was not completely against dipping my proverbial toe into this water(ing hole) for another try.

Starters - It’s a shame we didn’t just eat the starters and leave it at that.

Seafood Chowder -
Really yummy, hearty soup for a cold winter's night.

Seafood chowder was really enjoyable- full of flavour, seasoned well (perhaps a little on the liberal side with the salt, but good to my taste), and contained a several recognisable ocean-dwelling species (good to see). Nice bread to dip into the soup made this a dish I would actually have again.

The other starter degusted was the seafood tasting plate, which was advertised on the menu as oysters, prawns, smoked salmon, green-lip mussels and marinated octopus, (but sans explanation from the waiter, was delivered to the table with Moreton Bay Bugs in lieu of the mussels and octopus). Prawns juicy, oysters fresh, salmon moist, and a full bug (cut down the middle) that was tender and well cooked. Accompanied by pesto-coated toasted bread, this starter was unexpectedly good, albeit not as advertised.

Seafood Tasting plate - All good here.
Note the photographer got in a little too late to catch all the oysters intact.. :)

Mains. A pub cannot be forgiven if it can’t get the basics right.

Grilled Calamari Salad

Grilled calamari salad – served up a fair serve of calamari on this dish, cooked right, nice and tender. In fact, credit where credit is due - the chef got the calamari cooked just right. Now, normally I would simply expect everything to be cooked ‘just right’, but considering my chicken parma quality (see below), I think (unfortunately) the quality of the calamari was the exception, rather than the rule.  

And now to what should be a pub staple - Chicken Parma. It wasn’t cheap, so one would expect something half decent. Let me preface my review by saying that in my humble opinion, the cardinal sins for cooking and presenting a parma are:

-Cooking a soggy schnitzel, and

-Placing the chicken on top of the pile of accompanying chips..

Chips started life as potatoes, living underground before liberation and conversion to chips. Please Mr(s) Chef, Let them be free, don’t hide them under a Parma, especially not a soggy one... Booo!! Hissss!! 

Did I mention the parma was soggy? – And the meat component was thin.. It had that  're-heated from frozen in the microwave' taste & texture for which nobody should be expected to pay twenty-odd dollars. It did take up a fair amount of plate real-estate (see the photo compared to a $20 note), but I would have preferred quality over quantity in this case, and for the simple parma to have failed so miserably reinforces my resolve never to eat in a casino-run eatery, unless it’s 6AM and I feel like a 3-course meal and Maccas is closed for some reason…

The disappointing Chicken Parma... Unfortunately, quantity over quality here.
Big enough to feed a family of 4, but I reckon they'd all be complaining...

A glimmer of hope?
The seafood tasting plate was the saving grace, and combined with the respectable effort of the hearty seafood chowder, gave me enough motivation to actually write this blog post (although the very average service and lack of explanation regarding the tasting plate content substitutions should not be forgiven). The quality of the seafood items really contrasted with the lack-lustre ‘pub meal’ Parma, and suggests to me there may be several cooks out back, not all of whom are actually any good... I was half-expecting to be asked to vote Red team or Blue team*, so amateur was the parma effort…

Ranking:  - Meh.  

Meh                      It’ll Do                   Nom(x3)                              Must go back!

  If you’re stuck for a meal you could do worse than ordering a few of the good starters here, but there are so many better pubs in Melbourne (within walking distance) that you really probably should get your pub-grub elsewhere.

Done and Degusted @  Pub at Crown

Seafood Chowder

Seafood Tasting plate (w/ bugs instead of mussels and octopus)

Grilled Calamari Salad

Chicken Parma w/ chips and veg

 

* Red team Vs Blue team is a pop-cultural reference to ‘team challenges’ given to competitors on the amateur cooking television ‘reality show’, MasterChef Australia.