21 Chicken Parmigianas and 5 months into my search for Brisbane’s Best Parma here is the updated Parma Ladder (as things presently stand):
The Parma Ladder
The next time I update the ladder I will be half way through this quest. Watch this space for regular updates!
The Verdict: I heard much about the Chicken Parmigiana at the Paddo Tavern before trialling it and it did not disappoint. The main question of the night thought was whether this Parma actually qualified for race to find Brisbane’s Best Parma because the tomato sauce was actually a tomato salsa and not a Napoli sauce.
Parma Pic:
Chicken: The chicken piece in the Paddo Parma was excellent. Well cooked and well crumbed. It was a little on the small side but that did not detract from how good it was and tasted!
Tomato Sauce: I have set out in Rule 5 of my rules for judging Brisbane’s Best Parma (https://brisbanebestparma.com/2014/12/27/the-rules-how-i-am-going-to-judge-brisbanes-best-parma/) that no variations to the make up of the chicken portion of the Parma would be acceptable. In that rule I note that a “tomato based sauce” required but do not specify a Napoli sauce. Why am I mentioning this? Because the Paddo Parma used a tomato salsa for this element. As it is clearly a “tomato based sauce” this Parma therefore still qualifies, albeit I have the sense that a tomato salsa is really stretching the boundaries of the rule. All that said was the tomato salsa actually any good? As salsa’s go I found it a little bland to be honest.
Ham: If the tomato salsa was bland (and controversial), then the ham was its direct opposite! A very large piece that complemented every aspect of the chicken piece well and tasted just how ham ought. In a pretty good effort the ham was one of the highlights!
Cheese: The Paddo Parma produced precisely what I am looking for in the cheese element in the dish. It was well melted, abundant and very tasty! I can not find anything to detract from the cheese in this dish!
Side dishes: You will note from the photo the presence of a green tipped chip. I may have a phobia about eating chips like that which gave me a general sense of foreboding about the chips when they came out but that one chip aside (which I did not eat) these chips were perfect. Crispy and well cooked! The salad was just as good as the chips: after waiting a few weeks for a good salad the Paddo’s Parma salad absolutely nailed it! It was freshly put together, well seasoned and just enough.
Presentation: No other way to describe the presentation of this dish other than perfect!!!
The Venue: The Paddo Tavern is in Paddington near Lang Park. It has been one of the “got to” Brisbane pubs for as long as I can remember with a number of bars as well as large restaurant. On nights when fixtures are on at Lang Park it will be heaving but even on a Tuesday night it draws a good crowd. It is 2 4 1 on Tuesday’s which may explain that. I ordered the “Paddo Original Parma” which was pricey at $30.
The Final Word: The Paddo Tavern Parma is, really, a very good Chicken Parmigiana. It ticks almost all of the boxes of what I am looking for and but for the tomato sauce being a bland salsa it may have been Brisbane’s Best.
The Verdict: The menu said shaved ham but shaved ham was not what I received. Shredded ham instead was produced as part of the Finnigans Chin Chicken Parmigiana and it would be fair to say that it never really recovered from there. Add in some half cooked chips and another ordinary salad and this offering left me feel both disappointed and, immediately after eating, a little bit green around the gills.
Parma Pic:
Parma Number 20: Finnigans Chin Keperra
Chicken: The chicken piece was described in the menu as being crumbed with parmesan and parsley. I could not taste either and wonder if the menu did not match what was produced by the chef in this respect as well. That aside, this chicken piece was actually quite good. It was well cooked, if a little charred around the edges of the crust, and tasted great.
Tomato Sauce: This was the best part of the Finnigans Chin Chicken Parmigiana because it was both abundantly layered on the chicken piece and was very tasty. It complemented the chicken and the cheese very well.
Ham: If the tomato sauce was the best part of this chicken parmigiana, then the ham was, easily, the worst part. The fact is shredded ham does not have the same taste or coverage as a piece of shaved ham. The little ham that was on my meal really added nothing in the taste department. As for coverage: if there had have been any less ham on the chicken I would have been justified, I think, in refusing to call this a chicken parmigiana.
Cheese: A close second to the tomato sauce as the best part of this dish, the cheese was also bountiful. It was very well melted and complimented the chicken and tomato sauce well.
Side dishes: The side dishes in recent weeks have been a mixed bag. Not so with last night’s parma because both elements of the side dishes were bad. The chips looked well cooked but close to 40 percent of them (that I ate) were, at best, still cold in the middle. The sensation of biting into them and realizing how undercooked they were left me a little queasy. The salad was deceiving: it looked great but was limp and bland and, not for the first time on this quest, had the texture of being over refrigerated.
Presentation: The picture above speaks for itself. This was a fairly large plate but still the chicken piece came out entirely covering the chips.
The Venue: Finnigans Chin Keperra is in the Keperra Shopping Centre on Settlement Road in Keperra. It is styled as an Irish Pub and has a large outdoor area as well as a cozy bar area inside. Parking is plentiful. My parma cost $19.50.
The Final Word: If the menu says that shaved ham will be served as part of the dish then shaved ham should be provided. It is as simple as that. Looking past the misleading and deceptive conduct of the chef apropos the ham other elements of this dish let it down, not the least being the cold undercooked chips.
Postscript 1: The Parma Consigliore and I ended up at a pub near home last night to ensure we were home in time to watch certain television programs. The Underdog will return to the schedule later in the year.
Postscript 2: From every dark cloud comes a silver lining. After eating our meal we did some brief grocery shopping and I discovered back on the shelves at Woolworths the excellent chilli and garlic sauce that had been produced as part of the show “Recipes to Riches” a couple of years ago. After working my way through four and half bottles the last time it was on the shelves (because it is brilliant) I have not been able to wipe the grin off my face since finding it.
On 19/20 June; viz, in 30 days, I will be embarking as part of Team Parma on the Oxfam Trailwalker in Brisbane for 2015.
Please check out the Team Parma team site here: https://trailwalker.oxfam.org.au/team/home/21886
Obviously I would be humbled if you would donate to this wonderful cause.
You can track our progress on the website where there will be regular blogs and also on our Facebook Fan page (you can find the link on the Brisbane’s Best Parma fan site).
The Verdict: Keeping with the theme this month of visiting pubs recommended to me by readers, I am pleased to say that the recommendation of the Wickham Hotel proved to be a very good one. The chicken portion of this meal was massive and is the new front runner for the “Clive” Parma award. Truth be told this Parma might also have challenged for the “Robert” Parma if only it had have gotten a couple of small things right!
Parma Pic:
Chicken: The chicken on the Wickham Hotel chicken parmigiana was the biggest I have eaten so far this year. It was so big that I was a little worried that it would be impossible to cook it well but I was wrong: this piece of chicken was excellently cooked and tasted great.
Tomato Sauce: With such a big surface area to cover there was always a risk that the sauce with this dish might be a little bit under in volume and so it proved. Whilst the sauce covered the chicken well it was spread a little thinly. All that said on the taste side of things, this tomato sauce ticked every box.
Ham: It is always easy to pick out a high point in a meal and the ham in last night’s Parma was it. Two large piece of ham covered this very large piece of chicken and, taste wise, balanced out well the strong chicken flavours.
Cheese: My only complaint with the cheese on the Wickham’s Parma was that in areas of the chicken it did not quite cover it. The size of chicken piece was problematic in this regard. Again though, the cheese was well melted and complemented the other parts of the dish perfectly.
Side Dishes: Not for the first time in the last 19 weeks, this was a chicken parmigiana let down by one of its side dishes: the salad. It was drowned in dressing to the point where, by the end of the meal, some of the salad elements had fused with the dressing into a gelatinous blob that I could not eat. The chips, on the other hand, vied with the ham for the highlight of this meal: crisp, well salted and very tasty!
Presentation: Anyone looking at the picture will be able to tell you that the plate was just too small for the meal presented. If one needs another hint as to why this is here it is: the first time I tried to cut into the chicken chips started falling of the plate. Much like a barman trying to serve a schooner in a thimble this plating was never going to work.
The Venue: This was the first time I had been to the Wickham but I will definitely be back. The Parma Consigliere and I both commented at how good the space out in the carpark / garden bar was and coupled with good food, great service and reasonable prices it ticks all of our boxes for a mid week pub meal. My Parma cost $18 (don’t be disheartened if you miss it on the menu: it is on the specials menu which appears to be a permanent menu). Two further comments about this venue:
The Final Word: Whilst this Parma will not be the “Robert” Parma winner it was a very large Parma that was also pretty good in an iconic Brisbane pub venue. That ticks a lot of boxes for me and I will definitely be back for another Parma at this venue. I can’t give higher praise than that really!
The Verdict: When I looked at the menu I found the entry for the chicken parmigiana more interesting than usual as it referenced slaw as the salad portion of the meal. The last time a Parma came out with slaw it very nearly took the top spot in this quest. Unfortunately when this Parma was delivered with a garden salad where the slaw ought to have been, I sensed disappointment on the horizon which manifested itself in another very dry piece of chicken!
Parma Pic:
Chicken: My first impression of the chicken on this dish was positive: it looked great! Then I tried to cut my knife into it and immediately felt that twang of impending doom: I just knew it was going to be too dry because I could not cut it easily. So it proved (even allowing for a slightly blunt knife) as from the first bite to last this chicken piece was dry and overcooked.
Sauce: The dryness of the chicken was counteracted by the, again, bountiful supply of Napoli sauce (according to the menu). It was rich, tasty and everywhere it needed to be on the chicken.
Ham: I have been disappointed by the ham served in the past, particularly with the larger size chicken pieces, but the Brunswick Hotel Parma possessed a large slice of ham which covered a significant portion of the chicken piece. It complimented the sauce and cheese well.
Cheese: I have rarely seen so much cheese on a chicken parmigiana. So much so the melted crust of it seemed to encase the chicken and, in places, had melted over the sides. It was perfectly melted and matched the ham and sauce perfectly.
Side Dishes: I have commented in the Verdict that the salad served was not as ordered. This issue was compounded by the salad not being very good. When will kitchens learn that the salad is not an afterthought? On the other hand the chips on this meal were close to the best I have had on this quest: perfectly cooked, crispy and golden brown I could find no fault in them.
Presentation: The Brunswick Hotel absolutely nailed the presentation here. A large square plate meant no part of the dish was sitting on another part. This is what I would like to see every week!
The venue: The Brunswick Hotel is on Brunswick St and borders the Valley and New Farm. It has clearly gone through a refit in recent years and, frankly, is quiet impressive inside. Even more impressive is the massive car park out the back which makes this pub a rare gem in the oft park less and cramped Valley hotel precinct. My Parma cost $21 and was great value for money. I should note here that Wednesday night is $15 Parma night at the Brunswick however I ordered the Parma off the menu and not the special.
The Final Word: This Parma had some really very good elements to it. If the chicken and salad had have been to the standard of the rest of the dish this one would have been a contender for the Robert Parma. Sadly, not getting the meal as described on the menu set the tone for the meal. However, I could have forgiven that if the chicken and salad were, for want of a better term, better.
Here is the schedule for this month of reviews of Chicken Parmigiana:
Parma Calendar: May
Last month the RE Hotel’s Parma fell off the Calendar. It will come back at a later point in the year.
Each of these venues has been recommended by a reader of this blog. I would like to get to as many of your recommendations as possible. Please comment in this post, on Facebook or shoot me an email with your suggestions and I will make sure I make it to those venues!
What a month it has been in the world of Brisbane’s Best Parma! 5 more Parma’s trialled: some good and some bad. After all of those reviews here is the updated Parma ladder as at the end of April:
The Parma Ladder
There are now 33 Parma’s to go and this month I am heading to four venues that have been recommended to me over recent weeks. Watch this space for the Parma Calendar for May which will be out soon!
The Verdict: Last night’s chicken Parma was imbibed with my junior Parma correspondent Davo and he summed this one up pretty well … “This is perfect Uncle Steve … Except for the salad!”. The bad salad coupled with a few other minor issues ensures the Gap Tavern Chicken Parmigiana will not win the “Robert Parma”.
Parma Pic:
Chicken: I will be honest here and say that when the meal first dropped in front of me I thought the chicken looked over cooked and dry. It would be fair to say that some of the outer crumb shell was very crisp however the chicken inside was cooked perfectly.
Tomato Sauce: One of the best tomato sauces I have tested so far the GT Parma tomato sauce was very rich and tasted wonderful. It was also abundant and covered the Parma well.
Ham: On what was a moderately large chicken piece the ham provided broadly covered it. Even more impressive the ham cut through what was a large amount of cheese and sauce to provide its own flavour to the dish. It wasn’t drowned out by its more obvious counterparts.
Cheese: Dare I say it but this is close to the best cheese I have tried in my quest. The picture does not do it justice. Well melted, tasty and thickly covering the chicken this cheese nailed everything I look for!
Side Dishes: The chips on my chicken Parma were quite nice if only just a touch cold when they came out. That coldness did not take away from there crispness or how well they were salted unlike some other chips that have been presented to date. The salad was a massive disappointment: again what was plated looked and tasted like it had been in the fridge too long. The lettuce in particular was quite rubbery. Add to this the fact there was no dressing on the salad and simply put, I could not finish it!
Presentation: I am a broken record I know but again this meal came out on a plate too small to fit all of its elements without the chicken resting on the bulk of the chips.
The Venue: The Gap Tavern is an icon of suburban Brisbane drinking and pub food nestled in the hills of the upmarket inner north west suburbs. If you are in the Gap / Ashgrove area I can not think of anywhere else you would venture to be honest for a beverage. It has a very diverse menu in the restaurant. My Parma cost $22 which felt about right given its size.
The Final Word: Homer Simpson once chanted whilst part of a conga line “You don’t win friends with salad” and, as always, the great man was right because salad is often the forgotten part of any dish. Unfortunately this quote also applies to the Gap Tavern Chicken Parmigiana because it would have landed much higher on the Parma ladder but for its salad not winning me or the Junior Parma reviewer (Davo) over!
The Verdict: After a week in which only good things happened in the land of Parma, high hopes were had for a good chicken parmigiana at the Everton Park Hotel. Those hopes were, simply, dashed by the lack of moisture in the chicken and a new low water mark in side dishes.
Parma Pic:
Chicken: I have always been taught to try to see something good in every situation. The good bit of the chicken was that it was thin which made it easier to eat. It was just so dry! Either cooked too long or left to sit in the hot bay while the Parma Consogliere’s steak was overcooked, the only way to get this chicken down was accompanied by a schooner.
Tomato Sauce: The menu describes the sauce on the EPH Parma as a “tomato sugo”. To me it looked and tasted like it was tipped out of can. Which did not make it bad necessarily but just that it had a processed taste to it. There was a good covering of sauce but not enough to make up for the chicken’s dryness.
Ham: The absolute star of this dish, the rose arising from the manure if you will. The ham was abundant and, bizarrely perfectly cooked. It tasted great: so much so that I was almost tempted to peel it off the chicken and eat it on its own.
Cheese: As the photo shows the cheese on this Parma just did not cover enough of it . It was well melted and complemented the ham well but there just was not enough!!!
Side dishes: The side dishes were just not very good. Both suffered I think from their resting before being put on the plate. By this I mean:
Presentation: Finally another Parma that came on a plate of an appropriate size and with the chips NOT hidden under the chicken. The ham aside it is pretty sad that the presentation of this dish is the next best thing about it.
The Venue: The Everton Park hotel is a suburban hotel north of Brisbane. It has everything one would want in a local: large bistro, TAB facilities and a couple of eating areas. The overall impression I had was of a place that had been half renovated as you walk through the new looking bar area into the very dated bistro. It was Snitzel night so my Parma was $20.
The final word: I have written before about the dryness of a chicken Parma and used the analogy of a trip to the Sahara. That analogy applies again to the Everton Park Hotel Parma: it was just so dry! Add the ordinary side dishes and this Parma is definitely now a challenger for the unwanted “Laura” Parma Award!
Postscript: forgotten the awards? Check this link here: https://brisbanebestparma.com/2014/12/30/the-parma-awards-you-asked-for-it-and-here-they-are/
Brisbane's Best Parma 