Bigger and better!

Hey all.

I have decided to bring Fancy Places Don't Do Parma back to life in Instagram form! Much easier and quicker for me to post reviews. I have matured a little since I first started this blog, I now order salad with my parma, how grown up am I? As you can see, all of the reviews on this site are very old. And with the rate places are hiring new head chefs and ownership of many eateries changing hands, I will need to do a new review of most places. But hey, I can't complain, I get to eat more parmy!

Click the link below and follow my new Instagram page to keep up to date with the parmy's of Launceston and occasionally other locations in Tasmania ;)

O'Keefe's Hotel – Launceston TAS

When: Thursday 7th June 2012

Where: 124 George Street, Launceston

Price: $16 Thursday parmy and pot special ($19 normal price, not including pot)

This blog won’t be as long as previous ones because the main reason for having a parma at O’Keefe’s was to do another review. I was telling my friend Ebony about my parma review blog and we decided I needed to get moving and get around the pubs of Launceston. I thought O’Keefe’s would be a good place to go because of their Thursday parmy and pot special for $16. So Laura, Samara, Ebony and I went down there with a few other people, and this is how it went…

First impressions were good. We were quick to be shown to our table and offered a drink. The chairs were pretty uncomfortable and you can’t cross your legs. I was sitting on the end of the table and found that the leg of it was very annoying. Something else I found strange was that throughout the night I think we had 3 different waitresses? I thought that normally it was one waitress per table. 

Anyway, ordered the parmy, chips only with a boat of gravy. The service was fairly quick, although Ebony had to go and get the pots, they weren’t brought to us. They may have been if we had of waited a bit longer. The meals came out looking and smelling delicious. But as usual, the parmy was on top of the chips. No biggie, I’m learning to deal with it. Nice fat chips, and yummy instant gravy. Its lucky I’m a fan of the instant otherwise I’d be complaining about a lot of places.

The chicken was a good size, average thickness, evenly cooked and had a good portion of toppings. From what I could tell the schnitzel was made fresh. I can’t stand defrosted schnitzel. The edges weren’t burnt and the cheese was a great amount of golden, melty goodness. This parmy had a layer of ham, then the sauce and then the cheese. I haven’t figured out my perfect layering of toppings. Which should come first, the ham or sauce? Both have their pros and cons. In this case, the ham wasn’t clinging to the chicken very well and I found that my topping was sliding around all over the place. Other than that, it tasted delicious. I was completely full when I finished and could barely finish my beer.

It was a pretty great experience, great night out with friends and I would happily recommend the parmy and pot special to anyone.

Parma rating: 7/10
Price rating: 10/10
Pub rating: 9/10

Beach front Tavern and Bistro - Bicheno TAS

When: 26th of May, 2012

Where: 232 Tasman Highway, Bicheno

Price: $29.95 (I think??)

There isn’t a large variety of things to do in Tasmania of a weekend. But one thing you can do is spend the weekend at the beach staying in a friends shack. The thing about Tassie is that you have to know someone who knows someone who has a shack somewhere. For those of you who don’t know, a shack is a holiday home, usually by a beach. 

Months and months ago we were at a fundraiser auction thing and Sheggie purchased two nights at a friend’s shack for $150. Normally you wouldn’t have to pay to use someone’s shack but it was for a good cause. We were taking the 2 hour trip on Friday the 25th of May 2012. The weather was atrocious to say the least. I think it ended up taking us 2.5 hours due to the massive amounts of rain being dumped on us. 

It wasn’t until we arrived at the shack that we realised we couldn’t get the AFL station on the TV. I was shattered. I am a mad Hawks supporter and they were playing Saturday afternoon. As it turns out the game would have been on free to air TV but 2 hours delayed. The decision was made to find a pub as soon as possible to rectify this devastating situation.

Around midday Saturday we found a pub and settled in for the afternoon. After my team had lost miserably and 8 beers down we thought it was probably time for a meal. Of course I had a parma with a jug of gravy for my chips and no salad. Even though I was 8 beers in I still think I managed a fairly good review in my head… here goes! 

The food was served nice and quick. I think. First thing’s first, my parma was on top of the chips. I don’t know why I continue to complain and mark down because of this but where is the logic in it? Apart from that, it looked beautiful through my beer goggles. No burnt edges, perfectly crispy golden coating, golden cheese, thick cut chips and a generous amount of gravy.

I always eat at least half of my chips first so that I have room on my plate for the parma. They were great. The gravy was just the normal instant stuff which is fine by me because I love it. However, from what I can recall, Laura had the lamb and it came with even more tasty gravy. Safe to assume I stole as much of it as I could. The chicken breast was regular size, thick and cooked evenly from the middle to the edges. The Napoli sauce was very tasty and didn’t have any onion or tomato chunks, that’s how I like it. The parma was lacking ham but as I have said previously, this isn’t always a bad thing. Overall it was a great experience and devoured very quickly. It filled me up to the brim but after yet another beer I somehow managed a chocolate sundae for desert. 

To sum it up, it was your standard run of the mill parma. It is how every pub should sell parma’s. Nothing extravagant but every detail was pretty much perfect. It didn’t slap me in the face with how good it was like Shipwrights’s Arms (Battery Point, Hobart) did but it was certainly a great meal and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a good parma in Bicheno.

Parma rating: 8/10
Price rating: 10/10 - bit of a story behind this rating
Pub rating: 9/10 - extra points to the pub for allowing us to have a tab all day and not cutting us off ;)

ePARMONY

Hey everyone

This is not a review, just an update to inform you that there will be more coming soon! My blog has been linked to a parma review website http://www.eparmony.com/ so check it out. The aim is to have a reviewer for each state in Australia. The other sites shit all over mine though! 

I was supposed to be going to the Mersh tonight but due to illness I can't. And besides, that's the last review I did so it would be worthless anyway.

Stay tuned!

The Mersh - Launceston TAS

Birthday parmy! Yep its my birthday today. I got to work and my boss Dave informed me that we would be going out for lunch. At first I thought we'd be going to the Mowbray hotel as usual but we headed on down to the Mersh for a beer with an old employee, Scotty.

Parmy was on special, $13 with chips and salad or vegetables. I placed my usual order (chips only with a jug of gravy). The first thing I noticed is that they charge $2 for gravy. It didn't bother me but it has never happened anywhere else so I thought it was worth noting. It all pretty much goes downhill from there...

Our meals came out very very quick. Which is mostly a good thing but it makes you wonder how they cook stuff so quickly. The parmy was HUGE! Like taking up 2/3 of the plate! There was a decent amount of chips and a tiny jug of gravy. Some of the chips were those crappy brown ones but I didn't mind too much. My first bite of the parmy was gross! It was full of watery crap and soggy. It was rather obvious that it had previously been frozen and then defrosted for our meal.

There was heaps and heaps of cheese. Some of which wasn't even completely melted. The salsa/sauce was pretty crap. I really don't have much else to say other than the fact that quantity definitely does not beat quality. And to make it worse, I now feel sick. Hopefully I haven't got food poisoning! That would not be a good ending to my birthday.

I'd like to say thanks to my boss, Dave. It was lovely to be taken out to lunch :) and thanks for buying me a beer! It was James Squires, not sure if it was a pint or schooner. It was the highlight of my meal.

Parma rating: 3/10
Boss' rating: 10/10
James Squires rating: 6/10

I must note, this blog is not intentionally insulting the Mersh or anyone/anything. If I have offended anyone, I apologise. I really do like the Mersh for a pub meal. They do great rissols and fish ;)

The Royal Oak - Launceston TAS

It was a Sunday, and I was feeling extremely lazy. So off to the oak I went. I ordered the parma with no salad and a jug of gravy. Which should be evident otherwise I wouldn't be writing this blog. I quite like going to the oak for dinner, the atmosphere is nice and very relaxed.

The parmy was $20 and well worth it. Very nice size, good amount of chips and a nice big gravy boat. Now, down to the nitty gritty. It came out on top of the chips which = ANNOYING. It means I have to get my fingers dirty moving all the chips to the side so I can put the parma on the plate. Anyway, the edges were quite crunchy and brown but I didn't really mind because the rest of it was delicious. There was a layer of ham but unlike other pubs it didn't make the eating experience any more difficult. The sauce was even and had real tomato and onion chunks. I'm not a huge fan of onion but I appreciate the effort. There was a lot of cheese which is an issue because I don't like too much otherwise it gets too oily. The meat was well cooked right through to the middle, WINNER!

This meal was so big that I almost didn't finish it. I was sipping on a pint of Classic Blonde throughout the evening and didn't get to finish it because I was sure I was about to explode. The company I had was Laura again which was lovely as usual. Safe to say I was very satisfied after a long day consisting of housework then working backstage at Allo Allo.

I might also add that Encore Theatre Company's production of Allo Allo is amazing and very very funny. Even if you haven't seen the TV show I'm sure you would get a laugh. Its on until this Saturday the 19th of November 2011 at the Earl Arts Theatre in Launceston. Tickets are for sale from the Princess Theatre or on the door if there are any left. Do not miss this opportunity to support the locals. It may well be your last chance to see Launceston's Matthew Garwood on stage here in town too as he's off to the big smoke to become a pro!

Parma rating: 7/10
Allo Allo rating: 10/10!!

Country Club Casino - Launceston TAS

I have a couple of parmy updates to do today. Apologies for the delay!

So this one is about the $10 parma and chips at the Country Club Casino in the water garden. Some of my readers would know that I am part of a friendly punters club where we take it in turns betting with $30. This is how it all began. It was my turn to bet so I decided to hit the roulette tables Friday after work and boxing. So Laura and I went up to the Casino and decided to have some dinner. And of course I ordered the parma. With chips. And gravy to dip my chips in.

First of all, good price! I doubt you would find a parma and chips that cheap ANYWHERE else. Secondly, fast service. These guys don't muck around wasting peoples time waiting for meals when they could be gambling away their life savings.

And now for the downfalls. My parma came out ON TOP of my chips. I know this is standard anywhere you go but it annoys me every time. There was a layer of ham, which isn't always bad but in this case it made it difficult to cut and eat. The entire thing was slightly soggy which made me feel like my parma was ready for me before I even walked in the door. The edges were crispy and burnt. The cheese was falling off the side and almost half of the parma didn't have any, better aim is required when applying cheese people!

Not all was lost, there was a good amount of sauce and had it have been fresh, there would have been no sogginess. The chips were yummy and I had a good amount of gravy to dip them in. The company was brilliant as always and I was able to head on up to rapid roulette in no time. I was successful that night and walked away with $75 for the punters club allowing me to bet again the next week. Lets not talk about how that went.

Rating: 6/10 (It was still edible)