If anyone has a photo of this place from the outside, please email me! Not even google street view could help me this week as its on friggin Swanston street friggin walk!
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When? - 7th of April, 2011
Where? - Lounge, Level 1, 243 Swanston St, Melbourne
Price? - $19
Barry? - No, but pool tables
Website? - http://www.lounge.com.au/
Reviewers - Cale, Dan G, Guy, Jake, Kylie, Lee, Matt, Ness, Nikki, Pat, Shanan, Stefo[/info]
After the failed photo taking, we ascended the stairs to Lounge and made our way to the table we reserved on the balcony - apart from a heap of unnecessary steps scattered around the place that would be absolute hell for a drunk person, Lounge is a fantastic venue. Inside is spacious, but with plenty of chairs, pool table, great range of beers and a very relaxed indie vibe all around, Outside the balcony offered a great spot, well heated and protected from the elements yet offering a great view of Swanston street, perfect for people watching, not in a stalker-y kind of way, just in a relaxing kind of way … although it would be pretty good for stalkers too. Wow, that’s a quotable quote right there!
We took our seats on the balcony and once the crew arrived we ordered our meals at the bar, the waitress was a tad taken aback when we ordered twelve parmas but soon enough we were sitting around with our drinks awaiting the chickeny goodness, although keeping the dockets was a bit of a challenge as we had so damn many of them!
Wow, I just realised this is turning into a very photo heavy entry, I’ve got to try and break up the photos with interesting text however I’ve got nothing else to say between now and when the parmas arrived. Ummm. Stuff…
Oh! the parma was $19, I have heard rumors of Lounge offering a ‘Parma o’clock’ Monday similar to the one we did at Sam’s Cafe, however there was no signage in the pub that would confirm a Parma O’clock, so that one remains a mystery.
There, killed enough space between photos I think… ahem
After a short wait, our parmas filed out of the kitchen!
As daylight savings hit last week it was already dark by the time our parmas arrived, this photo is the best look I’ve had at the parma I ate as the low lighting meant I needed flash to take the photo - which never helps the quality of the photo, especially on an iPhone camera, so I apologise.
The schnitzel was very thin on the edges and tapered in to average thickness in the middle, there was some nude schnitzel around the sides which left the already thin edges dry and overcooked. The center of the parma was heavy on the cheese and napoli, the cheese being the closest tasting to the famed Prince of Wales parma that we’ve had so far. The napoli had a bit of spice to it and there was a decent slice of ham covering a majority of the parma that added pretty nicely to the flavour, however there was one issue that took this parma from average to mediocre, and that was the crumbs.
I couldn’t put my finger on it at first, but there was a definite taste to the parma that was familiar yet eluded me, the more I ate the more I could taste it and the more overpowering it became, It wasn’t until Reviewer Stefo named it that I realised what the elusive flavour was … corn chips
The whole parma tasted as if the crumbs were made of crushed corn chips, and from the time we named it that is all I could taste. Nachos, tacos, doritos, the whole parma tasted like a taco! now this would be fine if I had ordered a taco, but I had ordered a parma! A lot of reviewers were majorly turned off by the crumbs, Myself included.
hmmm parma taco … now theres an idea!
Patent pending © 2011 Parma Daze
The chips were standard, seasoned but small serving, soggy from living under the parma and some reviewers reported them as being cold.
The salad wasn’t astounding, Simple garden salad of rocket, little bit of real lettuce, lots of cucumber and a slice of tomato, a little simple but tasty and did its job as a salad rather well
I loved the venue, we don’t get into the city center as often as I’d like to, we always seem to have a good time when we do, as I seem to say at the end of every bad review, I’d be happy to go back for a beer anytime - maybe I’m just an alcoholic.
After the parma we mosey’ed down to the HiFi bar where The Dan Band were playing a show for the comedy festival, you’d know the Dan Band as the Wedding band that play in Old School, The Hangover & Starsky and Hutch. Friggin hilarious and I recommend catching the show if you can get tickets.
Dan gives a very passionate rendition of ‘Single Ladies’
Lounge’s parma was a bit of a disappointment, not all of the reviewers thought it was that terrible, the parma’s scores ranged from a 2 to a 6.5, and everything in between! I guess it comes down to personal taste, do you like your parma to taste like a parma? or do you like your parma to taste like a taco?
mmm taco flavoured parma for my Ben
My kisses taste like tacos
Parma - 4.38
Chips - 4.79
Salad - 4.25
Value - 4.21
Total - 4.40
The search continues…
