[info]
When? – 12/04/2012
Where? – The Mint. Corner William & LaTrobe St, Melbourne
Price? - $19.90
Website? - http://www.themint.com.au
Reviewers – Adam, Ben, Brendan, Cale, Carly, Emma, Lee, Matt, Ness, Nikki, Pat, Stefo & Tyson.[/info]
The parma at The Mint has been a point of contention in many discussions I have had on the topic of chicken parmigianas, A typical conversation on the topic going something like this -
*If my wife is reading this, replace “I’ll get my coat!” with “Hell no you crazy skank!”
… you get the idea. A lot of people say its great, but an equal amount say its terrible, so for parma #92 it was time to see if we could put an end to the madness, we loaded up the parma bus and headed to The Mint.
When we first arrived we sat out in the beautiful beer garden while we awaited the teams arrival - the beer garden was spacious while remaining cosy, with plenty of seating and, despite being meters away from Flagstaff Station, secluded enough to feel like a refuge from the hustle and bustle of the city.
Once everyone arrived we took our reserved table inside - it was quiet so there was plenty of room, but I could definitely see this small room packing out very quickly on regular nights. We ordered our meals and were presented with a couple of bowls of olives to tide us over - a nice touch. I had a photo of the olives but by the time I took it the napkin surrounding the bowl was already spotted with used olive pits, kinda gross.
For those venturing down, be aware that the kitchen closes at 8, so get in early if you want a feed!
We had a big group with us, and the friendly staff were more than happy to accommodate when we turned up with a couple more than we had booked for. About 3/4s of a pint after ordering our parmas appeared out of the kitchen.
The chicken breast, while looking smallish on the plate, was massively thick and juicy, fresh pure unprocessed breast that rivaled that of my friend Scarlett from our conversation above. The crumbing was standard, with some minor nudity issues on mine (although I seemed to be alone in that, luck of the draw I guess). The slice of ham complimented the meal perfectly and the napoli was fresh, well spiced and tasty (although a little thick, bordering on tomato paste)
A major drawback is that many of the team (including myself) reported a fair bit of burn on the bottom of our schnitzels, some more prevalent than others, but once again, this was luck of the draw
[youtube id="pD58FlSlwh0" width="580" height="337"]
The chips were well cooked, both well seasoned and sprinkled with herbs, giving them a unique flavour that we haven’t encountered before.
The salad, despite being a standard garden salad of Lettuce, onion, capsicum, cucumber & mustard seeds, was chock full of flavour with a tangy dressing that complimented the dish very well.
Much like what we had heard previous to visiting The Mint, opinion on the parma among our group was also split - some loved it and had no complaints, others weren’t as easy to please - as you’ll see by the quotes below…
Luckily nobody copped a fork in the eye
I’m a little stumped with how to finish up this review. The Mint has all the ingredients for a fantastic parma - the breast is the pinnacle of quality and all the ingredients are top notch, however it just comes off as a tad underwhelming. The burnt bases were definitely a turn off, but like I said, maybe we just got a bad batch.
Definitely one worth checking out however, especially if you’re out and about on $12 parma Tuesdays. Definitely one to remember, even if just to stop in for a beer in a great location and beer garden thats in mint condition.
(see what I did there?)
Parma - 6.54
Chips - 6.58
Salad - 7.15
Value - 6.85
Total - 6.73
