Back in July we headed down to Port Melbourne for a Parma, To be honest I dont quite remember how we found the Exchange, but I’m damn glad we did, as the parma we found in that review (which you can read in full Here) was absolutely amazing, So when the time came to present the inaugural Parma of The Year for 2011 (or the ‘Dazey’ as we have dubbed it) the choice was clear.
I’m not going to go into full details & scores about the parma this time around, as that was already covered in detail the first time we visited, This trip was more of a gathering to round out the year, Inform The Exchange of the good news and indulge in the best parma this side of the black stump.
We arrived at the exchange and took our seats, there was no need to peruse the menu as we knew what we were there for (although I’ve gotta say the other items on the menu I saw coming out of the kitchen looked absolutely phenomenal)
We gave the trophy a spot at the head of the table
Before long the parmas filed out of the kitchen, now I’m gonna go through a brief run through of what got the exchange parma the crown, and as per tradition we’ll start with the chicken
Served on its own plate, this absolutely huge but totally unprocessed chicken breast screams quality - the homemade crumbs are so delicious I could quite happily eat this as a schnitzel, The chicken itself is so juicy and succulent I needed many napkins to wipe up the mess I made as I ate, the cheese, the napoli and the ham are all perfect and (a sign of a down to earth parma) all the schnitzels varied in shape, but not size, as you can see from of this photo of the team waiting to dig in
Also the cross section - apologies for the blurriness of the photo, but its the best I got on the night - although blurry you should still be able to make out the thickness of this monster
Now on to the chips, served in a separate bowl they stayed fresh and crispy the entire meal, well cooked and lightly seasoned - they get their own picture
They may look like standard chips to you, my dear readers, but there is one element that puts these babies into a league of their own… I give you the sauce plate
Last time around we only got tomato sauce, and that was more than enough for me - however The Exchange has outdone itself this time around, providing both tomato sauce and garlic aoli for chip dippage. perfection.
Last but not least, the salad. Everything else got a photo, so in case the salad feels left out, heres another pic (pic heavy entry, I know, but everyone loves pictures right?)
Also served in a seperate bowl, its simple, elegant and classy. not much to say other than it complimented the meal perfectly - even the reviewers why usually avoid the greenery tucked in with gusto.
After we finished our meals and reaffirmed our decision that The Exchange more than deserve the Dazey we asked if we could have a word with the Head Chef, Ryan Thompson, so we could present him with his award.
During a brief chat with him he let us in on a little bit of parma trivia - He has also worked at both The Metropolitan Hotel (which held our Number 1 spot for a very long time) and the Albion Hotel (Where we attempted both the Double and Triple parma challenge) This man knows his way around a parma, and I can think of no man more deserving of the Parma of the Year.
Congratulations to The Exchange!
If you havent been yet - go now.
The search continues… Although its damn tempting to stop here.
Before I sign off a quick thankyou to all our readers who tune in every week to support our insane quest - we couldn’t do it without you guys. well, we could, but it wouldn’t be nearly as much fun. I hope you all had a fantastic Christmas and have an even better new years.
The search is not over! we will be back sometime in January to continue the quest, with some pretty cool stuff planned for the new year. Catch you there!