[info]
When? - 25th of August, 2011
Where? - The Spread Eagle Hotel. 372 Bridge Rd, Richmond
Price? – $19 ($12 ‘Spready parma fest’ Sunday, Monday & Tuesday)
Barry? - No
Website? - http://www.spreadeagle.com.au/
Reviewers – Adam, Dale, Grace, Lee, Nikki, Pat, Stefo, Tony[/info]
So early last week I was looking at our map and I noticed that we had a pretty sizable gap in the Richmond/Toorak/Hawthorn area, this just wouldn’t do! So I sent out a call on Facebook and Twitter, asking for suggestions of pubs to hit in that area, we had a few suggestions come back, but the one name that stuck out to us was the Spread Eagle Hotel (mostly because the 16 year old boys sprang to life inside us and had a giggle at ‘spread eagle’). We loaded up the parma bus and headed to Bridge road to see what the Spread Eagle had to offer (teehee)
Parking was a bit of a problem when we arrived and we had to leave the car er..um bus a good 500m down Bridge rd and walk down, this turned out good as it afforded us the opportunity to notice that a lot of the pubs/restaurants in the area were advertising some kind of parma special, Which is fantastic for us as, classically, competition would drive up the quality of the parma. We were practically salivating when we took our seats and placed our orders.
I should mention that the parma at the Spready has the option of Chips and Salad or Veggies and Mash, everyone at the table opted for the chips and salad option, Some bake at home rolls came out of the kitchen after we took our seat, a very nice touch.
Oh before I go on I should mention that Reviewer Stefo has returned from his 3 month trip to London, he re-joined our group at the Spread Eagle and its great to have him back.
The Spread Eagle is a fantastically renovated pub, it has obviously had some work done, yet it retains its old-world charm perfectly, a great little spot I’d like to call my local, if i lived anywhere near it, It’s also worth mentioning that we were there on ‘locals night’ offering $2 off all wine by the glass and $3 pots of Carlton.
Before long, three parmas were trotted out of the kitchen, which would be fantastic, If we hadn’t ordered eight of them. After a ten minute wait another two parmas arrived, at this point courtesy went out the window and those of us who got the first round tucked in, leaving the three reviewers who had yet to recieve their food very sullen as we ate, after another twenty minute wait their food arrived and we all breathed a sigh of relief.
Now lets time travel back to when I got my parma, in the first lot that came out
The first thing that struck me about my parma was the black ring around the edge, someone had been in the grill a little too long I think, With a little trepidation I tucked in.
The schnitzel was processed, not too thin, but not winning any awards for thickness either, There was minor nude schnitzel but nothing too offensive, there was plenty of cheese and a very chunky, possibly home made napoli. I wasn’t sure about the inclusion of ham, so with my fork I lifted the cheese and went on a ham hunt, couldn’t find any so I simply assumed the parma didn’t come with any ham - it wasn’t until I got to my last fork-full that I found a piece of ham, I was surprised as I couldn’t taste it at all during the meal.
The chips were smooshed under the parma, standard pub chips that were nothing special - not bad, just not noteworthy.
I thought the salad was a pretty decent side, garden salad with lettuce, onion, tomato, carrot, cabbage and cucumber with a splash of balsamic dressing. Standard garden salad that served us pretty well … that is until Reviewer Grace found an unexpected visitor crawling out from under a leaf of lettuce
Uhhh… Waiter? there’s a fly in my parma.
He was alive, but in his death throes… perhaps he had just committed insecticide *badum*ching*
As far as we noticed, everyone else’s salad was insect free, but it definitely affected the score of the meal
The Spready is a great looking pub in a great spot and definitely worth remembering for a pint of Cider on a Saturday arvo, there is a cozy little beer garden out the back that would be great for a summer evening and the vibe of the pub in general is a positive one. Unfortunately I can’t recommend the parma, at least not at full price, it was bordering on okay but the overcooked edges, the staggered arrival of the meals and the appearance of our winged friend in the salad definitely brought the mood down.
They offer a $12 Parma Sunday, Monday, Tuesday special with a variety of toppings and the like, and even run a trivia comp with their parmas at noon on Sundays - worth checking out if you’re in the area, but I wouldn’t be hurrying back anytime soon
Parma - 5.13
Chips - 5.69
Salad - 3.81
Value - 4.88
Total - 4.93
The search continues…
