[info]
When? - 2nd of June, 2010
Where? - The Rose Hotel, 406 Napier St. Fitzroy
Price? - $13.00
Barry? - Yes (although out of order when we visited)
Website? - None
Reviewers - Adam Y, Bec, Cale, Grace, Janet, Kathlen, Lauren, Lee, Luke, Matt, Nikki, Pete, Shanan, Stefo, Tanya, Tony Q, Tony S[/info]
**EDIT** THIS REVIEW IS NO LONGER VALID, WE RE-VISITED THE NEWLY RENOVATED ROSE HOTEL 6 YEARS LATER, CHECK OUT THE DETAILS HERE
Walking into The Rose is like travelling back in time, its old school Aussie pub through and through. From the vintage ‘Joker Poker’ card machine to the Fitzroy football club team photos adorning the walls, I was having flashbacks to when I was a kid in the 80’s getting sent into smoke filled haze of the local watering hole to pick up my Dad on a Friday night while Mum waited in the car.
Tucked away in the backstreets of Fitzroy, it’s definitely a pub for the locals to go for an after work pint, decent selection of beers on tap and very reasonably priced, The Rose gives you the feeling that you are having a drink in your own loungeroom. A couple of TV’s up on the wall in the front bar played foxtel, meanwhile out in the back dining room we were stuck with ‘Hey Hey it’s Saturday’
We picked The Rose mainly because it was in Fitzroy (an area we have wanted to do a review in for a while) and it had Barry the pub trivia game. But tragedy struck on arrival when we saw the ‘out of order’ sign stuck on the Barry machine. Devastating.
The menu had a decent selection with nothing going higher than the $13.00 mark, we ordered our parmigianas and took a seat in the back dining room (a cozy little nook away from the main bar). It wasnt too long till our meals arrived
Apparently The Rose enjoys serving a loaf of bread with their parmas
As you can see from the above photo, the first thing that struck me was the generous serving of breadstick that accompanied the parma, a welcome addition that I haven’t seen on a parma plate for quite a while. The second thing that struck me was the rather black burnt edge around my parma itself, I looked around and saw I wasn’t the only one to have a blackened parma, but there were many who didn’t so it was the luck of the draw.
Apart from the burnt bit (which was only on one edge) the schnitzel was fairly thin and heavy on the crumbs. There was a rather large portion of nude schnitzel, but the area where there was cheese had plenty of it, there was plenty of napoli sauce, but it too tasted as if it had been left on the stove a little too long. A few of the other reviewers said that their parma was fine & they enjoyed the taste, so I possibly just got an unlucky draw this week.
The chips hiding under the parma were decent, a little soggy after living under the chicken for awhile. they were unseasoned but there were both tomato sauce and salt & pepper shakers readily available. Classic pub chips for a classic Aussie pub.
In the ratio of chips/salad on a parma plate, this parma is definitely skewed to the salad - there was lots of it. A typical garden salad of lettuce, tomato, carrot, capsicum, cucumber, sprouts & onion - LOTS of onion with what tasted like a garlicy cream dressing, not too shabby, unless you don’t like onion, then you may not be a fan.
Having Barry out of order was a let down, but the old school ‘Joker Poker’ machine provided some laughs, I think I pumped about $6 into it and won 2 x 50c prizes, but it was fun none the less.
I felt like a major tightarse claiming my two 50c winnings from this machine, but hey! winners are grinners!
I loved the atmosphere of The Rose Hotel, they have kept the charm of an old school Aussie pub and resisted the current trend of swankifying (that is too a real word - if it isn’t I’m coining it right now) old pubs into high class establishments (last weeks review of The Metropolitan is a perfect example of this). I’d be happy to go back on a sunday arvo for a chat and a pint, its the perfect pub for that. The Parma’s were cheap in price and cheap in quality, but I suppose you get what you pay for. Another thing worth noting is that it is definitely a pub for locals of the area - almost every car park for a 2 block radius is a permit zone for residents between 7pm and 6am, so be prepared to walk!
I wasn’t a huge fan of the parma, a few of them being burnt was inexcusable, but some other reviewers enjoyed it, at only $13 it wont hit the wallet too hard if you get a bad one. The drinks are cheap and I really liked the addition of the slice of breadstick to the plate, but it wasn’t quite the best thing since sliced bread.
Parma - 4.6
Chips - 4.9
Salad - 4.7
Value - 5.6
Total - 4.90
The search continues …
Special announcement!
If you happen to be in the Geelong area this Friday (the 4th of June) be sure to listen to THE PULSE Food and Wine Show 94.7 FM from 12 noon till 1pm, Myself and a few other members of the Parma Daze crew will be on as guests talking about who we are, what we do and judging the parmigiana of their ‘Best Pub Meal in Geelong’ competition winner. Be sure to tune in!