When? - 7th of May, 2015
Where? - 291 Albert St. Brunswick
Price? - $17
Website? - http://www.railwayhotelbrunswick.com.au/
Reviewers – Fridge, Lee, Nikki, Stefo
**EDIT** 12/06/15 - After an off-the-books revisit to the Railway we have noticed the price has jumped $2 to $19 total, but with the price jump they have also increased the quality. Still a great parma worth checking out (and cheap jugs still remain).
I'm not gonna lie, I love this pub. I'm actually a bit conflicted giving it a review as I don't really want word to get out about it - I seen so many pubs in Brunswick get the magic sucked out of them by a sudden burst in popularity *cough*Penny Black*cough*.
Over the last few months The Railway has become my watering hole of choice when the urge for a few beverages strikes. Be it a Friday night or Sunday sippers you will, more often than not, find me at The Railway, So when they finally came to their senses and added a parma to the menu we knew we had to check it out, and check it out we did.
Positioned on Albert Street (beside Brunswick station) The Railway is removed from the hustle and bustle of Sydney Rd, but still close enough should the urge strike to go elsewhere (although I don't know why you would).
If you ask someone who goes to the Railway "But what's so good about it?" The first thing they will most likely tell you about is the $9 Jugs.
Thats right, $9 Jugs. All day, every day. Almost. I say "almost" because at 10pm the price of a jug goes to $10, at 11pm it goes to $11 and at 12pm it goes ... you get the idea. The beer you get in your jug is a "Railway Hotel Lager", I wouldn't call it my favourite beer but it's easy to drink, sessionable, and by the end of your 2nd jug it's hard to really care.
If you're feeling like something a little more fancy than Railway Lager the Railway's craft beer list is quite impressive. A heap of taps with everything from Mountain Goat to Feral Hop Hog, so no matter how expensive (or cheap) your tastes are you should have no problem finding a beer you like.
But enough about beers ... you're here for the parmas!
We took a seat in the back dining area, grabbed a jug and a menu and took a gander, locating our target for the evening...
Sounds great to me. We placed our orders at the bar and awaited the arrival of our dinner.
One thing I like about the Railway is the sheer variety of rooms. There's the front bar with the pool table, the back bar/dining area with comfy couches, the side beer garden with a view of the train line, then over the other side there's another inside/outside beer garden with industrial strength heaters for those chilly nights and a massive screen to catch the footy and beyond that there's a band room thats usually pumping on a Saturday night.
After about half an hour our meals arrived from the kitchen -
My initial thought was that the schnitzel looked a bit small - Which it was (kinda) but that is probably my only complaint. It was thick, pure white chicken breast and juicy with herbs mixed through the (conservatively applied) crumbs.
It was well cooked and did it's job perfectly. I'm honestly struggling to think of a criticism on the schnitzel, other than, like I said, its overall size on the plate.
The toppings were also impressive. The napoli was applied liberally and even though the schnitty was a bit small they put enough ham on top to cover two on them. The cheese was flavoursome and grilled to perfection. I was a bit apprehensive when this parma first dropped on the table but my fears were absolutely unfounded - this was a solid meal.
The chips were fantastic, no two ways about it. A massive serving of beer battered perfection. They had just the right amount of crunch and were dusted with just the right amount of spice (I want to say rosemary? but I'm not sure). There's a bowl of chips on the menu as an appetiser which I would order again in a heartbeat. Give me some aioli or gravy or other dipping sauce and we'd have perfection on a plate.
The salad wasn't as good as the chips, but it served its purpose. Standard garden salad (lettuce, tomato, cucumber & onion) but the ingredients were fresh and there was no shortage of the good stuff (by "good stuff" I mean cucumber & onion). It was well dressed with a dusting of cracked pepper to give it a bit of spice. The salad didn't blow my socks off but it definitely left me satisfied.
I was a bit worried when I first saw the parma that I would be walking away hungry - However with the mammoth serving of chips and salad I was totally satisfied at the end of the meal. I'd be completely happy to pay $17 for this again (and I definitely will, probably this weekend) - and the $9 jugs to accompany the parma is just icing on the cake.
What more can I say? The Railway is definitely worth checking out. Great beers, great food, friendly staff, even backpackers accommodation upstairs if you need a little lie-down after too many $9 jugs.
So... Uh... On second thought don't go to the Railway. It's totally bad. Horrible. Not even worth your time... I'll be at the bar if you need me.
Pros
- Real chicken breast, plenty of toppings
- Chips just shy of perfection
- Great value
- $9 Jugs
Cons
- Parma was slightly small