Where? - 122 Weston St. Brunswick East
Price? - $25
Website? - http://templebrewing.com.au/
Reviewers – Kylie B, Lee, Pat, Shanan
Let me paint you a word picture.
A couple of weeks ago I was heading out for a birthday dinner with the in-laws. We were headed to Brunswick East's Gelobar for a night of beers, grub, and without a doubt, some gelati (I had a parma that night too, off the books, if you follow us on Instagram you might have spied it). As expected there was zero street parking out the front of Gelobar on Lygon Street, so instead we found an underground carpark down Weston St.
Walking out of the carpark and towards the restaurant I heard the sound of frivolity, curiously I investigated and discovered, nestled in between two warehouses, was an impressive looking beer garden, buzzing with people.
I had discovered Temple. I stopped my wife and said the seven words she rolls her eyes at almost weekly "I wonder if they do a parma". Checked the menu by the door and yes ... yes they did. I locked the location in my brain to try at a later date, and last Friday night, that later date was upon us.
TL;DR - Saw a pub, saw they had a parma, went there.
First up, if you're thinking of checking out Temple after reading this review I highly recommend you book a table. I called to book a table on Thursday afternoon and was told we wouldn't be able to secure a table until 9pm - the place was packed. Friday night rolled around and, after killing an hour or so at the nearby Alehouse Project, headed over to Temple bar and took our seats.
The beer garden and downstairs area was packed to capacity, we were led upstairs to a secondary dining area that has a damn impressive view...
Did I mention Temple is a working brewery? Yeah. Awesome.
We checked the menu, spied our target...
... and placed our orders at the bar.
As you'd expect, being a brewery means that Temple has an impressive array of their own beers available. I could go on for hours about the beers we tried, but I've already waffled on for 387 words without getting to the parma - So I'll just say that the Bicycle Beer is delicious, and the tasting rack ($15) is highly recommended.
About 25 minutes after ordering, our parmas appeared -
Of all the elements of the dish, I think the schnitzel was the weakest. It was big enough and decently thick, but the chicken itself was very dense and a little on the dry side. Saying that it was real chicken breast, which it gets points for at the very least.
The crumbs were ... odd, but nothing we haven't come across before (Abbotsford's Yarra Hotel springs to mind), in that they had the texture of a piece of grilled flake, seemingly more battered than crumbed. A weird choice, I can't say I'm a huge fan - but definitely not a dealbreaker by any means.
With a weak schnitzel the toppings had their work cut out for them to save this bird - and they succeeded for the most part. Plenty of flavoursome cheese, melted to perfection and quite a tasty blend. The ham was not lost amongst the other strong elements to the dish and the napoli was bold, rich and complimented the parma well. Brought this one back from the brink.
The chips were middle-of-the-road standard pub chips, maybe a little undercooked. Not bad, not great, not a lot to say about them at all. They served their purpose.
When I saw the salad I thought it was going to be bad. Usually when a salad is nothing more than a pile of leaves I prepare myself for a let down ... But in this case I was pleasantly surprised. The dressing definitely saved the day. Tangy and punchy, but not too overpowering. Not bad at all.
“It was tasty. No complaints, but not amazing”
“Great place for a beer”
“Average at best - Chips were undercooked”
There's no sugar coating it, $25 for this parma is pretty steep. $25 and up is reserved for the best of the best, and while Temple's parma is pretty good, There's no way its worth $25. $20 - $22? Sure, I could make peace with that, But $25 hurts a little. From what I can tell there aren't any parma night specials on the cards.
Temple Brewery is an awesome spot to check out. Grabbing a bite in the presence of a working brewery is a unique experience that I would definitely recommend, and its not often you get to drink an awesome beer mere steps from where it was created. The parma isn't bad, not by a long shot - but its not the best we've had either.
Maybe worth it if you're in the area - although prepare your wallet for a sting.
Pros
- Amazing place
- Great beers
- Tasty toppings
Cons
- Dense, dry schnitzel