Where? - 131/137 Scotchmer St. Fitzroy North
Price? - $10
Website? http://www.parkviewfitzroy.com.au/
Reviewers – Lee & Nikki
A few weeks ago, on the ParmaDaze Facebook Page, I put out a call for suggestions. My "ideas" board was getting a little thin and needed an injection of new blood - Boy did it receive it. A torrent of suggestions came in, enough to keep ParmaDaze running for a few more years at least - And one venue that came up more than once was the Parkview Hotel.
We've been past the Parkview many times (in fact when we pulled into the Carpark I noticed that the Fitzroy Pinnacle was literally across the street). But never thought to go in, and if it wasn't for the readers suggestion it probably would have gone by the wayside - But the people wanted the Parkview, so the Parkview they shall have.
Oh, on the way to Fitzroy last night I noticed just how close the Parkview is to last week's attempt at A Fan's Notes in Cartlon. My apologies, we normally try and not do two consecutive parmas so close together - We'll be on the other side of town next week, pinky swear.
We entered the pinnacle, and the first thing that struck us was the advertising for their parma special...
This was gonna be a cheap feed!
On entry to the pub there is an area with a pool table, dart board and trivia machine. Past that is a quasi indoor/outdoor seating area that was surprisingly packed and well warmed with heaters - Unfortunately we couldn't snag a table in there so we pushed on to the main area, which has much more of a Sports Bar vibe than a dining area.
We ordered our parmas for ten bucks a pop, even though the old menu still says $18, and grabbed a pint of the Parkview's own $5 pints ($15 for a pint and a pot? Kicking goals so far!)
After a short ten minute wait, our parmas arrived from the kitchen.
Hmmm. For $10 I wasn't expecting the highest quality meal, but I've gotta call them like I see them... The schnitzel wasn't great.
Credit card thin and overly thick crumbs - This was your quintessential "processed" supermarket deli window schnitzel. At the very least it was served piping hot, but the schnitzel alone was not a pleasant experience.
The toppings did their best to resurrect this parma - Ham is usually the first topping to go when we get into the "discount parma" category, so I was pleasantly surprised to find its inclusion on the Parkview's offering. The napoli was canned but palatable and the cheese carried its flavour well.
The chips and salad were both pretty good. The chips were beer battered and well cooked and the salad was fresh and crisp with a flavoursome dressing. However they both suffered from the same drawback - There just wasn't enough. I could almost count the amount of chips I had on two hands and the salad, while tasty, was gone in moments. Double the amount served on both and we'd have some quality sides on our hands.
“For the price it wasn’t terrible, Had I paid any more I would be a lot less impressed.”
The Parkview's parma isn't great if you try and rate it against a normal, full priced parma - However if you're after a dirt cheap feed then it's not terrible. "For the price" is a good qualifier for the Parkview. Is it good? Yes, for the price. Were the cheap pints okay? Sure! for the price.
If you want a decent meal and a beer for the kind of cash you could fish out from between your couch cushions then this is definitely one to try, but I wouldn't go expecting too much. It's not a bad parma, for the price.