We have long heard rumours of the existence of the pizza parma. Not to be confused with a parma pizza, which is basically a standard pizza with parma stuff on top - the pizza parma is a chicken schnitzel, hammered out to the size of a pizza, covered with parma toppings and sliced like a pizza into convenient hand sized triangles. I am aware that the menu for the Impy still calls it a "Parma Pizza", but I have made the executive decision to call it a Pizza Parma, as a Parma Pizza is already a thing
Social media posts of the creation started popping up pretty regularly, however they always seemed to be a little too far for us to visit on Thursday parma night. A few weeks back I shared a post on our facebook page that a pub in Perth seemed to be the first pub in Australia attempting the pizza parma, and shortly after I received a message from our friends at Melbourne CBD’s Imperial Hotel letting me know that they had a similar item in the works that would be appearing on their menu soon.
We have quite a history with the Imperial, taking out our golden chook award for 4 consecutive years, for a long time we considered them the best parma Melbourne had to offer. After a change in management the quality of the Impy parma did drop slightly, however we still consider it to be one of the best parmas available in our city.
For this review I’m gonna skip the usual description of the pub as we have already covered it many times (Click for latest review) although the new renovations still look fantastic, So lets skip straight to the Pizza parma.
We arrived at the Impy on a Saturday arvo, grabbed a seat, checked the menu, placed our orders and before long the fabled pizza parma was sitting in front of us.
First things first - This meal is designed to be shared. I tried to tackle it solo and try as I might still left two slices on the plate. It’s a beast.
As for the dish? I’d say super enjoyable! although the chicken is slightly thinner than its non-pizzafied counterpart the experience is pretty much an impy parma that you don’t need a knife and fork to tuck into. I thought I’d hate the cherry tomatoes and rocket dumped on top, but it does succeed in giving the parma a bit more dimension as well as making it feel a little more like a pizza and not just a schnitzel you’re eating with your hands … which you kind’ve are.
My one criticism? I miss the chips. The Imperial has always had such fantastic chips accompanying their parma and their absence from the parma pizza was definitely noted - The next time I try the pizza parma I’ll definitely get a side of chips to round out the meal.
All up the pizza parmas at the Imperial Hotel is a unique take on a parma that is definitely worth trying the next time you find yourself in the city, On its own it costs $27 And if you can find someone to split it with you can get the pizza parma and two pots for $32 … or there’s nothing stopping you going solo and keeping both beers for yourself.
Also, between recording the video review and posting the Imperial have announced they are now doing the Pizza Parma in 4 different varieties. So much choice!
I’ll definitely be back to try this one again, be sure to check it out!