Free Range Chicken Parma
– with bacon, napoli and two cheeses served with chips and salad.
The Fox Hotel, Collingwood
While in Melbourne, Dean and I enjoyed a lovely evening out with our girls and their partners (partner, fiancé and husband respectively) and after ‘enjoying’ the 2015 Cricket World Cup grudge match between Australia and New Zealand, we all headed over to The Fox Hotel in Collingwood for dinner. That was Saturday, February 28 and I’ve been so busy enjoying Tasmania since, that this review is a little late, but better late than never I guess.
It was the first time we’d all been together for almost five years and the company of our children completely overshadowed my meal and, at the end of the day, that’s perfectly fine.
Dean had Kangaroo fillet and really enjoyed it and I’m guessing by the lack of talking during the meal, that everyone else enjoyed their meal also.
Chicken
The schnitzel was absolutely enormous. When the waiter put the plate in front of me, my immediate thought was (and I hate to use acronyms), but I swear I thought “OMG I will never get through this!”
And I didn’t.
The schnitzel was outrageously enormous, far too much for one person, or perhaps I should, it was far too big for someone with a mediocre appetite – like me.
It was whole breast that I’m guessing had been flattened to give it its huge girth, but the meat was a little dry and didn’t have any flavour. The crumb was crisp, though burnt in one spot and soggy below the sauce.
Rating: 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – 6 – 7 – 8 – 9 – 10
The plate was also enormous and I’m not sure my photo conveys the true size of the meal. I ended up giving away more than half the schnitzel on my plate, so it didn’t go to waste, but I can’t help thinking this may not always be the case. It really was a ridiculously large meal and perhaps the menu should either state for the ‘ravenously hungry’ or offer a smaller option.
Sauce
The sauce was, in a word, tasteless. Although the menu stated the meal included bacon, napoli and two cheeses, I failed to identify the two kinds of cheese – not that I’m any expert in the art of cheese identification. I had to hunt for the bacon and eventually found a few strips hiding somewhere below the cheese and mixed all up in the napoli sauce.
I thought it was rather average and don’t have anything else to say about it.
Rating: 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – 6 – 7 – 8 – 9 – 10
Extras
Most of the salad was below the schnitzel and hence squashed, slightly warmed and somewhat wilted. Although I must say, the large slices of cucumber and dressing were both very nice.
The chips were fresh but lacking salt and ultimately squashed beneath the enormous schnitzel.
Rating: 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – 6 – 7 – 8 – 9 – 10
Rating Overall
I gave this Chicken Parmigiana 5/10 overall because even though the size of the meal was more than substantial, it lacked flavour and that little something extra that could have, and perhaps should have, made it memorable for all the right reasons and not because all I can think about it how much of the meal gets wasted (and how often) simply because it is an extremely huge plate of food.
At only $22 though, I’m sure there are many patrons who see this meal as the ultimate bargain. I can picture big beefy blokes relishing such a plate full of food. For me though, it was simply too much.
Don’t forget to check out where this Chicken Parmigiana sits on My Parmigiana Richter Scale.
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