[info]When? - 20th of February, 2014
Where? - 207 Nelson Pl, Williamstown
Price? - $22 with a $15 Monday special
Website? - http://yachtclubhotel.com.au/
Reviewers – Cale, Lee, Nikki, Stefo, [/info]
Every time we attempt to go to a pub in Williamstown we end up going somewhere else. I don't know what it is but pubs in Willy seem to book out well in advance, so if you do feel like checking this place out be sure to book ahead.
We intended for this week's review to be at The Stag's Head, also in Williamstown, but when I called to book a table was told that there were none available at a decent time. Luckily for us this is Williamstown, where there are almost more pubs than there are people. I quickly called around and managed to secure a spot at the Yacht Club Hotel.
I arrived at the Yacht Club not really knowing what to expect, as it was a last minute booking I didn't have a chance to do my usual pre-meal recon. We arrived at the pub and took our seats up front.
This pub is deceptively big. We sat in the front area and I thought that was pretty much it, but the room really opens up down the other end, fitting in a dance floor, stage, side lounge room and raised back area with two pool tables.
We grabbed the menu and ordered some cheesy garlic bread while we waited for the group to turn up as we were rather famished, While looking at the menu we spied our target, and something caught my eye...
Bad. Boy. Chips.
We have come across Bad Boy Chips once before, at The Mail Exchange Hotel on the corner of Bourke & Spencer St in the CBD. They rated a 9, one of the highest scores we have ever given a chip on Parma Daze - needless to say, my pants got a little tighter.
A little research into "Bad Boy Chips" delivers this info - They are a product of Edgell, and (as far as I can tell) only available to business in the food service industry, not individuals. Below is a grab from the Simplot Foodservice website -
The description there says it all really. They're amazing. Without hesitation we ordered our parmas and waited.
The cheesy garlic bread arrived, not much on presentation but definitely hit the spot. It was garlicy, it was cheesy, it was ... bread-y. Everything you could want from cheesy garlic bread.
About half a pint later our meals arrived. The first thing that hit me ... They aren't Bad Boy Chips. But more on that later.
The Schnitzel looked a little small on the plate - until I noticed its thickness. This would have to be, without doubt, one of the thickest bits of chicken breast we have come across. Scroll down a little and check out the cross-section, I put a fork in there to give it some perspective. A solid inch of chicken breast, not counting the toppings. It was conservatively crumbed and well cooked. Slightly dry in parts but thats a minor complaint. As far as schnitzels go this one was quality.
They weren't at all tight with the toppings, which was necessary with a parma of this thickness. The cheese was golden brown, the napoli was chunky and made its presence known. The slice of ham was appreciated, albeit a little lost amongst the other flavours - but a slice of ham is never a bad thing. Maybe if they had used smoked ham instead it would have had a bit more bite, but I'm not complaining, this was a quality bit of bird.
Now. The chips. On any other parma I would have praised these chips. Sure they were standard pub chips but they were well cooked, well seasoned and there were plenty of them. A tick in every box really. However we were promised Bad Boy chips - and Bad Boy chips these were not. The chips were good, and we tried to score them as best we could on their own merits - but the promise of Bad Boys left a sour taste in my mouth and the chip score definitely took a hit because of it.
I don't often say this when it comes to garden salad, but the salad was a delight. It was so chock-full of ingredients there's no way I could fault it for being boring. There was more cucumber in it than there was lettuce. Heaps of onion, and the pile of tomato I left on the plate (I'm not a raw tomato fan) could have been a salad in itself. Perfectly dressed, bursting with flavour - one of the better garden salads we've had.
For $22 I can't really complain about what we received. If I were in Williamstown I'd happily go back to the Yacht Club Hotel for their parma. The specials board listed a $15 parma night with a few novelty options, so that would definitely be worth checking out if you were in the area.
All up this was a pretty great parma that I'd have no problems recommending. If we had've been served the promised Bad Boy Chips it would have wound up much further up the ladder.
Do me a favour, if you find yourself at The Yacht Club Hotel, get a parma - I'm keen to see if the Bad Boy Chips actually exist. Shoot me a message or post something on our Facebook, Twitter or Instagram with your thoughts, I'll happily amend this review if I can confirm the Bad Boys exist.
[pros]
- Thick chicken breast
- Salad overflowing with ingredients
- There's a possibility you will get Bad Boy Chips
[/pros][cons]
- A little dry at times
- Was promised Bad Boy Chips. No Bad Boy Chips were delivered.
[/cons]
Parma - 7.38
Chips - 6.38
Salad - 7.63
Value - 7.00
Total - 7.15
The search continues...
