So that was 2014! In twelve short months we celebrated our 200th parma, saw an unholy abomination come out of Red Rooster, we experimented in the kitchen with a Philadelphia cream cheese parma, chicken parma balls and a bacon and tater tot creation. We ate 5 parmas in a week in Hobart, checked out two parma offerings Port Douglas had to offer, started the Chicken Parma Subreddit and launched a parma-centric podcast called Clucking Around! - couple all this with 42 regular reviews and it all adds up to a damn busy year for chicken parmas! And as always, we finish the year up with some awards.
Now we give out two awards each year, Best New Parma, which is awarded to the best parma we have had in 2014, and Parma of the Year, which is awarded to the pub who sits at #1 on our ladder. Both are extremely rare and prestigious awards of nobel-prize like status!
So without further ado, lets start with the Best New Parma...
Best new parma
In the 42 parma reviews we tried this year, one parma stood out above the rest. From the food to the decor to the overall welcoming vibe of the pub itself, this spot stands out as not only the best parma we had this year, but one of my favourite new pub finds of 2014...
The Wolf & I
One thing I am proud of when it comes to our top 10 parmas is that, even though they are all fantastic, they aren't all cookie-cutter copies of each other. Almost every parma in our top ten is unique in its own special way - And the parma at the Wolf & I fits the bill to perfection.
We presented The Wolf & I with their trophy -
And headed into the restaurant section out the back to have another taste of the award winning parma, We waited with baited breath for them to arrive from the kitchen, and, as expected, they were fantastic...
You can read the details of our original attempt here, so I won't go into too much detail, but the liberal lashings of smoked, shaved ham is what sets this parma apart from the others and puts it in the big leagues (not to mention everything else is phenomenal - the salad alone proves that you can have a basic, simple garden salad as a side and it still be damn delicious).
If you haven't yet had the parma at The Wolf & I, I urge you to get down to Windsor ASAP and check it out - If you can do it on their top value "Wolf Pack Thursdays", $20 with a pint, then all the better. You won't be disappointed - and if you're lucky you might get a glimpse of the trophy sitting behind the bar...
Congratulations again to The Wolf & I!
Parma of the Year
There's really no need to build up the suspense on this one, as they have already taken out the Parma of the Year award for 2012 and 2013. You know them, you love them, I love them. The award goes to...
The Imperial Hotel
What is there to say that hasn't already been said? The Impy still offers up the closest example of parma perfection that we have come across.
We didn't stick around try it this year after we presented them with their trophy, as we were quite stuffed from the parma at The Wolf & I, but we could see several hungry diners tucking in to the fine example of a parma that The Imperial has to offer. Massive schnitzel, cheese laden salad, chunky beer battered fries ... I mean look at it!
Need I say more?
Congratulations (again) to The Imperial Hotel! Very well deserved guys.
And with that we are wrapped up for another year of parma reviews at ParmaDaze. It's been a hell of a year and we couldn't have done it without you guys - so if you're reading this, I thank you.
We may be taking a break - but don't despair, We will be back with a vengeance in 2015, with lots of exciting things on the boiler (including but not limited to our five year anniversary ... but more details on that later).
So from all of us here at ParmaDaze, have a fantastic holiday season, congratulations again to The Wolf & I and The Imperial, and we'll catch you in the new year!
Cheers.