Where - 2-8 Bourke St. Melbourne
Price - $26.00
Website - https://bourkestreetimperial.com/
There aren’t many pubs in Melbourne that we have more history with than The Imperial Hotel. We’ve reviewed their standard parma three times (in 2012, 2013 and 2017), we sampled their Christmas parma made from turkey breast and served with cranberry sauce, and most recently we leapt from the page to the screen with a video review of their pizza parma, a schnitzel hammered out thin then sliced and topped as if it were a pizza (which, as far as I can tell, didn’t last long as it appears to have been ditched from the menu all together).
I’m pleased to report that two of the four consecutive golden chook awards for Parma of the Year that we presented to them between 2012 to 2015 are still sitting over the front bar, something I always check for whenever I drop in for a visit.
We didn’t discover the Impy until our 112th review, and yet in my mind it feels like as long as there has been ParmaDaze there has been the Impy parma, and to me their parma has always had a signature look that they didn’t often stray from - A massive schnitzel flanked by two bowls, one full of thick cut steak chips and a second with a shaved parmesan laden garden salad. I could pick it out of a lineup every time.
This is what I think of when I think “Impy Parma”
So last week, while browsing Instagram I spotted Instagrammer Chicken_parma_official’s visit to The Imperial and something definitely didn’t look right. The caption said “Imperial Hotel” but gosh darnit that was not an Impy Parma in the photo.
I had to ask in the comments and it was confirmed shortly after … this was the new world order.
Gone were the steak fries. Gone were the seperate bowls. Gone was the garden salad that was more parmesan cheese than vegetables. This was not my Impy parma. The weekend was quickly approaching so I figured what better way to return from our little “Hiatus” than to revisit one of the pubs that put ParmaDaze on the map and see just what the heck was going on over there.
While the Impy has undergone a bit of a facelift in recent years, The rooftop bar up top being the main attraction in the summer months, and I’ve got to admit it is a beautiful spot for a cocktail up there, however downstairs is still my favourite spot to hang out with a pint and catch one of the international sports games that are always running on the TV’s down there.
We grabbed a seat in the bistro, and in this brave new world scanned the QR code on the table to access the menu, which can also be used to order your food & drinks directly to the table from your phone.
Target sighted! Also nice to note the addition of an eggplant option for all the vego’s out there. We placed our orders and eagerly awaited the arrival of the new look Impy parma.
As far as beers on tap go the front bar has Furphy, James Squire, Heineken, Balter XPA, Carlton Draught, Brooklyn, Kosciuszko, Little Creatures, Panhead, White Rabbit and Hawkers available on tap at the time of writing, with a handful of extra options in the fridge including White Claw Seltzer, if you’re at all into the new seltzer trend that is taking over the world at the moment.
About 10 minutes after placing our order our parmas arrived at the table…
Well the rumours are true - The Impy parma has had a facelift. I was scared, had they ruined one of the best parmas in Melbourne? I picked up my knife and fork with trembling hands and tucked in to find … A damn good schnitzel.
It was thick, it was juicy, it was cooked to perfection. The Imperial parma may have had a bit of a rejig to more resemble something you would find at The Park or The Royston (both fantastic parmas in their own right), but I’ll be darned if it wasn’t still fantastic.
The crumbing wasn’t too thick and retained a solid crunch, and other than some slight flaking off the bottom of the chicken breast while I ate it’s honestly tough to find fault in the schnitzel the Imperial put up this time around.
Plenty of rich gooey cheese topped this parma off nicely, along with some shaved ham that didn’t pack a massive punch in terms of flavour, but I was appreciative of its inclusion.
As Chicken_parma_official noted in their Instagram post there was definitely a sweetness to the napoli sauce that some might find off putting. I didn’t hate it, I didn’t love it, but all things considered its a minor quibble amongst the otherwise stellar ingredients.
There was a sprinkle of spices across the top of the cheese which I tried to identify, as best as I could deduce it was a blend of cracked pepper, garlic salt & celery salt … although it could have just as easily been a pinch of Vegeta. Hard to say without invading the kitchen and breaking all sorts of social distancing rules.
This bit stings and probably the most controversial decision of the revamp of this parma - The chips have switched from thicc cut steak chips to a thinner, more McDonald’s style fry (not quite as thin as Maccas, but not a patch on what they used to be) This is one that firmly comes down to personal preference. I like steak fries, I know others prefer skinny fries. Gun to my head I would have preferred they stick with the original chip style - But these were fine too. Either way they were served hot & fresh, and we were still offered complimentary aioli and tomato sauce, an Impy staple.
If it were any other parma I would have said I preferred the coleslaw to the garden salad, It was flavoursome, rich and the little sprinkle of assorted seeds on top (while not doing much in terms of flavour) worked great for presentation. But the Imperial’s old garden salad was one of the few that I actively enjoyed. It was a fine slaw, great even. It worked great with the parma, was super tasty either eaten with a bit of parma on the fork or on its own. But do I prefer it over the old garden salad? … I don’t know. Apples and oranges.
I don’t mind paying a resonable price for good food. I greatly enjoyed this parma so to me $26 seems like solid value. If you are after a bargain The Imperial are running a promotion for the month of January 2021 - 50% off the total of your food & beverage bill if you order via mobile between 5-6pm every day of the week. As far as discounts go this one is a doozy and I’d definitely recommend grabbing a bargain this month if you can.
Part of me wants to kick up a fuss, flips some tables and chuck a world class tanty at the fact that the Impy parma I’ve known and loved for the past 8 years is gone - However what they’ve offered up in its place is a damn fine meal and (in my opinion) a worthy successor. Sure things are different, but a part of life is evolving with change. 2021 is different, ParmaDaze is different, the Impy parma is different - and I have high hopes for all three.