Where - 21-31 Hall St. Moonee Ponds
Price - $22.90
Website - https://macelleria.com.au
Reviewers - Lee & Nikki
I first saw Macelleria on an Instagram post, advertising themselves as “The Butcher that cooks for you!”, and as much as I love a good parma there is always room in my world for a quality cut of steak.
An interesting concept, upon approaching the counter to place your order at Macelleria you are greeted with this lovely sight…
Pick your steak, pick your done-ness, pick your sauce, pick your sides, pick your beer. Delightful.
So when I heard that Macelleria also had a parma on the menu I was torn. Do I visit the steakhouse and get a steak or do I visit a steakhouse and get a parma? Chances are the parma is on the menu just to keep the steak haters who get dragged along happy - Could it really be any good?
But as much as I enjoy a good steak we are duty bound. We strapped on a blindfold so we wouldn’t be tempted by the glass case of steaks, blindly groped our way up to the counter and placed our order.
This week we tried the Moonee Ponds location, but there are also Macelleria’s in Richmond, Glen Waverly, Geelong and in Bondi & Newtown Sydney.
So this is how the parma is described on the menu -
That’s right. Schnitzel and eggplant. Definitely something we haven’t encountered before. Feels super traditional yet unique at the same time. As far as prosciutto goes I am a massive fan - I don’t think I’ve encountered a prosciutto parma I didn’t like.
I was definitely worried, this one could go either way.
The tap list is pretty sparse, but as this is more of a restaurant than a pub they can be forgiven I guess. Kombi Lane Lager, Peroni, Asahi Super Dry and Mountain Goat Steam Ale. There are some more options available in stubbies/cans but nothing overly craft focussed.
After a 15 minute wait I spied our parmas coming out of the kitchen…
First things first - Macelleria needs to invest in bigger plates. Sure a plate overflowing with stuff makes for a good looking photo, but it also makes eating the damn thing a bit of an exercise. Luckily we were supplied with some hefty steak knives to help facilitate, which we used to tuck straight in to the parma in front of us.
The schnitzel buried under the mountain of toppings was actually surprisingly good! A little bit on the small side however that’s where my criticisms of it pretty much end. Super crunchy (an impressive feat given the sheer mass of stuff on top). Flavoursome, well cooked and good quality chicken. A solid foundation all around.
When I saw the menu I was worried about the eggplant. I’m not the biggest eggplant fan at the best of times and in my mind I felt like it would serve no purpose other than just getting in the way - and I was wrong in that assumption.
I didn’t love the eggplant, but I didn’t dislike it. It definitely helped to bulk out the small-ish schnitzel to a meal I had trouble finishing in one sitting, and it even added an almost sun-dried tomato feel to the flavour profile. I won’t be protesting that every other parma in Melbourne add a slice of eggplant any time soon, but I was unoffended by its inclusion here.
The other toppings were spot on. The prosciutto lent the parma its signature salty bite and the napoli worked well mixing with the eggplant. The mozzarella was well melted and the splash of parmesan on top added a dash of extra flavour.
The big serving of chips was well seasoned and pretty tasty, however with such a small plate I couldn’t really manoeuvre the parma around so I could get to them quick enough before turning mostly cold. The ones I could access at the start of the meal were fantastic, though
Definitely a generous serving of salad on this parma. Italian influences shine through again with the inclusion of olives throughout, which were a nice surprise if you like olives. If you don’t like olives I guess they would be less than well received. Other than that there were cherry tomatoes, cucumber slices, onion slivers and lettuce leaves. Overall a tasty salad and a fine accompaniment to the parma.
“Delicious, crunchy schnitzel and it was great to have a parma that wasn’t tight with the napoli in what feels like months. I thought the eggplant would bother me, but it turned out to be a nice addition. Worth trying!”
$22.90 is a pretty damn good price for the parma we received. We’ve had parmas much more expensive this year with much less on the plate. I wouldn’t complain about having to pay this again. No parma nights on the books as far as I can see.
There is a lot going on with the Macelleria parma. For a parma that I thought would be an afterthought on a steakhouse menu I was shocked at the amount of effort that was put in to make this an interesting dish. The traditional flavours might not be for everyone, but if you’re a bit adventurous (and can avoid the temptation to order yourself a thick, juicy steak) you won’t be disappointed.