Where - 690 Mount Alexander Rd, Moonee Ponds (with other locations all over)
Price - $23.90 for the standard MVP parmas, $27.50 for the “loaded” parmas
Website - http://www.sportingglobe.com.au/
Reviewers – Grace, Lee, Nikki & Tony
We have quite a history with the Sporting Globe, Our first visit was in 2013, with a follow up visit (to the Watergardens location) in 2015 and a special look when the dude from Masterchef designed some parmas for them in 2016. They have had more repeat business than any pub we’ve reviewed at ParmaDaze - And yet they keep doing interesting things, varying up the parma menu often enough that I feel like its worth taking a week out of a year to duck in and see what new parma-themed delights they have come up with.
Before we continue yes I know we have been doing a lot of revisits lately. The problem is that after 9 years of reviewing pubs there just aren’t that many options left unvisited! , I’m trying to keep it to our particularly old reviews and not giving anything too recent a redo. Our rule of thumb used to be 12 months before we’d look at a pub again … I’m starting to think we need to bump that out to 5 years before its considered as we have quite a backlog built up. Anyway. Some fresh stuff will be coming in a couple of weeks, I promise!
I’m not gonna spend a lot of time on the decor of the Globe, because 1) We’ve covered it three times already and 2) With 13 Mother-Flippin’ locations around Victoria surely you’ve seen one by now and know what the deal is. It’s a sports bar with red chairs and a hell of a lot of TVs.
Let it not go unmentioned that the AFL Footy finals are also kicking off this week, the night of this review taking place of the first match of the finals between Essendon and West Coast. Being the biggest Essendon-adjacent sports bar in the area the Globe was absolutely heaving when we arrived for parma review. We lucked out on a table, grabbed a menu and checked what was on offer this week …
The standard parma menu hasn’t changed much since 2013 with the exception of “our new Buffalo parma” just being called the “Buffalo” parma. But the following page is where the action was this week -
It was pointed out to me when chatting about the menu on the ParmaDaze Discord Chat That none of the Loaded parmas use Napoli sauce. Actually Only the MVP parma has the option of napoli. A surprising move but I was ready to give napoli a miss this week! We went to the bar and placed our orders for the evening. One Buffalo, one Hawaiian, one Hickory Smoked BBQ and I landed on the Mac n’ Cheese creation.
The Sporting Globe has never been a pub to blow you away with their craft beer selection. Heineken, Draft, Great Northern, Furphy, 150 Lashes, Little Creatures, 4 Pines and their house beer “Little Bull” mark the options on tap with a few more options in the bottles in the fridge. Nothing outstanding but you should be able to find something to keep your whistle wet.
About 20 minutes after ordering (and still an hour from the footy starting - Bloody Perth time zones!) our parmas arrived at the table
“Loaded” is definitely the correct term for these parmas. Absolutely stacked with toppings. I grabbed the cutery and tucked in to find that even beneath the stack of ranch dressing, bacon and mac & cheese that there still remained a surprisingly thick schnitzel underneath. The chicken was well cooked and juicy - the crumbs were quite soggy but to be honest I’m not sure how you would avoid that given the sheer amount of stuff piled on top of the schnitzel.
A solid foundation to the dish, but to be honest these parmas are all about the toppings.
Okay. So. First up the “Mac & Cheese Bites” listed on the menu was more of a Mac & Cheese pancake covering the entire top of the schnitzel. That’s not a criticism, its just a hell of a lot of mac & cheese. The hickory sauce on both this parma and the BBQ parma is super flavoursome and even carries the subtle bite of the Sporting Globe’s trademark buffalo sauce. They weren’t tight at all on the bacon, it was crisp and flavoursome.
If I were to order this parma again, however, I’d ask for it without the ranch sauce on top. Ranch is such a strong flavour that I felt like it was both competing with and overpowering the other flavours of the parma. Bacon, mac & cheese and BBQ sauce all compliment each other perfectly, but the ranch didn’t really go with that and definitely distracted me from the other flavours of the dish.
Sporting Globe chips are consistently good. Beer battered, well seasoned and crunchy. I honestly don’t have anything else to say about them other than that they hit the spot.
I always liked the salad at the Globe but this week (and I may be imagining things) but it felt a little bit smaller than it used to be, like they’ve shrunk down the side of the salad bowl. It was enjoyable but I was done in two bites.
“Loved the bite of buffalo flavours through the hickory sauce. Not as full on as the buffalo parma but still enjoyable!”
“Overall a great meal, If you like their buffalo bites this parma is like a giant version of them with ham”
$27.50 is pretty damn expensive for a parma, even a “loaded” one. You definitely won’t walk away from this meal hungry - I failed to clear my plate, it is a formidable meal. Yet if $27.50 is too much for you the Globe offers $14.90 MVP parmas and $17.50 Loaded parmas on Wednesdays. A $10 reduction is a decent bargain so if you’re on the fence that is definitely the night to check them out.
I’ve always considered the Sporting Globe the McDonalds Quarter Pounder of the parma scene. No matter where you are in the world you know what you are getting when you order a Quarter Pounder. It is consistently quality with no surprises - And I think the Sporting Globe’s parmas are like that. Consistently good, not surprising but not disappointing. Sure the loaded toppings add a bit of variety but when you order a parma at the Globe you don’t have to worry that it’s not gonna be satisfying. Plus its a great place to watch the footy.