“What’s a parmi?”, you ask? Also known as a parma and more commonly, a chicken parmigiana, the dish comprises a piece of deep fried crumbed chicken, sometimes draped with a piece of ham, which is then drizzled in a herb tomato sauce and topped with a good smattering of cheese. It’s an absolute pub staple in Australia and even more so here in the Goldfields, where it’s often deemed the only ‘safe’ option on the menu (steaks tend to be so far overdone they require at least 3 hours dedicated digestion).

Over dinner last Wednesday night my friends and I decided it was high time we formed the Parmis of the Goldfields (POGs) club and go about taste-testing all the parmis the Goldfields has to offer. From Leonora to Esperance, Coolgardie to Kambalda, the POGs will leave no parmi un-tasted or un-scrutinised in our quest to find the best.

On Sunday we held our inaugural meeting.

Location: The Tower Hotel
Cost: $20 (the lunch time price, at dinner it jumps to $28… Welcome to regional WA!)

The Parmi

Not wanting to reduce our eating options for later in the day, Bec and I went halves. It’s also worth noting the ambiance of the beer garden was top notch.

Inaugural POGs Punters: Claire, Abby, Jordan, Scott, Kadn and Bec

You may be wondering why we deem ourselves qualified to be the foremost authorities on parmis. Well. We just are. We eat them all the time. We can identify a lacklustre sauce and a soggy situation a mile away.

Some would deem this good cheese coverage, others would not.

Personally, I deplore a parmi that arrives resting atop a side of chips, thus leaving a bevy of wilted potato underneath. Others love it.

Getting down to business.

Clean plates.

Verdict

The Tower is widely considered to be the purveyor of the finest parmi in the Kalgoorlie-Boulder city limits, so we went in with high expectations and most were not disappointed:

Claire: “It’s a good parmi, I’ll give it a 4”
Abby: “there wasn’t too much tomato, so that was a bonus for me, I reckon a 4 as well” (imagine this in a northern English accent, especially ‘bonus’)
Jordan: “good size, good chicken: 4, we’re off to a good start”
Scotty: (the most experienced parmi connoisseur at the table) “mine was actually not that great, there was not enough cheese and not enough sauce, too much exposed breast: 3.4”
Kadn: “I thought the chicken was quite moist and well cooked, but mainly moist. Moist. I liked the crispy edges, the salad dressing was a little disappointing.
Bec C: I liked the side salad, nice thick fresh breast, I appreciated the taste of the sauce: 4.2″
Me: “I was happy with the parmi, nice crispiness, happy with the sauce and cheese situation but I won’t go halvies next time, good price though: 3.8”

Score: 27.3 out of a possible 35 points

Well done to the Tower! Everyone was very generous with the points, it will be interesting to see if people tighten the point purse strings as time wears on.

Over and out.