Best parma Victoria: Paradise Valley Hotel, The Cheeky Pint, Iron River Bar & Grill
Nothing beats the crunchy, cheesy goodness of a chicken parma loaded with all the trimmings. Read all about our top picks and explore the list on an interactive map.
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Is it parma or parmi? Chips on the side or underneath? Call it and serve it whatever you like – and if you’re a true Victorian it should be parma – nothing beats the crunchy, cheesy goodness of a chicken schnitty loaded with all the trimmings.
From the giant parmas at Universal Restaurant in Lygon St, to the award-winning parmas at the Paradise Valley Hotel in Clematis, check out our guide to the best parmas in the state.
The Cheeky Pint
231 Barkly St, Footscray
The crew at the Cheeky Pint does not mess around when it comes to chicken parmas.
Just ask head chef Matt Whyte.
“We do end up giving take away boxes to quite a few people,” he said.
“It is a big old parma, it’s a 300 gram chicken breast. We hand cut the stencils here on site and we butterfly that out rather than bash it out with a hammer just so that you get the full grain of the chicken fillet.
“Then we crumb it in panko crumbs with a little bit of a bit of our own special seasoning in the egg wash.”
Served on a chopping board, the Cheeky Pint’s parmas are one of the biggest and best in the west.
Though the main reason the parma is served on a chopping block is so there is adequate room for the chips, which Matt said belong next to, not underneath, the parma.
“We don‘t like to have the parma sitting on top of the chips,” he said.
“It sends the bottom of the parma soggy, sends the chips soggy it and it just makes it a more difficult eating experience.”
The parma’s Napolitana sauce is also a secret family recipe passed down the family of the pub’s owner.
Paradise Valley Hotel
249 Belgrave-Gembrook Rd, Clematis
Paradise for parma fans can be found at this picturesque pub in the Dandenongs.
The Paradise Valley Hotel parma was named the 2022 Australian Hotels Association Vic Parma of the Year.
Its mouth-watering parmas are made completely from scratch.
The pub gets fresh chickens in, and uses the skin for its house-made chicken salt, the tenders for its fried chicken dish and the breasts are flattened out and crumbed by hand and ready to go as schnitzels.
For the all important sauce, the pub uses tinned Australian tomatoes, adds them to its herb mix, and cooks it long and slow for about eight hours in the oven to caramelise it and take away the sharp edges.
They add Bertocchi ham and blend together several cheeses.
The end result – parma gold.
The dish is the biggest selling item on the pub’s menu.
Customers appreciate the freshness – they can tell it has never seen a freezer or fryer.
Served with chips and salad, the parma costs $31.
The Coach
33 Maroondah Highway, Ringwood
Size most definitely matters for the chefs who pump out up to 100 parmas a day at Ringwood’s The Coach pub next to EastLink.
The venue has turbocharged its parma offerings post-Covid, which are sure to fill the most rumbling of bellies.
Along with its $29 traditional version, the pub offers 13 different flavours daily – all for no more than $3 extra.
They include the popular Texan variety which includes boasts bacon, caramelised onion and smokey BBQ sauce, a breakfast version with a hash brown, fried egg, bacon, smashed avo and hollandaise sauce, and the ‘Cali’ variety with shrimp and smashed avo.
Other drool-worthy flavours include Mexican, Cheeseburger and Mac and Cheese.
All of the huge, juicy chicken schnitzels are dished up with coleslaw instead of the traditional salad and vegies, and a generous dose of chips.
Bistro manager Renee Condello said parmas were far and away the venue’s most popular menu item and believed the venue had the best ones in the eastern suburbs.
“The size definitely shocks them when we put it out on the table,” she said.
“We wanted to make ours different from other venues … they’re made fresh and on the spot with good-quality stuff,” chef Putu Ernawan said.
Vics Food and Wine
69-71 O‘Shanassy Street, Sunbury
Described as an institution of the food scene in Sunbury by some locals and a rite of passage by others, Vics Food and Wine couldn’t be missed of this list.
Owner and chef Victor Scerri has brought the best of Italian cuisine to Melbourne’s northwest with almost two decades of experience in honing his skill in culinary cuisine.
The traditional parma is a regular hit on the weekends as Vic serves it with smoked ham, napoli sauce and mozzarella cheese while customers can choose with chips, mash or roasted chats with salad or vegetables.
The Sunbury establishment has seen the popularity of their parma’s and added to the menu with the new vegan schnitzel or parma being introduced earlier this month.
Iron River Bar and Grill
435/437 Nepean Highway Frankston
The parmas are so big at this Frankston eatery that competitive eaters visit as part of their training.
Iron Bar and Grill’s King Parma features up to 600gm of chicken and is loaded with house made napoli sauce, ham and cheese.
It’s not for the faint hearted, says co-owner Rachel Bennett.
“I can’t finish our small parmas, I’ve got no chance with the king,” she said.
“It is really popular though and we did have competitive eaters coming in and ordering it.”
The American style eatery offers a range of parmas from the classic to a meat lovers with toppings of Texas sauce, six hour braised pulled beef, bacon, pepperoni and cheese.
There’s also a Buffalo style with Buffalo sauce, jalapeños and cheese and another loaded with six hour pulled pork, roasted capsicum, caramelised onion, barbecue sauce and cheese.
Diners can choose between a small from $25 or a large for $30.
On Wednesdays the kingsize parma is just $20 and comes with a pot of beer.
All parmas are served with chips and garden salad.
Ms Bennett said the parmas were all made in house from cutting the chicken to coating it in breadcrumbs before frying the schnitzel adding home made sauce and the other toppings and finishing the dish the oven.
“We get our chicken from Russel’s Poultry,” she said.
“The king parmas are made from extra large chicken breasts that we order specially.”
Iron River Bar and Grill sells at least 100 parmas a week.
And the chips are never served underneath the schnitzel.
“That’s abhorrent. We’d never do that.”
Don Vittorio Pizzeria
22 Lurline Street Cranbourne
While serving the Aussie classic chicken parma on their menu, Don Vittorio Pizzeria in Cranbourne also pays homage to the traditional Italian recipe, with an eggplant version of the pub favourite.
Celebrating its fifth year in Cranbourne last week, the family owned business is a community favourite.
Winning the Best Italian Pizzeria in Cranbourne award from restaurantguru.com in 2022, the restaurant has made its mark on the southeastern suburb.
A chicken parma with chips and salad from Don Vittorio’s comes in at $25, and the eggplant rendition with chips and salad comes in at $18.
Three Crowns Hotel
365 Victoria St, North Melbourne
The “crunchy and juicy” parmas at Three Crowns Hotel win rave reviews.
Manager Aiden Buchanan said the parma was one of the most popular items on the pub’s menu.
“For us we source most of our produce locally from markets and we make our napoli sauce all in-house,” he said.
“The combination of the in-house sauce for the topping, we double panko crumb it, we only fry it for a short time then oven bake it, so the chicken is juicy inside and crunchy outside.
“The shaved triple smoked ham is also locally sourced from the market.
“We’ve got an American barbecue feel with most our menu, and we don’t do garden salads, we do an apple slaw (the parma is also served with chips) – so that’s a nice twist on the regular pub meal of chips and salad.”
Mr Buchanan said the pub’s chef “didn’t do anything by half”.
“People aren’t walking out of here hungry when they get a meal,” he said.
The Three Crowns parma costs $26, but you can grab it for just $20 on special parma nights.
The Leveson
46 Leveson Street, North Melbourne
The Leveson Hotel in North Melbourne is a must-visit for parma fans.
It has consistently been rated one of the best parmas the city has to offer.
For $28, customers can enjoy the delicious chicken topped with smoked ham, napoli sauce and mozzarella cheese along with salad and beer battered chips.
OTHER TOP PICKS
Universal Restaurant Lygon Street
The Imperial Hotel
2-8 Bourke St, Melbourne
The Whitehorse Hotel Bendigo
305 Eaglehawk Rd California Gully Bendigo
The Bunch of Grapes Hotel
401 Pleasant Street South, Ballarat
Coldstream Brewery
694 Maroondah Highway, Coldstream
Golden Hills Brewery
25 Station St, Diamond Creek
Mildura Brewery Pub
20 Langtree Ave, Mildura
The Corner Hotel, Alexandra
65 Grant St
Did we miss your favourite? Tell us in the comments below.
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