Where you say? Parmi Bandit @ The Clarendon. 378 La Trobe Terrace Newtown. Opposite Geelong’s very own Simmonds Stadium.

When was this? 10/05/2014

How much you ask? $12.90

CHICKEN PARMIGIANA IN A BOX YOU YELL?

I know I can hardly believe it as well. The search for Geelong’s best Chicken Parmigiana took me to Australia’s First Drive Thru Parmi. The Clarendon in Newtown has a neatly tucked away drive through, that caters for the morning traffic heading to work in Melbourne, with that coffee hit. They also have meal options. Everything from Caesar Salads to 6 different varieties of Chicken Parmagiana’s (Traditional, Italian, Hawaiian, Mexican, Spanish and Avocado) and 11 different Pizza’s. They also have a reasonably price dessert menu available for $6.90. (Sticky date Pudding, Cheese Cake and Mousse)

To start the ball rolling you only need to follow three simple steps:

Step one = Call Parmi Bandit on 5221 9584

Step Two = Jump in the car

Step Three = Pull into the drive through and grab your Parmi

I pulled into the drive through and was greeted with a smiling young lady. On receiving my Drive Thru Parmi I initially said to myself “That is a huge box” I was then secretly hoping the Parmi was as huge. I was not disappointed.

Arriving home I sat down and opened up the box and was amazed at the size of the Bird, but also the amount of chips and the salad and dressing which were both in there own small containers. Great Start.

So lets start with the Chicken Parmigiana. A good to great schnitzel. Great size and plenty of topping. The schnitzel itself was very bread crumb heavy. The bread crumb hadn’t completely crisped all the way to the chicken. Good topping of Napoli and ham with beautifully melted cheese. The topping did tend to come away from the schnitzel in the centre of the chicken. No Biggie though…

A good little garden fresh salad accompanied our Bird. Consisting of Cherry Tomatoes, radish, onion, red capsicum and fresh garden salad leaves. Packaged in its own plastic container and with a separate salad dressing, this certainly gives the customer a choice a when they eat it. I ate it straight from the container whilst devouring the bird. Could have done with a bigger serving but it was still very satisfying and delicious. The Radish was a little added bonus for me!

The Chips were great. Beer battered and plenty of them. I certainly could not finish them all. They only qualm I have with the chips was they were over salted. You certainly could not sit there and eat the whole serving of chips with out a drink. Some people like a well salted chip but it wasn’t for me. Great serving though.

This was an exceptionally great Chicken Parmigiana meal for the $12.90 price tag. I would certainly recommend it if you were in a hurry, feeling lazy on the drive home from work or heading into town on a Saturday night on an empty stomach.

Put it this way…. You could go to Subway and spend almost the same amount on a 12 inch meal and not be as satisfied. Give the Parmi Bandit a go!!

The Parmi Bandit receives an extra bonus point for being a drive through service.

Now to the ratings:

Chicken Parmigiana = 76.75

The Chips = 72.50

The Salad = 70

Service + Value = 90

Total Score = 77.31

And the New Leader is The Parmi Bandit

The search will and must go on…