A long time ago, in the back of a derelict country tavern, a young kitchen hand got distracted counting beads on his abacus and accidentally dropped a raw chicken breast into a pile of breadcrumbs, which then rolled off the bench and onto a ham, cheese & tomato pizza, and then into an oven preheated at 180 degrees Celsius for a good half an hour. And that (we're pretty sure) is how the chicken parma was born.

Since then, numerous equally delicious pub dishes have sprouted up on menus all over our city for a countless year, and each one of them without fail pairs superbly with a pot of the cheapest beer on tap.

Here are Melbourne’s best pub meals.

While we're on the subject of pubs, here are Melbourne's best pot & parma nights.

Image credit: Newmarket Hotel | Griffin Simm