Where? - 415 Clarendon St. South Melbourne

Price? - $25 (in Bistro, $15 in bar)

Website? http://www.theemeraldhotel.com.au/

Reviewers – Erin, Fridge, Lee & Nikki

Normally I start a new parma review with a spiel about how we found out about the pub in question, who recommended it to us or just generally how it came to be on our radar.

I have no such story about the Emerald as we didn't actually plan on visiting last night!

Our plan for this week was to visit the new digs of ex-Palmerston Hotel owners The Rising Sun Hotel - Unbeknownst to us the Sun hosts a rocking Jazz night on Thursday night that renders the pub completely booked out. So I whipped my phone out of my pocket, found the closest pub to the Rising Sun that served a parma, and that is where we set our sights... Clarendon Street's Emerald Hotel.

As I didn't have time to do my usual pre-parma research I had no idea what to expect when walking in the doors of the Emerald, and after leaving I'm still a little shocked at the dichotomy of the place.

The front bar of the Emerald feels like a backstreets local. High chairs, long bar propped up with locals, a multitude of TV's running every sport playing at a TAB station in the corner.