It has been said that the Palmerston Hotel in South Melbourne has the best chicken parmagana in Melbourne. For a city so mad about food – and parmas – that’s saying a lot. I’ve been wanting to try the parma there for a very very long time. Tonight, I finally got the chance.

The parma I was served is there, to the right. And yes, it is good. It’s actually very very good. The chicken is real chicken, not processed chicken-bits. The sauce is perfect, with just a hint of herbs. It’s actually breaded and fried. I ordered mine with chips and salad, as is traditional. One can tell a lot about a place by the side salad served with a parma. Too many places just throw whatever onto the plate, old wilted lettuce and all. This salad was crisp and fresh, not buried in a horrible dressing either. The chips were fairly standard, but they were only a side attraction, after all.

But it was not the best parma I’ve had in Melbn. That honour goes to Hobson’s By The Bay in Sandringham. One day, about two years ago, I had a pot-of-gold-at-the-end-of-the-frikkin-rainbow parma there. At the time, I remember thinking “I will never eat another one this good again”. Sadly, I was correct. When we went back there a second time, the ownership had changed, the service had taken a dive, and the parma was eminently forgettable. I still hold it in my mind, the unattainable, the Epicure 20/20, the perfect score, the once-in-a-lifetime parma, the food of gods.