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Venue: Grace Darling Hotel

Location: 114 Smith Street, Collingwood

Date: Sunday June 16th, 2024

Website: https://thegracedarlinghotel.com.au/

Reviewers: Stephen, Ollie, Chris, Tom

To kick off this review, I’ll just say from the get-go, that we didn’t intend to review Grace Darling Hotel this week. While it was one of the main venues on our shortlist to review, it was not intended for this week. This week we intended on reviewing Universal in Carlton on Lygon Street, however we experienced a few hiccups in trying to make this happen. Firstly, they will not allow you to make a booking unless you had a party of at least 8. They say to just come in instead. So, we made our way to Lygon Street, when upon driving past, we saw a line that was the sort of line I expect to find while waiting to gain entry to a Nightclub. Upon witnessing this, and the difficulty in trying to find a park near the vicinity of Lygon Street, we looked at each other and knew we had one of two options. March up to the door and ask them ‘Do you know who we are? We’re from Parmapot.com, and we demand a table right now and a round of drinks, otherwise we’ll bury this place!” Or the more mature option, decide that our time is too valuable to waist waiting in line, and just go to the nearest venue on our list instead. Anyway, as you can guess, after some robust debate, we opted for option number 2….

Upon approaching our new venue for the evening (Grace Darling Hotel), the moment I saw it, I recognised the building immediately. It has a very old school country exterior with its bluestone brickwork. A good mate of mine used to live in a loft a block behind the building, so I would have walked past it dozens of times over the years, but had never walked in. Upon walked in on this occasion however, I was immediately kicking my past self, as this pub had my kind of vibe. A very relaxed atmosphere, with the place semi full, but still plenty of seats around. A few different nooks and crannies with different areas which some were a decking space, another area near a fireplace and then also around the bar with inoffensive music playing in the background. I was already enjoying it more then the prospect of waiting in line outside on Lygon Street for who knows how long?? We ordered our Parmas at the bar as well as a round of drinks. Drinks menu was craft inspired with a fair few from Bodriggy Brewery as well as more standard Coopers, Stone & Wood + Guiness, which is what I opted for. And then we began our wait.

When our Parmas hit the table, I was both concerned and impressed all in one. The main concern that I had, as you can probably tell from the photo in the review was that it looked a bit overcooked. The main giveaway to this being the upper curl on the end of the Parma, however the true story wouldn’t be known until I took that first bite. However the most impressive thing on presentation along was the cheese. On the menu it was advertised as torched mozzarella, and boy did it look just that. Both bright yellow and dark brown where torched, the Mozzarella really covered the whole chook and made it look quite appealing.

Biting into the Parma was where the fun really began. While I wasn’t wrong in that the Parma was probably ever so slightly overcooked and dry in patches, it still withheld some natural juices which gave it the succulence that you want with chicken. It was pure chicken breast and had a great golden-brown crumb which gave good crunch to the dish. The ham was smoked and smoked really well. Double smoked according to the menu and this really shines through and was arguably the most memorable aspect of the Parma. The mozzarella was tasty and torched just right, while the Napoli was something else. Firstly, it wasn’t advertised as Napoli, it was Sugo. Secondly it wasn’t on the Parma itself, instead it was spread in a decorative fashion on the plate. This was a brilliant touch as it put the responsibility of coverage onto the diner, as you could dictate how much Sugo you had or didn’t have from one bite to another. A really smart touch which I think should be replicated more. It was rich and full of flavour and could also act as a dipping sauce for what I’ll get onto next. The chips.

I’ll just say it now. There are not enough good things that I’m going to be able to say about these chips! Advertised as hand cut chips, they were certainly that, chips cut straight from the potato, several was the skin still attached. They were cooked absolutely beautifully, soft potato, but with the roughage of the potato skin on the outside. They were also seasoned to what seemed like calculated measures to the dot. We’re not sure what it was they used in the seasoning exactly, but it worked well. As I said with the Parma Sugo that was on the plate, you could use some of the chips with the Sugo if you wanted, to which I did with a few. However, it certainly wasn’t a necessity. The chips were amazing all on their own.

The salad had some of the similar issues to last weeks salad, however was by no means anywhere near as bad. It was advertised on the menu just as rocket, and to be fair to them, that’s exactly what we got, just rocket. Now some people hate rocket, I on the other hand don’t. But even with that in mind, I concede that rocket on it’s own isn’t much of a salad. Throw in some shaved Parmesan and pine nuts or something and we’ve got something, however we didn’t even have that. It was dressed in what I believe was balsamic vinegar which certainly helped it escape the issues we had last week, as well as any Sugo that may have been left on our plates. However it was a shame that the salad couldn’t quite meet the same heights as the Parma and Chips that came before it.

Meals finished, scotch and coke ordered as well as some desserts. Homemade ice cream for Chris and Ollie while Chocolate Fondant for me (dessert was amazing by the way) and we discussed how things fell for each of us at Garce Darling.

Ollie: I love the fact that they put the issue of Napoli coverage back on the diner. And the chips were so authentic.

Chris: I loved everything about this Parma. The presentation was out of this world. Loved the chips as well.

Tom: Dental problems aside. Story for me was the ham. Double smoked I believe. A Grade chips. Also I just love the venue. Could easily come here again.

The Scores:

PARMA: 9.03/10

CHIPS: 9.63/10

DRINKS: 7.75/10

ATMOSPHERE/EXPERIENCE: 8.50/10

SALAD/VEGGIES: 6.75/10

OVERALL: 8.88/10

So it seems that we may have turned the corner at Parmapot on this review. Our last 4 reviews had only been solid to not so good Parmas, so it was great for us to get a really good one after deciding to pull the pin on Universal. So sorry to anyone who wanted us to try Universal. Not sure if it’s going to happen? But we can’t recommend Grace Darling enough.

So if you’re on Smith Street in Collingwood, looking for a real chill venue for a drink and a really good Parma, then head along to Hotel Collingwood. But also keep in mind that only 850 meters up the road is Garce Darling Hotel, another great venue that you can’t go wrong with! Please give them a go to. It seems Smith Street Collingwood could just be the place for a Parma, now hosting three of our top seven!

Till next time.