Windsor Hotel Bar & Restaurant

Since my initial foray into chicken parmigiana I was keen to relive the experience. So when GG and I caught up with his parents at the Windsor recently and I spied it on the menu – Chicken parmigiana, mixed salad & fries 25 – it presented the perfect opportunity to see how they dished up their chicken parm south of the river.

We actually kicked off proceedings with one of their share plates – antipasti – wild olives, white anchovy, smoked kransky, salami, prosciutto, white mozzarella, bread & spreads 34. It was all tasty enough but perhaps could have presented a little better. For instance I’m a big fan of cold meats, love ham and salami but it had kind of just been slapped onto the plate. Similarly the olives and feta squares were nice, but the olives were described on the menu as wild olives and there didn’t really seem to be anything particularly wild about them. There were a few nice dips and some chunky antipasto to go along with some slices of bread. It was fine, just nothing particularly wow.

The chicken parm arrived and it was a very generous size! A big slab of crumbed chook and at the Windsor they’d included a thin slice of ham before layering on the tomato sauce and grated cheese. Along side there were ample french fries and also a nice green salad. I eagerly dug in and was fairly pleased with my first bite. A flavoursome sauce and not too much cheese and I quite liked the inclusion of ham. I had known as soon as I arrived that it was very unlikely that I would be able to finish it but I think I put a respectable dent into it and I had enjoyed it. How did it stack up against chicken parm number 1? I had liked it, it was a tie between the pair I’d say.

The Windsor was completely packed by the time we left, clearly a very popular spot for a Sunday lunch. I’ve only been there a few times but I’m often struck by how large it actually is. It seats to many! It’s decent pub food and everyone else had been pretty pleased with their choices – one being a confit chicken breast caesar salad, herb croutons, crisp bacon, egg, shaved Parmesan and house dressings with extra chook for GG and the fish of the day for his dad.

So I plan to continue racking up the chicken parmy stats, slowly but surely work my way around town seeing how different places do them. I think as long as it’s a good piece of chicken, not too much cheese and there’s a decent stack of hot chips on the side, I’ll generally be pretty happy.