I'll drink to this

I have just discovered the BEST DRINK EVER.

It wasn't easy - I'm quite fussy when it comes to beverages. I don't like beer. I can't drink ''straight'' coffee. I don't do pre-mixed drinks and can only occasionally stomach a juice. I avoid slurpees, milkshakes, black tea.... the list goes on.

Maybe it's easier to list what I do drink... or rather, the drink I wish I could have every day but won't because it probably has enough sugar to power a rockship to the moon:

A dark mocha thickshake from The Mocha Cafe in Launceston.

Wow.

It was like drinking liquid high-quality chocolate - but cold. So shake, shake, shake... shake, shake, shake... your way over and have one.

Life on a Dessert Island

I wasn’t sure what to expect when it came to food on Hamilton Island. Turns out that like most places it’s a mixed bag

... just more expensive.

Here were some of the more memorable experiences:

Breakfast

We stayed at the Reef View Hotel and the buffet was up there with the best I’ve ever seen (and devoured). There were so many things on offer that despite having three courses each day I still discovered new things to scoff each morning. My favourites were the bircher muesli, poached eggs cooked-to-order and hollandaise sauce on standby, and pancakes with maple syrup and mixed berries - which looked like this:

Lunch

This meal didn’t get much of a look in due to the aforementioned over indulgence at breakfast… but an all-day H20 Cruise adventure included a great lunch: rolls, cold meats and salads.

Snacks

These were mainly in liquid form: Gentleman’s Affair (see picture below - you drink it warm); Espresso Martini; Dirty Martini – shaken not stirred. Got a decent (expensive) ice-cream too.

Dinner

This was where the mixed bag really came in. The seafood buffet (dangerous, really, these buffets) on the Denison evening cruise was great. They laid out everything that had ever swam, crawled or slithered under the sea. And I ate most of them. That was good.

We ordered a pizza to be delivered from Manta Ray Cafe that was not cooked properly. Raw dough is gross. That was bad.

We had pasta dishes at Romano’s that were so tasty I thought the pasta really might be ‘home-made’. That was good.

At the Mariners we had sashimi (see pic below) as an entree, which was nice but only one kind of fish (salmon) so a little uninspiring. Then ordered mussels and a seafood pasta for mains after they told us what we really wanted (coral reef fish) was no longer available. It all tasted nice, but I threw it up later. That was bad.

The Town that Beer Built

I've been reading up on Melbourne's foodie history and it's an interesting stuff. But don't take my word for it. Here's some tipple-bits, courtesy of Flavours of Melbourne by Charmaine O'Brien:
- John Pascoe Fawkner opened Melbourne's first public house. By all accounts the teetotaller was a cantakarous and disagreeable man. Those who ate at his place often had to endure his pontifications and patrons could tell if they were in or out of favour by the size of the meal he served up.

- The first auctions held in Melbourne became quite the social affair as free cold meats, bread, beer, brandy and 'shampagne' were offered to get the crowds in. Many attended the land sales without the faintest intention of lifting their hand to bid ... not so different from auctions in Melbourne now, really. Except for the free food/drink.

- Within the first 12 months of settlement Melbournians had consumed some 2000 gallons of rum, 150 gallons of brandy and who knows how much beer and gin.

- So it's probably no surprise that Melbourne became the brewing centre of the British colonies with 32 of them operating at the height of the industry in 1874.

Parma chapter 2

The conquest for a parma worth talking about continues...
This time I tried out what the TRC has to offer. Parma was acceptable. Ham ditto. And chips ok. But the napolitana sauce was too plain - most likely tinned tomatos. Unforgiveable. Because taste ain't expensive.

Tasty Tassie

I may not have been in the apple isle long enough to call it home, but I have been here long enough to stuff my face at a large number of establishments. So I thought I would share with you my Top 3 Tasty Tassie moments:

3. Breaky at the Village Store, St Helens.

It was open on a Sunday (thank god) and had a brilliant menu option dubbed Salmon Mardi Gras, which I was quick to snap up. I ended up with two perfectly poached eggs sitting on a generous serving of smoked salmon, sliced avocado and sourdough bread - which was all smothered in a delishly lemon hollandaise. A dish that danced in my mouth. They do good coffee too, but hurry: as the business is for sale.

2. Lunch at Strathlynn, Rosevears.

Also open on a Sunday (but strictly a lunch-time venue) I finally got a booking here but Daniel Alps - the chef who's name had graced the venue's title - was gone. I tell you what - I didn't even notice. I eat three courses and none disappointed. The highlight was an amazing dish of sliced, pink roast lamb with beets, spinach and a super tasty sauce. They also have a cheap wine list and views that I'd be happy to die looking at.

1. Black Cow Bistro, Launceston.

I've never really been that mad about meat. Yep, even beef. And lamb. And chicken. So the fact I've picked a steak house as my numero uno tells you something - this place is out-of-this-world awesome or, i've become a carnivore. I'm still not that into meat, but I would be happy to regularly tuck into a melt-in-your mouth, Tassie-reared steak at this place. If only I could afford to. Save your pennies up and treat yourself.

Special August Guest: Daniel ''Parmalicious'' Taylor

Earlier this year, a certain food connoisseur (and blogger) emailed me a Herald Sun story about The Commercial Hotel in Alexandra, Victoria. She thought I might be interested to read the pub's claim to fame of having 30 different styles of Parmagiana, and she knew me too well.

After reading the story and confirming that the pub is the highest ranked venue on http://www.parma.com.au/ I helped organised the two and a half hour road trip with friends (thanks for your help Janelle!) for August.

Once there, another mate Brad tried to convince us to go to Yen Lai Rice Inn Restaurant across the road, but we kindly said: Why not give The Commercial a go first?

They do have other things on their menu, but there was only one section I was interested in: and that was the 29 parmas (I'm not counting the vegetarian one).

Looking at the parma menu it suddenly hit me: normally if I go out for a meal at a new place it's a good bet to go for the parma cause really, you can't stuff it up too much. But here, I was confronted with a choice of parmas and didn't know what to do.

They all look so good, and since I was only going to order one (unfortunately) it was a tough choice. I considered ordering one of the crazy versions, just because they had them, but I had to fall back to my other meal selection technique - which is going with the house selection.

So I ordered 'The Commercial Parma' consisting of a free range chicken breast topped with housemade Napoli sauce, tiger prawns and a special cheese mix.

The breast was nice, thick and juicy - well crumbed and not at all soggy. The cheese mix was great and the prawns quite big. The beer battered chips were big and crunchy and the only quibble I had was that half the chips were under the parma (I prefer them on the side).

In saying that, the salad was a fresh mix of lettuce, onion and carrot with good dressing - so all in all a very tasty meal.

I definitely will be going back at some stage and trying something different. Maybe I'll make it on a Thursday, which is Parmagianaday when there's a $15 parma and pot special.

The atmosphere of the venue is great - a big, country pub with a fireplace warming the dining room, great service, friendly staff and a relaxing environment. An awesome place to eat parmas.

Oh, and extra points for calling it a parma - not a parmi/parmy.

Pictured below are the Commercial Parma, Nacho Parma and Aussie Parma ...

And have a look at the website: www.commhotel.com.au/parma.html