The chicken parma, or parmi, is Victoria's pub staple: crumbed chicken breast, tomato sugo, leg ham and melted cheese served with chips and a pot of Carlton Draught.

The chicken parma evolved in Victorian pubs in the 1950s and 1960s as an Australian adaptation of veal parmigiana, itself a New York Italian-American invention rather than an Italian one. The shift to chicken happened in Australia for cost reasons, and the schnitzel-tomato-cheese-ham construction became standardised across Melbourne pubs by the late 1980s. The form has its own politics: the chips must be on the same plate, the ham must be quality leg ham, and Carlton Draught is the proper accompaniment. Pubs from the Builders Arms in Fitzroy to suburban beer barns compete in annual best-parma polls.

1 editor pick for Chicken Parma in Melbourne, ranked by editorial score. All Melbourne signature dishes · Chicken Parma across every city.

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