Twenty One Espresso

Twenty One Espresso, Double Bay

Date: January 9th, 2015
Type: half-half (half chicken, half veal)
With: cucumber salad and cream spinach
Price: $29 (i think)

Oh Double Bay, how did you get left so squarely in the 80's? What a bizarre suburb!
The Twenty One Espresso Cafe is a little Hungarian Cafe that does, amongst a bunch of other things, schnitzels. Although pricey, the schnitzels are clearly made from scratch rather than frozen; nice and thin and crispy. It was also unanimously decided that the veal half was tastier than the chicken half.
I wouldn't say this is my favourite schnitzel or that you can't find a schnitzel better elsewhere, but it was definitely good. The thing that made this schnitzel so good was easily the spinach cream. I'm not sure what they did to make that glorious green mush, but it was excellent.
Overall: splendid..... 4.32 out of 5.

The Albion Hotel

The Albion Hotel, Wickham

Date: some time in August

Type: schnitzel

Price: $17.50, plus and extra $5 for the garlic king prawns

With: salad and chips

Sure you pay a little more than your average pub meal here, but what you get is some very tasty food indeed. This schnitzel was eaten by someone else (I had the pie of the day and it was amazing), but by all accounts the schnitzel was excellent. Even though they put the schnitzel on top of the chips (which is a bit of a schnitzel safari faux pas), a good salad with a little more than just lettuce and tomato goes a long way. Good work Albion Hotel.

Hotel Pennant Hills

Hotel Pennant Hills, Pennant Hills

Date: 7th September 2014 (or thereabouts)

Type: chicken

Price: $20

With: Salad, chips and gravy

If you enjoy a room full of children with no windows, then this pub is for you! I bet you're thinking "$20?!?!?".... well yes, $20. And no, it's wasn't worth $20. Although it was touted in the menu as a "panko crumbed chicken schnitzel", the schnitzel itself was one of the standard "heart-shaped" models, lovingly grabbed out of the freezer and deep fried. Not very fancy at all. The chips were not bad (not too chubby) and the salad.... well.... it was salad.

Don't worry. If my memory serves me rightly, it did taste nice.

Newington Inn Hotel, Petersham

Newington Inn, Petersham

Date: 21st March 2014

Type: chicken parmigiana

Price: can't remember

With: chips, aioli and coleslaw

Another schnitzel that was the saviour of the drunk person. I had no idea that the Newington Inn did such decent food. I had very low expectations indeed. The schnitzel was reasonably sized and the topping was just enough to make it a bit different. I probably would have asked for slightly more chubby chips, but all in all, a very good meal.

Note: sorry about the $50. My bad.

P.J. Gallagher’s Irish Pub, Leichhardt

P.J. Gallagher’s, Leichhardt

Date: 16th March 2014Type: ChickenPrice:$20With: chips and salad


Who knew that this pub had transformed into an irish pub?And what kind of irish pub was largely empty on the day before St Patricks day? An irish pub in leichhardt, that's what.


I can't tell you how thankful i am that i consumed this meal. Eleventy pints down and there was so much potential for carnage... but no! I made it home and can remember the whole night!
Anyway, the schnitzel (as much of it as i can remember) was pretty nice. Crunchy on the outside and thick and squishy on the inside. The chips weren't too chubby...and the salad... well, it was salady. Thumbs up, if you don't mind setting foot in an irish pub.

Rooty Hill RSL, Sydney

Rooty Hill RSL, Rooty Hill

Date: 14th March 2014

Type: Chicken

With: chips, coleslaw and mushroom sauce

Price: $29

After a hard afternoon at Wet'n'Wild getting down with some hot water-sliding action, what better place to fill those empty tummies than at the fabled Rooty Hill RSL..... or so we thought.

For $29 you get what is called the "ultimate" schnitzel. Although, it seems that in Rooty Hill "ultimate" means "standard schnitzel with a mound of coleslaw bigger than your head. The schnitzel was big, but the crumbs didn't quite have the right consistency. They looked like crumbed but they seemed to be attached to the schnitzel in more of a batter and directly attached (if that almost makes sense). The chips were fine, but the coleslaw... ridiculous! So much mayonaise. ugh. 

I'm also not quite sure why the chips and coleslaw had to be elevated on an extra piece of wood. Mysterious.

Verdict: 1.9 out of 5.

Forresters $12 World of Schnitzel night

The Forresters, Surry Hills, NSW

Tuesday is $12 World of Schnitzel night at Forresters, Surry Hills. There are 5 flavours to choose from: Hawaiian, Japanese, German, Mexican, and Parmigiana. How exotic!

I decided to live crazy and get the German one with swiss cheese, sauerkraut and Jäger sauce. They totally nailed the German. With my first mouthful I had an instant flashback to Oktoberfest (the $5 happy hour pints I enjoyed earlier down the road at Excelsior Hotel probably also helped). If you don’t like the sour of the sauerkraut then this flavour is not for you, as the schnitzel was loaded with a good helping of the stuff. The schnitzel was also covered in Jäger sauce but not drowning so no soggy schnitzel problem. The right ratio of sauce to schnitzel. Can’t say I noticed the cheese, I’m not sure that swiss cheese really belongs on a German schnitzel anyway?!  

Obviously the main attraction here is the wonderful topping flavours but it’s also worth noting that the schnitzel was a good thickness, cooked well and succulent. As well as the schnitzel and topping, for $12 you also get fries (chunky variety) and coleslaw (possibly homemade?). It was a decent feed. Probably my only complaint was that the meal was warm, not hot, like it had been sitting there for a while before it reached me. Probably a reflection on how busy they were more than anything.  

Overall the sauerkraut, Jäger sauce and schnitzel combined perfectly to make for one delicious meal with generous sides. Will definitely go back and try the other 4 flavours.

*Gemma