I’ve had many a drink at PJ’s over the years, but I’ve never eaten here, until today.

At one time, I used to be a regular, because a friend of mine regularly played in a band here. There’d be drinking and there’d be dancing, and on a few occasions I’d still be here at 5am in the morning. Of course, the atmosphere is different depending on what time you come here. After 9pm on a weekend, this place is dark and loud, and the crowds can get rowdy, but any other time, it’s generally relaxed.

As far as the food goes, it’s essentially mainstream pub fare with a few Irish dishes thrown in. This place has regular specials, with $5 pizzas everyday and $10 steaks on Fridays. They currently have an “Around the World Parmy” promotion where you can select from 6 different toppings on your Chicken Schnitzel Parmigiana. This comes with chips, salad and half a pint of Pale Ale for $15.

Today, I ordered the Hungarian Chicken Parmi which has salami and olives on top. The meal took 30 minutes to arrive after ordering and was nicely presented. The schnitzel was a nice size and about an inch in thickness. The chicken unfortunately was dry and it was obviously over cooked. The Napoletana sauce was conservatively applied. The sauce was visible on the schnitzel, but there was so little of it, you couldn’t taste it. There was a decent amount of salami provided and the olives were properly pipped. I did think the taste of the olives seemed to overpower the dish. The mozzarella topping has appropriate coverage of the schnitzel and was a beautiful golden brown.

The vegetables in the salad were fresh and crisp, but there was so little of it. The dressing used was an olive tapenade, which was adequately applied. The chips were of a medium cut and perfectly cooked. They were nice and crunchy on the outside, and soft and fluffy in the centre.

My friend had the Beef and Guinness Pie and was quite content with her dish.

The staff were friendly but the service was very slow, particularly when there weren’t many customers. I only found out later that I was supposed to get half a pint of ale with my dish, which I never received.  The atmosphere was relaxed, although the outdoor seating is next to a bus stop. If you don’t like carbon monoxide fumes, it’s suggested you sit indoors during the day. The pricing here is on par with other drinking establishments, however, my meal was average at best.

The should have got 3 stars, but I’ll take one off for depriving me of my ale.

WHERE: 14 East Tce, Adelaide