Coventry Pavilion — Restaurant in Western Australia

A Disappointing Experience at The Pavilion, Morley: The $29 Miniature Parmi Disaster

Dining out should be an enjoyable experience—good food, reasonable prices, and a venue that delivers on its promises. Unfortunately, my recent visit to The Pavilion in Morley was anything but. While I typically approach restaurants with an open mind, I can confidently say that my experience here left me feeling frustrated, ripped off, and questioning how such a place justifies its pricing. The main culprit? A $29 chicken parmigiana that was, to put it bluntly, laughably small.

The Great Parmi Rip-Off

Ordering a chicken parmigiana at an Australian pub is usually a safe bet. It’s a staple dish, a comforting classic that should come with a generous portion of crispy, golden crumbed chicken topped with rich Napoli sauce, melted cheese, and a side of chips and salad. At $29, I expected The Pavilion’s parmi to be something special—perhaps an extra-large portion, top-quality ingredients, or a unique twist that justified the price. What arrived at my table, however, was borderline insulting.

The plate placed before me was a tragic sight. The piece of chicken was embarrassingly small—closer to a large chicken nugget than a proper parmi. It looked dwarfed by the plate itself, a lonely, sad little cutlet that barely warranted the name “chicken parmigiana.” I initially thought there had been a mistake, perhaps a kitchen mix-up where I was accidentally served a child’s meal, but no—this was the real deal, the full-priced parmi I had paid nearly thirty dollars for.

To make matters worse, the meal was just as underwhelming in taste as it was in size. The chicken, while not completely inedible, lacked the crispy, satisfying crunch you’d expect. The sauce was forgettable—thin, lacking in depth, and spread so sparingly that I wondered if they were rationing tomatoes in the kitchen. The cheese was fine but did little to elevate the dish. The chips and salad were standard, nothing worth writing home about, and certainly not enough to distract from the main disappointment staring me in the face.

The Price vs. Portion Insanity

Let’s break this down. $29 for a standard pub meal isn’t unheard of in today’s inflated dining scene, but if a restaurant is going to charge that much, the portion size needs to reflect the price. I have had massive parmigianas at other venues for a fraction of the cost—huge, generously topped, satisfying meals that actually leave you full. What I got at The Pavilion was the complete opposite. I finished my meal in minutes, still hungry, still annoyed, and still wondering how this place gets away with such an absurd price-to-portion ratio.

It’s almost comedic that a dish so small could be priced so high. I could have bought a supermarket schnitzel, cheese, and sauce for less and made a better parmi myself at home. Hell, even fast-food chains serve larger, better-priced chicken-based meals. The Pavilion’s pricing feels like an outright scam, an attempt to squeeze every possible dollar from diners while offering as little as possible in return.

Burned Burgers and Overall Disappointment

While my parmi disaster was the focal point of my disappointment, it wasn’t the only issue with our meal. A friend of mine ordered a burger, which arrived with cheese that was fully blackened and burned. Not slightly crispy, not caramelized—burned. It was as if the kitchen had simply given up and decided to serve the dish in its inedible state rather than making a fresh one. This lack of care and quality control only reinforced the feeling that The Pavilion values profit over customer...

We seen this place online and it looked amazing and great prices so we booked the meat platter we arrived on time waited behind this other couple that were there before us after 5 minuets a woman from the bar told us we had to go to the ipad at the bar to be seated there was no signage stating this and it was located at the walkway staff used to access the bar and the kitchen (clear hazard) then a woman came and we told her our name she checked us in on the ipad and took us to our seats then left without telling us about any drink specials or what to do about our meal so we assumed it must be getting prepared after she checked us in so we got some drinks and waited about 30 minutes and asked the same woman about our food she told us "you need to tell the people at the bar" the bar by this point was extremely busy after being in line for about 10 more minuets i was surved by the manager who i told my table number and name and that we would like our food i returned to my seat and 15 minuets later the same manager came up and removed our reservation sign 5 minuets after that the same woman who seated us came back and told off for removing the sign another 15 minuets out came our food and we were just shocked it looked the first picture is the expectation saucy, meaty collection of Pork Belly, Brisket, Ribs, Wings, Burnt Ends & More...Yum! (Their words) side bowels were ment to be chips and the "more" from their description what we got was rubbery pork belly, fatty horrible brisket, ribs that look like something you would give a dog, over fried wings that was mostly hollow, chicken that looked boiled with pesto dumped on top, cold stale chips, some dried out corn, didnt even attempt the macaroni bites and have no clue what happened to the more so we just left didnt finish our drinks and left the platter after the disgusting bits we tried around $100 down the drain and about 1hr and 35 minuets absolutly wasted i would highly recommend not going here save your money and your taste buds theres absolutely no organisation by the staff or consideration to the customers we seen another couple and a table...

Omg, a perfect little unknown spot in Morley and the staff were simply amaaaaazing!!!

We ordered the pear and rocket salad with walnuts, pork belly bites and due to dietary requirements for me, a customised salad with chicken...and it was TO DIE for. ALL of it!

The staff and events manager (Harley) were happy to help cater to my dietary requirements. Friendly, approachable, ZERO eyerolling/stink eye when I asked about special diet. I was super surprised when our order arrived, he did not disappoint. A generous serving AND quality grilled chicken and Cajun chicken tenderloins (the opposite if dry too!!! Plump, juicy AND cooked) with a considerate (on the side) dressing tasting better than I've had before.... I'll go back just for that!! Harley truly NAILED the dietary briefing.

The pork belly bites was a PERFECT entree size for the price. NOT revoltingly fatty and it was cooked to perfection with the right amount of sauce = not overly sickly sweet! Again, perfection with taste in each bite.

Next we have the pear, rocket and walnut salad. Heaven served on a plate. You can add beef, chicken or whatever else takes your fancy on the menu. We opten for plain. Heaps of nuts and perfect amount of accompanying salad.

The prices are superb and the team served a generous amount that took the hunger pains away. Friendly, appropriate, eager to please with a "can do!" attitude most hospitality places lack.

The best bit, we didn't wait ages nor hours for this!!!

The drinks were cold, the food was amazingly priced and the staff bent over backwards to help.

4/5 stars for food ONLY because the Vietnamese salad wasn't available...

5/5 stars for staff.

I WISH I had taken pics....

Look out Coventry Pavillion, we are coming...