Spanish Infusion
Dinner Review
The Festival of Food round 2 took me to Panacea in Halifax St, directly across from the well established Greek on Halifax. I presumed that I was about to delve into a great new little Spanish restaurant with some Italian influence which was upbeat and a great after-work venue for the Friday night flurry of beverages or that cool little mid-week hang out with friends for a bite.
As I greeted and sat with my previous festival of foodies, Nick and Athena, it quickly grew apparent that there was a lack of service being offered. Nick and Athena had arrived 5 minutes before me, she had ordered a carafe of Sangria at 6:30pm, yet by 6:45 we had not seen the Sangria, nor had we been offered any further drinks. Finally we hailed down a waiter whose morose attitude and facial expression only increased my initial frustration and disappointment.
With the waiting staff clearly in a state of bedlam and no sector management being enforced, it was like a game of tag to beckon the acknowledgement of our thirst and hunger. After inspecting the broad yet overpriced wine list, my watch struck 7:00pm and we finally received the Sangria. At this point we were also given a menu, yes, I mean one single, solitary, lonely little menu to share between the three of us.
As our mains orders were taken I started to ponder as to whether our treatment thus far was due to the fact that we weren’t full paying patrons - it is compulsory to book under the Festival of Food banner - but I noticed many other diners flashing their flyers too. The meals sounded great on paper, so we ordered the following:
Athena: Slow cooked pork belly with sour citrus & prune compote.
Nick: Grass fed 250gm Tasmanian scotch fillet with hand cut chips & herb butter.
Myself: Goat Tagine with aromatic spices, dried fruits & herb quinoa pilaf.
As the entree platter arrived, I felt a sense of joyous resurrection come over me. The presentation and flavour of each of the components was delicious. The light fluffy texture of the rosemary and sea salt sciachatta (flat bread), the crunchy boldness of the gorgonzola stuffed crumbed olives, the smooth creaminess of the white anchovy and labneh crostini and the crisp spiced pork empanada (pastry) were the kick start my tastebuds needed to override my anxiety of the first 45 minutes.
With a satisfactory wait between courses we were greeted by 3 bland, mediocre looking dishes which just didn’t seem to have any life to them. I’m a big advocate of ‘first impressions count’ and ‘eating with your eyes’, however what we received was a range of dark brown hues with no freshness. The steak was accompanied by overly thick chips; the pork belly was gelatinous, un-crackled and over loaded with the prune compote; the fruity, yet tender, goat was too rich and the quinoa pilaf under-spiced. The food was edible and had loads of flavour, but the richness of the fruit in the goat and the sour citrus & prune compote on the pork were overpowering and left you wanting another drink to rinse and refresh your tastebuds.
We were all left wondering if the dessert selection of chocolate filled churros could return the meal to a happy medium. Nick also decided to order the crème bruleé with angel hair toffee for a sugary overload. As a small ashtray-like dish with finger sized churros appeared in front of us we chuckled, speculating when the other 2 serves might also arrive. Needless to say, our satisfaction levels dropped even lower, but when we tasted the supermarket like crème bruleé we realised that we were now drowning in our own dining despair.
Without doubt I found it difficult to walk out without feeling a little disappointed with the quality of plated produce, but more importantly shocked at the manic inconsistency of service in a jam packed restaurant. This is the first year Panacea has participated in the Festival of Food and I sincerely hope they rise to the levels of expectation that long term fans of this annual event hold. Panacea has a massive opportunity to prove itself as a competitor in a fiercely growing Spanish Tapas culture, with just a few tweaks to meal presentation and service.
Darren Richards
(AKA Dougal McFuzzlebutt)
Special Menu Pricing
Lunch & Dinner Monday – Thursday $29.50
*Bookings and brochure essential. Quote ‘Festival of Food’ when booking
**Full menu options also available
Where: 72 - 74 Halifax Street Adelaide 5000
Trading: Mon – Fri 7:30am – 10pm and Sat 6pm – 10:30pm
Website: panacearestaurant.com.au
Contact: (08) 8232 3523
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
