Panacea

What a find!
We had a great meal at Panacea.
It’s a wonderful restaurant, food fantastic, great quality and the staff are wonderful.
The atmosphere is lovely and the courtyard was a beautiful place to be on a balmy night.
A very pleasant experience

Great Pizza with fresh ingredients. The service was friendly. If anything they were there when you needed them and knew when to leave you alone. Prices are similar to other restaurants in the area but this one has the edge on quality.

My family and I had a wonderful dinner as part of the Festival of Food last week at Panacea. The staff were very friendly and attentive (our table water was always full!), and also very accommodating of vegetarians. The atmosphere was vibrant and refreshing, and thankfully not too noisy (it was easy to converse around the table without straining to hear)!
The tasting plate that we started with was wonderful, comprising stuffed squid, goats cheese with eggplant, semolina and blue cheese puffs, and for the vegetarians (in lieu of the squid) delicious little Spanish tortillas.
The mains were divine, we ordered the baked gorgonzola gnocchi, the risotto, the duck confit and the fabada, as well as some sides — a green salad, and brussel sprouts tossed in chilli and garlic. Everything was superb and extremely flavourful.
Dessert was perfect, a little panna cotta served with honeycomb and a dark chocolate sauce. It finished the meal beautifully.
The wine and drinks menu was great, and had a nice mix of things to suit all the dishes on the menu.
I don’t have a bad thing to say about Panacea. Cannot wait to come back and try more of the menu, I hear the tapas menu is terrific, as well as the pizzas and sangria!

Panacea is my go to place in the city where you want to head into town, have a great meal without having to wait hours for a table.
Definitely try the crumbed olives tapas.
So many favourites that it’s hard to choose a few! Just go along and share some lates between friends with some sangria. You’ll have a great night.

Very impressed with this place! Tucked away in the quieter part of the CBD this cozy little place does some great things! We had the marinated olives, portobello mushrooms, pork belly, and empanadas as tapas and they were all great.
But the star was to come– awesome pizza! We had half potato and half spinach– all amazing.
Excellent service topped off a brilliant night.

Firstly I love the décor in this place, especially the outside garden area with the tree and lights. It has a warm vibe, and cool art both inside and out. We participated in the festival of food offer, which was around $ 35 per person. I loved the scallops with bacon and garlic sauce on the sharing plate. Yum! The duck leg and goat tangine were also tender and flavoursome. I recommend both. The only disappointment was the tiny churros. They could have been bigger. Bigger is better they say ;) Otherwise this is a great place to dine. It would be great in summer.

Looking for a place for a late lunch of shared plates in a sleepy side of downtown Adelaide? Panacea ticks all those boxes. The all-​weather back room of the restaurant was a lovely place to have a leisurely Friday late lunch with hubby (no kids!!). There is a tree in the centre of the room, fireplace and a long fish tank adorns the right side of the room.
Services was friendly and attentive (water & wine glasses refilled promptly).
The menu had a good range of nibbles/​tapas, shared plates and mains. Wine list: a large range of wines by the glass.
Food: we had scallops, lamb skewers, baked semolina gnocchi and crème caramel. The flavors of the scallop and skewers were delicious but scallops were over-​cooked (2 of the four were rubbery) and lamb skewers were very, very chewy and sinewy. I thought the gnocchi was a perfect dish for winter (very moreish and rich) but hubby didn’t think the citrus salad that was placed on top of the bubbling dish went so well with it. Perhaps if it was placed on the side rather than on top of the hot dish it might taste better.
We both agreed that the crème caramel was delicious — creamy yet not too rich or sweet. We could see the specks of vanilla bean in the custard and the biscotti was house-​baked. Coffee was also good.
The kitchen is open all day. We were the only ones having mains at 2.30pm. The entrée arrived promptly but it took over half an hour for our mains to arrive. It didn’t really bother me because I was happy nursing my vino and was not pressed for time.
Specials: half priced pizza & $ 15 jugs of sangria Mon-​Fri 12−6pm. Festival of Food set menu ($ 29.50pp, lunch & dinner Mon-​Thurs) till 27 September 2014 (bookings for that is essential).

Dining with friends, we started with mixed tapas; bread, chorizo, dips, goats cheese and anchovies — I gave the anchovies a miss but the rest was delish.
I had the steak and chips — cooked three times I think, with a crispiness and flavour that was just superb. The stack of five fat chips was just enough… The steak cooked perfectly medium rare. Afterwards I had Churros and chocolate sauce and a very nice espresso.
We sat in the back where there’s a beautiful tree lit up, amazing ambience. Rustic tables and floors. Fireplace in the corner.
Service was friendly, happy, efficient and charming.
*This is going to make me sound like a complete pig, but I was able to try the scallops and pork belly as well. They were great!
Panacea is a delightful and humble place down Halifax, away from the Rundle-​ruckus. Good for friends dining together, great for couples.

Love this place for a casual drink after work and one of their pizzas. Make sure you order before 6pm for the ½ price. Glass of Red and Pizza is the perfect end to a busy week. Atmosphere nice and well located in Halifax street without the busy foot & car traffic.

I was going to book a table at Panacea the night I went to Melt CBD, on account of their vegan-​friendly looking menu. However, my midday call didn’t get responded to until late in the afternoon. As it was short notice, I had to book somewhere so booked Melt instead.
In short, Melt is far better.
FOOD
I phoned ahead to book and verify that they could cater for a vegan. They told me that with such short notice I’d be restricted to a pizza – most of their vegetables are cooked in butter.
I opted for a veganised pizza patate (tomato salsa, kestrel potatoes, caramelised onion, oregano, with some mushrooms to bulk it up a bit). It was perfectly fine, but lacked a little in the the sauce and seasoning department. It simply didn’t have the love put into it which I found at Melt. My partner went the gnocchi which was delicious though overpriced for what it was.
2.5÷5
PRICE
A pizza, pasta and bottle of decent wine – $ 96. For what we got, quite overpriced.
²⁄₅
ATMOSPHERE /​VENUE
No doubt, Panacea is a beautiful space.
3.5÷5
SERVICE
Service was very friendly and quite accommodating.
3.5÷5
–
Overall, ³⁄₅.

Now boys and girls, who knew «panacea» means to «cure all»?
That is the perfect description for the warming, hearty spanish inspired meals served up from a daily changing specials menu and regular pizza and tapas fare here.
Sit amongst birds nest lighting, green walls and in uncomfortable plastic chairs while you watch a chaotic open kitchen steam, clang and heat up inside or take a leisurely look down your nose at passers by as you sip your red wine and nibble tapas under big white umbrellas in the summer breeze outside.
Crispy BBQ quail, simple warmed olives and baked gnocchi are all you really need to look at but there is a very long menu for those who like to feel they have choice. Note thought that this is one of those places where you need to probably allow sharing plate minimum per person though if you want to be full at the end of the night.
Very strong Moroccan, Spanish and meat based flavours engulf most dishes here and you will get rich flavours like goats cheese, marinated herbs and plenty of salt coming through with most dishes — but it is worth it.
Service is hilariously attentive — I have had 2 people serving my table all 3 times I have been to date. And waitered service like that is normally a lot more expensive in Adelaide now-​days. It really makes you feel special and enhances the experience of «being amongst it» where you are literally next to the open kitchen if you are in the main area.
If you don’t fancy flashing the AMEX card then dine here with the suits and ties or stockings and slippers (very few of those) for lunch and dinner from 12−6pm Monday to Thursday for half price pizzas and jugs of sangria — bargain!

Walking down Halifax Street, I was quite surprised to find Panacea tucked away amongst the sleepy residential side of town. One of my friends, a fellow Unilocaler, had been recommending Panacea for a while. Walking in, it’s immediate that you’re amongst friends — the service is amazing. Part of it’s charm for me is the size of the restaurant. It’s not overly big and you’re not likely to get lost amongst a sea of tables.
We were placed at one of the ‘bar’ tables that run along the front of the open kitchen. They’re higher than the rest of the tables but they give you ample room for the many plates that will arrive and give you a great view of the chefs in action. I couldn’t fault the food and two particular dishes that were stand outs were the fried pea and leek dumplings and the roasted pumpkin seeds.
I do recommend booking in advance though, especially on Saturday nights as it can get quite busy. This is a excellent restaurant, great food, great service and great atmosphere!

Had heard good things, and I am a bit mixed. I went with husband and two friends and I had a great meal. After being ‘such a girl’ and asking to move tables as there was a ginormous black spider in the lamp above my head (Which a very nice staff person promptly removed) we ordered four tapas style plates and mains each. The croquettes were creamy, the meatballs absolutely delicious, the labneh could have come with bread instead of us having to order it extra and the whitebait fritters were a bit dry and odd.
The mains took about 40 mins to come out after that, yes the restaurant was busy but it was still a bit long. My goat tagine with quinoa was brilliant, the dried fruit and goat going so well together. Terry’s 3 little pigs pizza wasn’t something he overly enjoyed, as the meats were a bit fatty. The herrings (Tommy Ruff for all South Aussies) were small but tasty according to friend 1 and friend 2’s seafood was enjoyed by her. I’ll say 3 stars for the food and the cool atrium and the nice staff but the wait for food got to me in the end. My belly will not wait!

If you take a new girlfriend or boyfriend on a date to Panacea, you’d best not be saving yourself for marriage.
Panacea is the kind of restaurant you hope the new restaurant you’re trying is going to be like.
The only think wrong with this place is that it’s across the road from the Greek, which is better known and sees more action.
Panacea is the kind of restaurant where you can sit down and say «bring me some food and some wine» and they will feed you spectacular platters until you have a dopamine overdose and collapse into a mess of drool and incoherent bliss mumblings.
In closing: go to this restaurant and eat their tasty tasty food until you don’t want to anymore.

This restaurant in a sleepy residential city street is one of Adelaide’s hidden gems.
It has a nice, relaxed, unpretentious feel about it — from the warm, welcoming and accommodating staff to the music track.
DAY/​NIGHT MENU
The are some outstanding dishes on the menu, from the tapas, to the tasting plates to the main plates — and my bloke reckons the pizza is the best he has had in Adelaide. Highlights include the Croquettas (crumbed and fried with peas and leek), the vegetarian
, the gluten free Tommy Ruffs Australian Herrin chargrilled and served whole and the Signature tasting plate of pork belly, duck, garfish, scallops, chorizo y gabanzos.
DIETARY REQUIREMENTS
There is something for all dietary requirements at this restaurant — and people on vegetarian and gluten free diets are spoilt for choice.
DESSERT AND CHEESE
There’s a great selection of dessert and cheese tasting plates, such as the Spanish style doughnuts Churros with melted dipping chocolate and the gluten free
Manchego Spanish sheep’s milk cheese, which also appears in the tapas menu.
PIZZA
The pizzas deserve a special mention because the crusts are so thin and crispy. There’s a great selection and you can opt to get a take away — and the restaurant halves the prices from 12−6pm Monday to Thursday.
There are some really imaginative options, such as the
Fungi tomato salsa, with parmesan, Swiss brown mushrooms and rosemary, the
Patate tomato salsa, kestrel potatoes, caramelised onion, feta cheese and oregano and the
confit Duck pizza with tomato salsa, mozzarella and braised spinach.
BREAKFAST
The fact there are no cooked breakfast on the menu is the only thing stopping me awarding this place five stars for being as good as it gets.
There are still some interesting dishes, such as the
Chuross, but I really would like to see at least a Spanish omelet on the menu.
DRINKS MENU
There’s a good wine list, interesting range of cocktails, spirits, aperitifs, liqueurs and digestives and an adequate beer list.
DECOR
The black patterned chairs match the light shades on the ceiling and go well with the wooden tables with black metal supports.
OUTSIDE DINING AREAS
There’s a nice alfresco dining area on the street with large umbrellas, and another area out the back.