Panam

welp. the curse of this space has taken its toll.
So long Panam… Hello to another French Bistro (Bisou) helmed by chef Nick Ronan and the team from Chouchou Bistro in Forest Hill.
GrubStreet article:
i think im OK with this though. Panam was just pretty good, and i thoroughly enjoyed my experience at ChouChou. hopefully the team can recreate their little gem thats all the way out in Forest Hill!

Endless bloody marys. Sounds classier than bottomless but the results are the same: drunk shopping.
The P’s prefer a spicier mary and when Dr. P asked for spicy, they gave her a bottle of Tabasco. Fine dining it’s not but hilarious nonetheless. We had the Italian omelette with egg whites, a burger medium, granola, fries and potatoes. The granola was excellent and sat on top of something that had the texture of whipped cream but which I assume was yogurt. The omelette was good but no better than anywhere else. The burger was fantastic, juicy and perfectly cooked. The fries were better than the potatoes but both were great.
The portions were just right, not large at all. If you’re looking for a more mellow bottomless breakfast beverage experience than Lime, I’d recommend it. Be careful though. I saw a woman slip down the stairs and all I could think was: There, but for the grace of God, go I.

A nice alternative for mimosa brunch if your usual places are fully booked. We had Easter brunch at Panam and had a decent time. The food was alright but we had good friendly service, especially early on when it wasn’t crowded, and it’s always just nice to catch up with old friends anyway.
Bottomless mimosas or bloody mary for $ 10 with brunch. Check.
I was thinking of the Omelette Italienne when we decided to ask our server for recommendations. He recommended their burger and Croque Madame since, «an omelette is an omelette.» Good point I thought. So with that we had 2 orders of the Croque Madame (
) and a French Club sandwich (
).
The sandwiches were good. Rich cheeses melted onto good crusty bread, the Croque Madame was a nice choice for brunch. I also liked that you get a side salad of fresh greens which is a nice change from greasy potatoes that I normally succumb too. The French Club was a ridiculous tower of meat stacked between bread. It’s one big sandwich.
One thing that did bug me though was that while we weren’t bum-​rushed out of the restaurant, they kinda just ignore you for a while. Granted the restaurant got busier but it would have been nice to just relax a little more after a meal and not feel like you were being ignored so you would get up and leave. I wouldn’t mind paying more for the drinks so we can take our time to chat after our meal.
All things considered, Panam is a nice brunch alternative but there are many other places in the city to have a leisure brunch and catch up with friends.

I hate to disappoint you all but Panam is not 60’s airline themed. I was disappointed when I discovered this but your expectations may be different. I don’t know why it’s called Panam.
The interior has been carefully designed to make efficient use of interior space and to keep design within reach in business; they can seat a ton of people cosily while still making the place seem airy and modern. Come to think of it, the long tables along the wall under the balcony do feel like the fuselage of an airplane so maybe that’s where the Pan Am reference is. This is all beside the point though.
The point is that service is friendly and attentive, the mimosas and bloody marys are bottomless during brunch (and you can switch back and forth), and the french toast is very good. I thought I made good french toast, but I know know that mine sucks. Thanks for that, Panam.

Really interesting décor and layout of this place makes you feel that you might be dining in the Ten Forward from Star Trek.
It was four of us and three my dining companions ordered burger and I went with Egg Benedict.
My dish was satisfying and pretty good, however all my friends while ordered burgers medium rare, got it well done…
I like Castro for it’s vibrant personality and will get back to the Panam to enjoy once more bottomless mimosas and Bloody Mary.

Went for dinner a couple weeks back and the food and service was impeccable. Came back again for lunch and shared the french club sandwich and the burger with choron sauce.
The club was just a little too watery with some sort of mayo sauce. The burger was absolutely wonderful. The service, again, was great. Loved the music and vibe of the restaurant. It was packed at 2:00pm on a Saturday. Definitely one of the better restaurants in the Castro.

I really loved Frisee but I was excited to check out Pan-​Am as a late night dining option in my hood.
Service was good and they brought me water while I waited for my party to arrive.
On a Friday night there were only a few tables full and the four of us were seated right away. Lucky for us they had the same drinks we were enjoying at happy hour: A Moscow Mule and a Sazerac. Unlucky for us, they were no where near as good.
In terms of the food, there were a lot of things on the menu that sounded super good… The Lobster and Black Truffle (tasty but not memorable) and the Duck Ravioli (great sauce but super salty and not a lot of duck) being two of them. I just wasn’t blown away and did not feel good about spending that much money for that kind of food. When I got to five star restaurants and have five star food I don’t mind, but the quality didn’t match the prices for me.
Our friends who went soon after that said they had apps but decided to skip out on entrees for the same reason. All in all, this is a good place for late night small plates, but the prices are definitely inflated for the quality.
I think i’d give them another shot for the new bottomless mimosa brunch though!

I’ll start by admitting that we didn’t eat here. We tried.
Walked by about 2 pm today, looking for someplace to have a late lunch or brunch. Their brunch menu looked interesting and we’ve been intending to try this place. But there were no hours posted, and I wasn’t sure if they were still serving. (There were several tables dining and/​or drinking inside.) I asked my partner to wait while I went in to ask about their brunch hours.
There was nobody at the host (ess) stand. I went to the bar to ask about the hours. There were three employees chatting over something together behind the bar. I waited, and waited, and waited, and after four or five minutes of standing there (quite a long time) none of the staff even acknowledged that I was there. They were too busy chatting to even look up and notice me.
There was only one server who wasn’t behind that bar chatting, but he was busy serving his customers. I’ll give them a couple of stars for that.
I gave up and walked out. If this is indicative of their customer service, I don’t want to give them my business anyway.

Came here with the bff because it was sunday and what better way to kickoff a Sunday with bottomless mimosas? The place was crackin with a bunch of people, but we were seated immediately and ordered some mimosas to start. The mimosas were good, but not great. Some tasted too champagne-​y and some tasted like straight OJ. But hey, by my 6^th mimosa, I didn’t really care. I ordered an omelet with prosciutto, mushrooms, and gruyère. Now I’m usually not one to ever complain of «too much» anything, but TOO MUCH prosciutto! And the prosciutto wasn’t cut up or anything, just like slabs of it in my omelet so basically some bites had layers and layers of the meat. too salty and not good. The potatoes were crispy, but a bit too oily and the greens were okay.
The servers were all really attentive (although it took forever for my first mimosa refill, but then they were real quick with it). We even finished our food and moved to the bar for more mimosas (i know, rock bottom) but the place was fun. Once they have better, louder music, this place will be a hit.

Pretentious. «Small plates» served on dinnerware the size of the two-​top cocktail table. If a party is only ordering small plates, please don’t bring them all out at once. Expecially since you know they won’t fit on your little tables.
The Hamachi crudo was lovely. The delicate hamachi combined well with the earthiness of the shitake mushroom and and the acidity of the citrus. Unfortunately, it was the only dish we enjoyed.
Salmon Gravlax: disappointed by the lack of flavor and there was a bone in it.
Seared Ahi Tuna: tough, tasteless, parts of it were stringy and inedible.
Happy hour cocktail: too sweet.

Potentially the most underrated restaurant in Castro. The small plates and entrées have much fine detail placed on them such as foams, froths, confitted meat, truffles and fancy sauces. The desserts are serious works of art that you’d expect from a Michelin 2 or 3 star restaurant. Heck, the visual mastery of the desserts alone are reason enough to come to this place!
Duck Raviole: I love when small plates (a.k.a. appetizers) are actually small. Nothing worse than ruining your appetite on a gargantuan bowl of deep fried calamari. The tender pasta shell and succulent duck shreds were just right for whetting my appetite. The port raisins tasted more like vinegar raisins, way too bitter for this dish!
7 Hour Braised Lamb Panam: Slow cooked lamb is always a treat due to its tenderness and homey warmth. The «confit» style was new to me for slow cooked lamb and I fully enjoyed the fatty crispness. The greens interspersed helped contrast the richness. Too bad the portion was so small despite such an inexpensive shoulder cut of lamb.
Lobster and Black Truffle: A few tiny puddles of truffle froth livened up the ever regal lobster bits. Wish they used the more potent white truffle for a real kick! The bed of cooked greens, including Brussels sprouts leaves, were tasty but best enjoyed in separate bites since it could easily overpower the delicate lobster and black truffle.
Filet Mignon: A no frills filet. Could have been seared more. The béarnaise sauce was a disappointment — too much lemon juice and not enough butter. That much citrus is best reserved for surf, not turf.
Truffle Mash Potatoes: The companion of the lamb, possessing much more personality than a regular mash. I mean, what doesn’t taste better with truffles? Could have been taken to the next level with a greedy truffle gravy!
French Fries: Very crispy. Thicker than ultra thin frites, but worked as a good side kick to the filet mignon.
1000 Feuille Chocolat: Three layers instead of one thousand. The chocolate cream in between the crispy wafer-​like crust layers was out of control. Loved dissecting the dark chocolate rib cage surrounding it. What a contrast of textures and flavors! Best dessert by far.
Coco Panam: Not terribly intense on the coconut. Felt more like white chocolate with a little pizazz. Best to stick to the dark chocolate or milk chocolate options. Still looked pretty.
Mousse Chocolat: If Lady Gaga were a dessert, this would be it! So many rings of chocolate and sugar made this look more like a stage act. The mousse itself was too dense though did have a decent flavor, but the aesthetics sure made up for it.

I’m going to have to agree with several previous posters about the heavy handed salting of most dishes.
I went on Wednesday night and started with a special 5 dollar Skyy Martini. This was my first and worst mistake of the night. When it comes to alcohol I am a mid to low taster, and if it’s so bad that even I can tell it’s got to be god-​awful. You couldn’t have paid ME 5 dollars to drink it.
Fortunately, things improved. One thing that didn’t improve was my seat against the wall. Seriously, this enormous upholstered red ultrasuede banquette-​cum-​wave décor was clearly custom made and you couldn’t provide more than an inch of far too spongy foam cushioning?! My fat ass has a reasonable amount of cushioning but not enough to keep from complaining about your seating.
Amuse bouche was a shot of creamy veggie soup. I’m guessing it was mostly broccoli. It was tasty and very very hot.
Crab mimosa salad was a generous and yummy serving of crab with proscuitto and greens. Weird little fried potato ball surrounded by mayonnaise.
Very yummy duck, pink on the inside, sliced and served on a mound of crazily cheesy/​gooey/​buttery spaetzle, oodles of mushrooms as well.
Truffle mash was a little bit of a disappointment, they were whipped to the a gluey gooey sticky consistency. The aroma of truffle oil goes a long way though, so although texturally unappealing, it all made it’s way into my belly.
Mille feuille was an architectural wonder served up on a piece of flagstone. Awkward to eat but a visual value for 8 dollars.
Server was sweet and tables were cleared quickly and efficiently. I got my meat knife before my main course showed up and my glasses were kept full.

I took more than a week to mull over what was one of the worst meals I’ve had in San Francisco.
A little free amuse bouche came to the table. It was a cream of mushroom soup. It was worse than canned soup and tasted strongly of salt.
I had frog’s legs in a persillade sauce to begin. When the dish arrived I found out instead of a traditional persillade, the tiny frog knuckles were coated in a parsely tempura. That could have been ok, but the tempura had zero flavor and completely overshadowed the frog (which was tough, bland and a little cold.) There was a little parsely olive oil purée on the plate along with some little cherry tomatoes.
Next I had the coq au vin. What arrived at the table were several circular slices of chicken breast cooked hard as a rock over a little bordelaise sauce that managed to taste like nothing except salt. It was served with a side of vegetables stewed to the point that they were mushy and all tasted the same. I couldn’t eat it.
Service seemed a little lax as well. The place wasn’t very busy and most of the waiters were leaning up against something talking the entire meal. My waiter seemed nice. The waitress on the next table had no idea what she was describing to guests. She said the Chocolate Mille Feuille was a chocolate dessert that was chocolatey.
Fortunately they have a great bar. May be if I come back I will stick to drinks.

My meal was excellent because I listened to SF Weekly’s horrible review of this place. We agree that the duck ravioli is AMAZING! I would come back over and over but only order that. My friend also liked his duck breast but said the skin was not crispy enough. Needs some time in the broiler. My fennel and green bean salad was gross but that’s my fault. I knew the ingredients weren’t really in season anymore.
SF Weekly and everyone at my table thought everything else sucked. Including some of the drinks. Why does the food in the Castro suck so bad?

Wow, this is an amazing place. I had frog legs — gourmet style — for the first time, and they were delicious. I loved the drink selections (they have a full bar) and the other appetizers I tried were just amazing. The chef is apparently very recognized and I can see why. Just really good combinations of tastes.
I was eating and drinking there with my friend, the amazing designer, Maxime Genauzeau (D.M.G. Design), who actually designed Panam. I have to give him a shout out, because he did such a wonderful job.
I plan on returning this weekend for drinks and appetizers — it’s very close to home. :)

My friends and I dined there Sunday night after a long day out. There were 3 of us.
I had the vegetable risotto which was very very good.
My friends enjoyed their meals as well. One started with the frog legs, which he raved about. He also had the lentil soup, which was good. I took a taste. My other friend had the prawn appetizer and the chicken for his main meal. He also enjoyed it. Only one of us drank… next time :)
Our waitress also showed us a dessert, which was beautiful looking. Although none of us ordered dessert.
I loved the ambience of the restaurant and the colors.
I’ll definitely be back and hope it succeeds.

My friends and I came here for late night desserts and drinks. My gf and I shared the dessert for two and it was fabulous — all the desserts were included in small portions. It should really cost more than $ 18 for the quality and deliciousness!
The drinks were stiff (something you should expect from any restaurants/​bars in the castro, a plus for me!). The mojito there was one of the best I’ve had.
Love the décor and ambiance. It’s a great place for delicious treats and good drinks!

Suspense gripped us as we received the bill. Like the quarterback in a football movie where his entire life flashes through his mind as the ball sails through the air towards the wide receiver in the end zone, we paused. Nervously clutching our napkins, not knowing what we had in store once we opened the plastic booklet holding our receipt, we sat in wait.
I moved first for the receipt, but hesitated, remembering asking for a wine list only to be rebuffed by a baby-​faced server who reminded me this, after all, was opening night, and a wine list had not yet been printed up. I could see my dining partner mentally wrestling with himself recalling the hour we spent waiting for our appetizers, only to have them arrive so undercooked the words Al Dente are probably too glamorous a description. Or, was he recalling the next hour we waited for our entrees, during which time our server brought us a glass of wine that was not what we had ordered?
I heaved a sigh and looked around the dining room to cool down and noticed the pile of broken glass in the corner where a runner had swept someone’s drunken foibles to the wall, only to have forgotten about the rule that if a glass breaks in a retail establishment, it’s probably best to clean up the mess. I turned back to the crowd looking for inspiration. Though my dining partner and I were clearly the only straight men in the entire restaurant– opening night at a restaurant in the Castro, Nils? What would your kids think?– our new friends around us sat laughing over the fact that they were served the wrong dishes (no, duck does not resemble lamb) and that we were denied the phantom filet mignon that had emerged from the kitchen without an owner.
Now was the time. Man-​up, Ross. It’s now or never. So, I dove in and opened the bill with my confidant looking green. Instead of a receipt, I found a note that merely stated «Thank You!»
Huzzah! The day was won.
We paid the tip and left, never to return since this place will be closed in a month.

Even champions can stumble out of the gate.
One thing is certain, and that is that Panam, and by association chef/​co-​owner Laurent Guillaume, definitely have a pair of brass ones. Their menu of classic French dishes is overly ambitious; the appetizers alone would bring Julia Child to her knees. What’s more, only a froggie could produce such a caliber of wine list. We tried several by the glass, all reasonably priced and delicious. But while Chef Guillaume’s menu exhibits brio and bravado, the delivery falls well short of the mark.
The best dish of the evening was, by far, the dessert, the 1000 FEUILLE CHOCOLAT — thin sheets of chocolate layered with macadamia nut cream, enshrined by a chocolate «slinky» and spun sugar. Had we started the meal with dessert, we would have left very, very impressed and clamoring for more.
The FOIE GRAS TORCHONS were billed as «slow cooking», and indeed, they took forever and a day to materialize at our table. Spread on some slightly burnt brioche with a dab of Medjool mash, the foie gras ruffled my interest, but did not have me pining for more. The DUCK RAVIOLI in a raisin-​port reduction and a truffle thyme emulsion was a striking confluence of flavors. The sauce, instead of suffering from the collision of disparate ingredients, held together beautifully, and we mopped up every drop with some decent pommes frites and French bread. It was the ravioli itself that brought this dish down a notch. The pasta was not thoroughly cooked and was mostly devoid of any trace of web-​footed waterfowl.
The main courses, slightly displaced and re-​routed to a number of tables instead of ours, were a swing and a miss. Both the lamb Panam and the ‘Moscovic’ duck (intended to be Muscovy, perhaps?) had us swapping looks of, «I wonder if his is any better?» The lamb, despite its 7-​hour braising and a beautiful consistency, was devoid of flavor. The duck had slightly more to offer, but mostly because of its jus and the mushroom and spaetzle accompaniment. Similarly, the truffle mash potatoes that came with the lamb were a hit, and not just for us, but for the surrounding tables as well.
For all of its flaws, Panam showed humility and appreciation to its customers. There were public apologies, the likes of which made up for much of the evening’s fits and starts. The waitstaff, in spite of the foibles, kept it together and showed a modicum of poise, all the while never getting a break. I walked away from Panam disappointed with the food, but sympathetic to a newcomer that is reaching for great heights. In the end, I had respect for how they handled themselves in a crisis and I hold out hope that this will pay off over time. Their conciliatory gestures won’t bring salvation, but they were a nice comb-​over.
I also learned a harsh lesson, which smarted as if my conscience had been rapped with a slide rule. I cherished the possibility of nabbing a Unilocal «first» for Panam, and early in the evening I selfishly looked forward to the distinction, and for what? A number? Bragging rights? As the meal wore on (and on… and on…), and as the fabric of our opening night experience unraveled, I blanched at the thought of writing a negative first review. I envisioned how disappointing it would be for the hopeful new restaurant to be tripped out of the gate by a pitiless critic. In the end, my ambition was tempered by mercy, and I’ve opted instead never to judge a restaurant by its opening night. It deserves some runway, a chance to spread its wings before being clipped by ass clowns like me. Everyone deserves a mulligan, especially when you’re new to the game.
I’ll return to Panam in a few weeks and update this review, and I vow to avoid opening nights from here on out.
Namaste, newbie, and may your namesake continue to evoke the theme of gay Paris, and not a bygone airline of the same name.

Another new treat coming to the Castro. Though I do not know how long it will last. The food, sounds great, looks grand, even tastes great (the french-​vegetarian-​pescatarian dishes anyhoo). However, I don’t think many new restaunteurs understand the neighborhood clientle. Many of those who frolick in the Castro want a home-​style meal under $ 10. Many tourists usually frolick bars or never really eat in the neighborhood. And there are the few of us who once lived here, that pedaled down into the Mission or SOMA for better eats.
Though I applaud their efforts, I give this place 3 months tops before it closes it’s door (like its predecessor Frisee). Unless they can bring in the clientle like those of Starbelly.
As for the food, I applaud the efforts of bringing vegetarian/​pescatarian fare that’s not a salad nor a thin-​crust pizza and not California comfort (though I’m always a sucker for the latter). Thank you for the truffle mashed potatoes, YUM. While the small plates seem like what will keep the place open, I don’t know how many people will really venture into the entrée side of the menu (aforementioned clientle who want cheap food). Also, thanks for staying open until 1am!