The stylish Panama House sits on a second floor perch inside the modern Pacific complex, with a balcony overlooking Bondi Beach and comfortable leather booth seating options inside.
We dropped in for dinner to try out their Central American menu and started off with some drinks to enjoy the laidback ambience. From their summer spritz menu, the Susie Got Your Number cocktail is a refreshing blend of Bloody Shiraz Gin, strawberry aperitif, berry shrub and sparkling wine that would be the perfect beverage during warmer months. As the weather has been a bit cooler lately, we also tried their Casa Silva Carmenere, a Chilean red with distinctive smoky, spicy aromas.
Susie Got Your Number, $16, Casa Silva Carmenere
All of their dishes on the menu are made for sharing, but the crispy flash fried Clarence River School Prawns come as an especially generous serving, drizzled with a delicious garlic sauce and green chilli salsa.
School Prawns, $16
Their Salt and Pepper Squid is a particularly dramatic rendition, with each crunchy morsel dipped in jet black squid ink for a visual twist on the usual – although taste wise it doesn’t taste all that different, elevated with some aioli and charred lime.
Salt and Pepper Squid, $22
The last of our snack sized/small plates was the Elote Grilled “Street” Corn, the cob was grilled to smoky perfection served on a skewer with our choice of sauce – we went with the intense burnt shallot crema and had the cob crusted with crisp quinoa for extra texture.
Elote Grilled Street Corn with Burnt Shallot Crema and Crisp Quinoa, $5
Of course, we had to try some of the options from the Taqueria section of their menu and we opted for the Pork “Al Pastor” tacos with pineapple adobo, served on traditional “nixtamal” corn tortillas with gem lettuce and charred red onion. These weren’t the easiest to eat without making a mess, but were satisfying.
Pork “Al Pastor” Tacos, $16
Surprisingly, the Mushroom Quesadilla was our pick of the two options we tried from the Taqueria, featuring juicy roasted portobello mushrooms, corn and huitlacoche a.k.a. Mexican truffle, an umami rich fungus that makes the quesadilla even more flavourful.
Mushroom Quesadilla, $19
We found that Panama House’s fresh and flavoursome Central American dishes are well-suited to the beachside locale, even after the sun goes down. The industrial chic decor and solid menu makes it an easy choice to enjoy the iconic Bondi views from, over some delicious fare and cocktails.
Excuse Me Waiter dined as guests of Panama House
Panama House
180-186 Campbell Parade
Bondi Beach NSW 2026
Phone: (02) 8090 5882
