Pako Pantry, Not Quite A Restaurant Review

[aggienaut]

   The weekend before last Trent asked if anyone wanted to go for breakfast at this place called Pako Pantry off Pakingham Street in Geelong Town. Pakingham Street is the kind of hipstery part of Geelong so I predicted everything would be "desconstructed," but I do love a good breakfast so I put my hand up to join. For most of our friends 9am Sunday morning may as well be the middle of the night but this fellow Alex joined as well.
   I was initially going to order the "chai spiced french toast" but I noticed it came with ice cream. Invariably french toast or pancakes seem to come with ice cream here, I like ice cream as much as the next person but not for breakfast. Sure one could ask them to leave it off but I know if the portion sizes were calculated to involve a big scoop of ice cream they won't compensate with something else for its lack so I may as well order something else to get my money's worth. So I ordered this "shakshouka" which turned out to be very much like the Turkish dish I know of menamen which I quite love, basically poached eggs in a stewy bowl of tomatoes and onions and such. Trent ordered a hot chocolate with his wrap thing, which came "deconstructed."
   Trent mentioned he usually goes to this place on Wednesday morninings.



   This past Sunday he again proposed we go there, this time at noon and more of our friends joined. After a waitress seated us I looked at Trent mischieviously and asked "is it her??"
   He laughed noncommittally and avoided answering. "What?" asked Alex.
   "Oh if Trent starts going somewhere every week it is inevitably because he has a crush on a waitress." Again he laughed and neither confirmed nor denied.
   This time I ordered "pork belly bao rolls," which for $36.23 consisted of three little taco-like morsels the size of mini street tacos. After eating them I was still fully ravenous and proceeded to eat a side of bacon, and then, after everyone else had slowed down, I ate Grant's plate of fries, Trent's plate of fries, Eli's bacon and her kielbasa sausage ("kransky"). Kristen gave me her "green fritters" of which she'd only eaten half and she claimed "they're better than they look," and actually she did this before I'd eaten all the other things and was still fully ravenous, but I must admit I wasn't quite ravenous enough to eat more of them after my one bite.


(the pork bao, "green fritters" visible to right)

Okay I just double checked my pork bao dish was $21.50 and the remaining nearly-$15 was between the small side of bacon and tiny tumeric latte. I don't care how big a crush Trent has on the waitress I don't think this place gives one one's money's-worth.

Comments

[livejournal.livejournal.com]

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[amcrestgps.livejournal.com]

it's good

[pondhopper.livejournal.com]

If Trent is the hefty guy, it does seem as if he should know the good food places! But maybe not...I know AUS $$ don't match US $$ or €€ but yeah, that's not a good deal in food for the price!

[emo-snal.livejournal.com]

Haha he is the hefty guy and he definitely likes to eat but he's not really a very good guide to the best restaurants. No joke I think his preferences almost always reflect more on if there's a waitress he fancies than the quality of the food, and he seems to actively dislike interesting (unusual) food, sticking to the most familiar things on menus.

[lenine2.livejournal.com]

The tomato skillet looks wonderful, but the three little pork tacos certainly don't look like $21.50 worth of food.

Ooh, I just noticed the woman sitting in the background with her dog. There was a neighborhood on the north side of Chicago that had shops and restaurants that were all dog friendly. Once in awhile I miss something about Chicago. Then I get over it.

[chocolate-frapp.livejournal.com]

I agree, that does not look like you got a lot of bang for your buck.

[emo-snal.livejournal.com]

Yeah no I was very disatisfied ):

[emo-snal.livejournal.com]

Yeah the place was very dog friendly, I think every group in the outdoor area had at last one dog (:

[blue-eye.livejournal.com]

That looks sooooo good, though.

[emo-snal.livejournal.com]

It was good, just wish they'd increase the portion sizes!

[zhent.livejournal.com]

I can't help but feel a bit jealous, not of the food, though it does look good, but of feeling secure in going to a restaurant with friends. My whole family is vaccinated, but none of us are willing to go out to eat yet because of all of the COVID deniers, anti-maskers, and vaccine skeptics. With roughly 50% of the population vaccinated, they're having trouble finding people who want it now, and it's just not enough.

[emo-snal.livejournal.com]

I actually totally forgot as I posted this that for many of you this is currently impossible! Yeah its weird how life is pretty much back to normal here with no community spread in like six months now. But I'm getting envious of my American friends who have been vaccinated because the roll out here is suuuuper slow and I still have no opportunity to get vaccinated in sight

[aerodrome1.livejournal.com]

I'm a big breakfast fan, so all this does look fabulous.

[emo-snal.livejournal.com]

I am in general a big breakfast fan myself!

[richaarde.livejournal.com]

this place called Pako Pantry off Pakingham Street

Say that six times fast.

[emo-snal.livejournal.com]

ahaha (:

[wpadmirer.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I don't think you're obligated to spend that kind of money for a paltry bit of food to support his non-existent love life.

[furzicle.livejournal.com]

Totally agree!

[emo-snal.livejournal.com]

Ahaha good point (: Fortunately now he seems to have a hopeless crush on a coworker of his, which has resulted in him doing some very uncharacteristic things like going on a hike with his coworkers and spending a day at the beach with his coworkers! I like to pretend I don't know why and ask him things like "you spent all week with them why are you spending your weekend with them too?"