Revisited August 2024
Pankina is one of the fine high-end dairy restaurants in Tel Aviv. The atmosphere is distinctly Tel Aviv while the cuisine is authentically Italian. What a combination!
Pankina brings European service to Tel Aviv. Enjoy it! Take a seat at one of the cloth-covered tables in the covered curbside seating area. Relax and take your time. Try different dishes, and as you did in Italy, linger over a coffee and a luscious dessert.
Don't be intimidated by the tablecloths! Pankina just knows how to do it right. The prices are reasonable - in fact low for the quality of the food and service. The prices on the menu are so close to the prices several years ago, we thought they gave us an old menu by mistake.
Pankina Revisited July 2024
Pankina has been open on and off since the war started October 2023. The kitchen regrouped and instead of their regular menu they made food for soldiers. After several months they closed again for to refurbish. The restaurant is now open with several improvements, a fresh coat of paint and many more tables outside. The menu is the one you know and love. If you are not familiar with it, you should become familiar with it.
We stopped in for lunch at Pankina one weekday afternoon. As usual, we pored over the menu trying to choose from the many delicious dishes. It was a tough choice but we finally decided to share the lasagna starter and the sea bream main course. It is an unwritten rule that any visit to Pankina must end with one of their delicious dairy desserts so we made sure not to fill up before the end of the meal.
The lasagna dish was a hefty square of lasagna on a hot round plate with a warning to beware of the temperature and not get burned. This is a good warning to heed. The lasagna was very tasty in an excellent tomato sauce, but quite filling so sharing this dish between us worked out. The sea bass dish was a full platter with two fillets, roasted vegetables, on a base of puree. We each had one fillet which did leave us wanting more, not because we were hungry but because it was so perfectly prepared and so delicious.
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Alas dessert! Not to be missed!
Though we tried not to eat too much, allowing an appetite for dessert, we failed miserably and had only capacity  for one shared dessert. At the suggestion of the Maitre D, the charming Anael, we chose the
tiramisu. An excellent choice I should say, but frustrating because I would have liked to try all the desserts. For the newbies to Italian dairy desserts, Tiramisu is a cold dessert of ladyfingers dipped in coffee, layered with whipped sweetened mascarpone cheese. topped with with cocoa powder. Sound good? Not nearly as good as it tastes.
We have been following Pankina Restaurant for many years and I am pleased to report that the restaurant has maintained the same high standard all these years. The food, the service, the dining experience at Pankina are top notch.
Note: The restaurant has one menu. For lunch, from 1pm till 5pm, the restaurant reduces your bill by 10%. The eLuna coupon does not apply to the lunch discount. Present the eLuna coupon for dinner and save 10%.
On previous visits to Pankina we have enjoyed the arancini starter and the Ravioli Di Ricotta main dish. This was a delicious pasta dish of ravioli filled with ricotta cheese in a zucchini and cream sauce. The spaghetti Pantesca is rich in vegetables with bite size pieces of fresh tuna. This is a slightly spicy dish, where the fish does not overpower the flavor. There is also a vegan version of this dish.
Getting There and Parking: The restaurant is located on Gordon Street, just before the corner of Dizengoff St. The owners suggest parking in a lot on Frishman at the corner of Ben Yehudah.
It is best to have reservations at this restaurant and if the weather permits, to request seating outdoors.
 From the Menu:
Arancini Starter: NIS 49.
Burrata
NIS 57
Tuna Tartar NIS NIS 69.
Mozzarella Fritte NIS 49.
Salads NIS 52.
Ravioli filled Ricotta NIS 69.
Spaghetti Pantesan with tuna NIS 89.
Sea Bass Platter NIS 115
Lasangna Rosee NIS 69.
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