Pancho — Restaurant in Victoria

I've been coming to Pancho for years! Always enjoyed the food, the atmosphere and the service! The only reason this isn't a 5 star review is because I bought my coeliac cousin here on Saturday evening as it was well regarded in the coeliac community and I made sure to put coeliac on the booking notes as they had many gf options on their online menu. When we got there, they seated us and put down some corn chips. The new menu didn't have their gluten free options available and the staff struggled to find a gluten free menu for her and gave her a vegan menu instead with hand written notes of gluten free options. Once we had that we ordered, and after a few minutes the staff came back and told us that the corn chips had actually gone through the same oil as gluten products... And many items that we had ordered even when initially told they were gluten free weren't infact gf. Unfortunately my coeliac cousin had already eaten some corn chips at that stage and the damage had been done. She still enjoyed her food but was in pain that night and the next day due to the exposure to gluten. In conclusion, I'll still be back, I still like it there. I still enjoy pancho. I wouldn't recommend it for gluten free or coeliac currently. But one experience hasn't tainted my view of Pancho :) If I were to give some constructive criticism, I'd love to see booking notes checked by staff and some mindfulness around allergies and health conditions such as coeliac disease. I also understand and acknowledge that it's not Pancho's job to manage health conditions. In the future I shall be calling ahead, confirming for traces of gluten before assuming something is gluten free and opening up a better dialogue of...

OK, there is much to say about the New Pancho location in Mair Street. Let's start with the good. The new location is great; the fit-out has loads of character, seating is comfortable, and the staff are attentive.

We shared several plates. The Papas (Argentinian roast potatoes) were excellent. However, the two different tacos (fish and chicken) were truly underwhelming. In a nutshell, they were overstuffed, oversalted, and lacked flavor.

The chicharron de pollo (fried chicken) was excessively salty, overpowering the other flavors, which was a letdown.

The Corte Del Dia (grilled meat of the day), cooked to the chef's preference, was tasty but somewhat chewy. The accompanying chimichurri was excellent.

Finally, for dessert, we shared the Tres Leches. Ideally, this should be a sweet, soft, moist cloud of cake. While Pancho's version looked appealing, the cake was surprisingly firm, almost hard, and it rested in a shallow pool of what seemed to be condensed milk. Another aspect that didn't meet our expectations.

I plan to revisit in a couple of months and will update this review to reflect any changes or...

I enjoyed Pancho. I got the chefs choice menu that came with lots of little things to try (perfect). Most of the dishes that came out were tasty and well presented.

Around 5 dishes in the waitress checked if I was feeling full, I wasn’t, so they brought out some more things to eat which was perfect. I left feeling nice and full and like it was worth the money. The jalapeño spicy margarita I had was ok, but maybe needed a bit more kick. The same could be said for a few other dishes - might be nice to offer some hot sauce or something? There was a spicy mayo that was on about 4 of the 7 things I ate. While it tasted good I’d have liked to mix up the flavours and condiments a bit more. Also the ceviche was over cooked in the citrus, maybe left in too long? Overall food was good, just a few things could have been improved.

A standout was the mushroom empanada - really good! If you like sweet things then the caramel custard will be to your taste. The staff were friendly enough and the inside section is pretty fun with lots of things to look at. There are a couple of tables outside on...