While Carmel’s Pangaea restaurant boasts a global menu, don’t overlook their dependable soup and salad lunch options as a solid bet for a tasty and elegant mid-day work lunch or casual friend gathering at a reasonable price.
Getting to Pangaea: Logistics, Ambiance and Customer Service
A location on charming and busy Ocean Avenue may seem like a logistical pain, but Pangaea’s spot lower down Carmel-by-the-Sea’s main street makes parking a bit easier. I like to grab a free spot closer to Carmel Beach, but beware—it’s quite an uphill climb to the restaurant, especially if you are reveling in the power of your high heel permit in the hamlet.
Service at Pangaea is consistent, especially for a quiet weekday lunch. It can feel rare for a restaurant to have adequate staff, but this spot certainly employs plenty of front-of-house staff across its breakfast, lunch and dinner service, seven days a week. These seem like rare extras in today’s restaurants and the commitment feels nice.
The level and availability of Pangaea’s service melds well with the elegant, art-filled surroundings. I’ve gone here for a winter lunch twice and the best spot is a cozy booth next to the fireplace. If you’re fortunate to land a sunny day in Carmel, the restaurant’s enormous half moon windows let in dappled light in the dining room, which is a lovely effect.
Food at Pangaea: Asian Fusion Grill Restaurant?
Most of this restaurant’s focus is on its Korean flavors, from short ribs to kimchee. However, for my lunch outings I have exclusively chosen items from Pangaea’s menu that are closer to home.
Both times I have opted for the soup of the day, with solid results. A recent bowl of cream of cauliflower and potato soup was a bit salty, but velvety and nourishing. If the restaurant’s sweet and savory Dungeness crab bisque is on the menu, be sure to grab a bowl. It’s a treat during our region’s fleeting crab season.
Pangaea’s beet salad ($12) tastes nice, but is more memorable for its beautiful presentation of red and orange varieties. I also blame this salad for my current obsession with goat cheese. The Carmel BLAST (bacon, lettuce, alfalfa sprouts and tomato) sandwich ($20) appealed to me for its addition of alfalfa sprouts and the jalapeno aioli. pangaea delivered with a well-constructed sandwich, including crispy bacon, perfectly toasted bread and a thick layer of fresh, vegetal sprouts, which I loved, but the promise of spice from the aioli went unfulfilled—making the whole sandwich fall a bit flat.
My lunch companions are consistently more obedient to the global theme than I am during visits to pangaea. The spice I was missing from my Carmel BLAST sandwich was alive and well in the kimchee tofu soup ($22). This lunch portion is enormous, so be prepared to reckon with leftovers. However the fish tacos ($22) proved to be as bland as the BLAST, which was a shame.
The prices at Pangaea are competitive, especially for Carmel-by-the-Sea. The addition of attentive and knowledgeable service makes these prices even more palatable for a lovely lunch.
Pangaea: The Conclusion
Pangaea refers to the scientific theory that Earth’s seven continents were once joined in one enormous land mass. Aside from tectonic plate evidence, this idea of “one Earth” appeals to the human desire to connect.
While the idea of connecting comes across at Pangaea, the global message has missed the mark with me so far. I could see myself returning to this restaurant, and soon, but I can’t say if I’ll try their global fusion flavors.
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