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| - I came here with my boyfriend and my parents for an early birthday dinner over Labor Day weekend. I'm on a quest to discover delicious restaurants in Pittsburgh, especially some more upscale places. Pangea was near my parents' B+B, and the menu looked promising, so we made a reservation for 8 pm on a Saturday. When we arrived, the restaurant had surprisingly few patrons, but that didn't bother us. We were seated immediately and greeted by our waiter soon after.
My mom and I tried the seasonal martini, which I believe was described as a mango cosmopolitan. They were served in really adorable glasses, and were tasty, sweet, and fruity. We started with salads - as soon as I saw the Summer Salad, I knew I wanted it. I remember a description of pickled beets and summer peaches being impossible to pass up. I have to say though - it was pretty disappointing. The pickled beets? Well I tasted the "pickle" but not the "beet," it could have been pickled anything-else-in-the-world for all I could tell. The dressing had a bottled flavor to it - thick and heavy - and the salad really lacked the freshness that I was just dying for. In the hands of another restaurant, either with a different chef or with better ingredients, it could have been amazing.
Moving on, our table shared the Limestone Lettuce Wraps, which were actually pretty nice. The dish comes with three wraps, but our server added on another (for a charge, of course) so that each diner could have their own. It was a good combination of beef, red onion, and crispy wonton. Flavorfully and texturally, it worked for us. Then we got our next app - Gnocchi of some sort (I forget the exact description but I know a few cheeses were involved). Again like with the salad, something just wasn't what I expected. First of all, the "gnocchi" wasn't gnocchi-esque. When I hear gnocchi, I think of a potato dumpling. It is a thing I could pick up between my fingers and it wouldn't fall apart. These "gnocchi" were more like.....large balls of potato/cheese/dough that were very soft and would not hold up if you picked it up. That was a bit odd. The flavor was okay, a little heavy. It just wasn't really the dish we expected it to be.
At this point in the meal, I got another cocktail. Normally I wouldn't, but the food took a very long time to come out, and I easily finished mine during the appetizer course - and I'm no boozehound. We were all a little confused, saying things like "Shouldn't there be....food by now?" It would have been nice if the server acknowledged it - not saying it was his fault, but he could at least have said sorry. Fortunately we weren't starving with all the apps, and we had some very delicious bread, soft and warm, with a tasty roasted red pepper spread. We survived the wait. My second cocktail was good like the first - it was called the Pink Dragon - another great girly drink.
So then we got our entrees. I had the Cioppino, which I have to say was pretty tasty. The shrimp was a little tough, but the rest of the seafood was well-cooked. The broth was flavorful and a bit spicy. A tiny bit more seafood would have been lovely - okay, a lot more seafood - I had lots of broth leftover even after sopping it up with bread! I had to take it home - I don't think I was provided with a spoon so I couldn't even eat it like soup. I know it'll be great with pasta in a few days. Good flavor though! My boyfriend loved his duck entree and said it was some of the best duck he'd ever had, and I think my parents got the halibut which they also enjoyed.
Finally, we got dessert - two creme brulees. They were very tasty - served cold, which isn't my favorite (even though I think it's more authentic), but it was a well-made dessert.
So, all-in-all, much of our food was pretty tasty - main courses especially, but a number of things fell short, and we were waiting a very long time for our food. I found the food to be overpriced, even the things that were tasty. I wouldn't mind stopping back for a fancy drink at the bar if I was in Shadyside again, but I think for my next special-event meal I'd rather try somewhere new!
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