I first came across Panna in Liverpool at the end of 2015, where owners Ivana and Peter, a friendly, welcoming Slovak couple, had turned a potentially unpromising basement in Silkhouse Court into a lovely, warm, welcoming café. There was some excellent food, along with coffee from Has Bean and local roasters Neighbourhood Coffee.

Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end. Silkhouse Court was sold and Ivana and Peter decided to relocate to Chester, opening five weeks ago on 15^th August 2019, not long after my previous visit to Chester! In so doing, they’ve moved up in the world, quite literally in fact, swapping a basement for a ground floor space on Chester’s famous Rows on Watergate Street.

The good news is that they’ve brought the same warm, friendly atmosphere with them. For example, although it’s been four years since we last met, I was greeted like a long-lost friend! They’ve also brought the excellent food along in the shape of an all-day brunch menu with plenty of cakes and pastries. And then there’s the coffee, with two Has Bean blends on espresso and multiple guests on filter using a variety of brew methods, including Chemex, V60 and Aeropress.

You can read more of my thoughts after the gallery.

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45

Photo Carousel by WOWSlider.com v4.6

Panna is on Watergate Street, which is becoming Chester’s speciality coffee street, with Panna located between The Barista’s and The Flower Cup on the south side of the street, while fellow newcomer, Chalk Coffee, is just a few doors away on the north side. Like Chalk and The Baristsa’s, Panna occupies the ground floor of one of the Rows. Fairly deep and wide, it has low ceilings, while the floor is three steps down from street level, giving Panna a basement-like feel, although the presence of windows front and back prevent it from becoming too gloomy, particularly on sunny days.

Talking of which, the front of Panna is nearly all glass, with the door on the left, a false door/window on the right and two long windows joining the two. Outside, on the pavement, there’s a row of three two-person tables, shaded by the building. Two broad, old stone steps lead down from the door to a broad area at the front where a four-person window-bar looks out onto Watergate Street. Beyond this, another broad step leads down to the main floor, where the counter is the right, the Victoria Arduino White Eagle espresso machine taking pride of place at the front, facing the windows.

Seven two-person tables line a high-backed wooden bench along the left-hand wall opposite the counter, beyond which is a six-person communal table at the back. Two more two-person tables occupy the space between the counter and the bench, while beyond the counter is an enclosed kitchen space on the right, the wall occupied by a three-person bar.

The back of Panna is interesting, with windows and a recessed door on the right. This opens onto a small, L-shaped courtyard which catches the midday sun. Inside, another wooden bench runs along the right-hand wall between the kitchen and the door, with a pair of two-person tables in front of it. Meanwhile the courtyard has a three-person table on the right and a two-person one on the left. The best feature, however, is at the back, where a Roman column base stands under a medieval arch, all of which is below the current street level.

Panna has a choice of two Has Bean blends, the more traditional Jailbreak, with its chocolately flavour profile, and Jabberwocky, which is fruitier. I began my day with a very smooth Jailbreak flat white, served in the same white cups that I remember from Panna’s Liverpool days. However, this changing soon, with Panna moving over to HuskeeCups for all its larger drinks.

Panna has several options on filter, which change on a regular basis. While I was there, there were offerings from Square Mile (Redbrick and Los Suspiros from Guatemala) and Workshop (Cerro de Jesus from Nicaragua). At Peter’s recommendation, I had the Los Suspiros through the Chemex, a fine, well-balanced, full-bodied coffee.

I paired my pour-over with lunch. Panna has a small selection of cakes and pastries, with an all-day brunch menu, including classics such as bacon sandwiches, Eggs Benedict and avocado on toast. There are some less typical dishes, including a spicy Mexican brunch and a grilled burger. I remember having an excellent omelette at Panna in Liverpool, so I ordered the Rustic Omelette for lunch, which was packed full of vegetables, a lovely slice of toast on the side.

December 2019: Panna Chester was a runner-up for the 2019 Happiest Staff Award.

If you liked this post, please let me know by clicking the “Like” button. If you have a WordPress account and you don’t mind everyone knowing that you liked this post, you can use the “Like this” button right at the bottom instead. [bawlu_buttons]
Don’t forget that you can share this post with your friends using the buttons below.