Italian cafe with a broadening situated on a street crowded with Asian food restaurants. We set out looking for pizza for dinner after a long day of sightseeing. We ended up here by chance after walking to several different spots we found on yelp that sounded good only to find them closed (even when Yelp said they were open). We should have kept looking. We started with the tomato Bruschetta which looked promising when it finally arrived at the table but it was very bland. The pastas arrived a little bit later and they too very very ordinary tasting. My wife's ravioli was a large serving but the sauce was lacking in flavor and seemed like a simple tomato paste. My tortellini with cream sauce was separated when it arrived at the table and even after I added a lot of salt and pepper and about 1/4 cup of grated Parmesan cheese was still lacking in flavor. My son's meat lovers Bbq pizza also tasted like it had come from a can. Coupled with the slow service, this was one of the more disappointing meals we had while in Adelaide. NOT recommended-avoid unless you are with young kids looking for a chef-boy-ar-dee meal. read more

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A friendly greeting at the door marks a dedication to service, and that's precisely what I received on entering Passatempo Café. The bright and eager staff overshadowed the drab and bland indoor decoration, but I quickly decided to take my coffee outside where I'd have the pulsing rhythm of the traffic to complement my drink. I ordered my usual long macchiato and I'd barely had time to forget ordering it (as often happens when one sits down and loses oneself in reflections of obscenities hurled by unsavoury characters on bus rides into the city, as had taken place that morning) before it was set in front of me. It has become the trend for some cafés to serve short coffees in little mugs, but part of the macchiato's charm is in its three levels of coffee, milk and froth. That balance of shade and colour needs to be shown off, not hidden behind coloured ceramic. I'm jolly well happy to report that the three levels are displayed proudly here at Passatempo, and that the quality and taste of the coffee is befitting of the appearance. If the name and the Italian flag draped across the menu is no indication, allow me to acknowledge the café's Italian theme. The menu corresponds as you'd expect it to, with a selection of pastas, pizzas, calzones and all the rest. The meals are perhaps a little more expensive than your typical café, approaching the prices you'd find at a restaurant, but the servings are large and take full advantage of plate space. If you're looking for a quick, cheap meal, perhaps it'd be best to tiptoe over to Chinatown's food plaza. If, however, you're sick of the Asian cuisine, Passatempo's a fine alternative. read more

Passatempo Caffe Ristorante - Italian Near Me - Adelaide, SA

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Situated on Gouger st, Passatempo seems almost a bit out of place. The proximity of Gouger St to China Town has promoted an abundance of restaurants featuring the tastes of all parts of Asia, and then there is this little Italian place. Well it not really that little. Its actually quite big, when compared to other restaurants on the strip. It has a large indoor dining area and an alfesco area with heaps of tables. The menu is primarily pizza and pasta, nothing fancy. They also make a good coffee. I probably wouldn't travell all the way into town, to eat here, but when I used to live in the city it was handy to have a reasonably cheap alternative for when I got bored of chinese food. Also good for familys and groups as there are large tables and lots of space. read more

Passatempo Caffe Ristorante - Italian Near Me - Adelaide, SA

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Contrary to what some of the other Yelpers have said, I never see people here. Perhaps I'm just passing by at the wrong time of the day, but it just always seems empty. Perhaps that's the reason I don't tend to come here, as there never seems like there's much going on. My first thought was that it's a pretty ballsy move to put an Italian cafe/restaurant in Chinatown. On the one hand, there's nothing else like it, so they've effectively got no competition. On the other hand, it's so different from the other restaurants on the street that it may actually isolate itself from the others. Maybe that's why I always see this place empty. Maybe I'm just thinking too much. The service was great, and the staff is very friendly. My coffee, however, was pretty average. When the coffee's not good, I have little reason to return. It's especially hard when there's a Cibo a few doors down, so who's going to hang out at this empty looking cafe anyway? I'll give them another visit sometime in the future to see if I'm missing out on anything. read more

Passatempo Caffe Ristorante - Italian Near Me - Adelaide, SA

Never once did I leave unsatisfied. And never once did I leave the plate unfinished. E'nuff said, you just need to come taste it yourself. read more

Passatempo Caffe Ristorante - Italian Near Me - Adelaide, SA

Passatempo translated to English means a pastime or hobby. Seems an unusual name for a restaurant; if this is their hobby, what did the original owners do for work? This place is always super busy. Considering the fantastic choice of culture and cuisine on Gouger Street, It's like the safe house for people who don't want to step outside of their comfort zone, but hey, whatever floats your boat. I've been a few times and I've found the food not bad, but not memorable. A pizza with so much topping this clumsy individual ended up with a lap full. A kind of cold coffee. The crowd speaks for themselves though, this place wouldn't be so darn busy all the time if people didn't love it. The food may not give you a thrill but it's cheap and you can sit outside and people watch to your heart's content. read more

Very good dinner and breakfast options before 1130am. Had the chicken delicia and chicken Cesar both had great flavor tender perfectly cooked chicken and fresh ingredients all around. Pumkin and minestrone soups were both yummy and huge portions which can fill you in their own. 12$ corkage fee :( but other than that great place. But every thing is great around the central market- you cannot go wrong just follow your nose :) read more

Passatempo Caffe Ristorante - 12$ corkage is reasonable but most SA wineries don't use corks :) - Italian Near Me - Adelaide, SA

Had an extremely average experience at this place. I ordered chicken breast with asparagus in a white wine sauce for $24.90. What I received was half a chicken breast (nicely cooked) topped with several spears of tinned asparagus (ew!) with 2 pieces of brocolli & 2 roughly cut circles of carrot (both extremely undercooked) "artistically" placed around the half a chicken breast. All of this was in a pool of creamy white wine sauce (which was quite nice). When I was asked how my meal was, I explained that I was quite unhappy about paying $25 and receiving tinned asparagus and only half a chicken breast. The male waiter told me that they used to use fresh asparagus but it's too expensive. I explained to him that asparagus is only around $2 a bunch and fresh vs tinned are 2 completely different vegetables! He pretty much just shrugged me off. My friend ordered Penne Con Pollo, which she said was nice, however the spinach clearly came from a frozen packet. 2 others at my table ordered various chicken breast dishes, each receiving only half a chicken breast, and vegies similar to mine, which were cold. The female waitress who was serving us to begin with was extremely friendly but I didn't think much of the male after his reaction to my complaint. For a restaurant to warrant charging $25 for a meal, should be using seasonal fresh produce, especially when they are situated across the road from the Central Markets!!! A very disappointing experience. I will not return to this restaurant and will discourage others to do so as well. Oh, and in regards to other reviews saying the place is full of people! This was definitely not the case when I was there. I think there were about 3 tables of people. read more

Tried this place for the first time today and was pleasantly surprised. I have always looked past the place as others haven't raved about it but today didn't follow some of the negatives previous reviews have touched on. Firstly we went for lunch on a busy Saturday afternoon on a lovely warm day in March, and it wasn't overly crowded as some have suggested it is. We were served quickly and courteously and our server was friendly and gave some good tips. The food: 1) The Caeser salad is incredible!! A lot of tasty chicken, a good balance of flavours and an enormous portion. 2) Decent pasta with some balanced flavours. Too much going on in the sauce for me and not really "authentic" Italian in that sense. Nonetheless, a tasty dish. So if you're expecting something that is pulled straight out of Piazza Navona and plonked in the middle of Adelaide this place is not that. But if you want a big dish of Italian inspired food and a lot of choice this is a good choice. I imagine it would be a hit with a big group as there is a lot of selection. read more

Hmmm... I came here a couple of years ago and the food was okay, as far as I can remember. However, I came here again this year and my experience wasn't as great. I ordered a standard latte and the coffee was burnt, the milk was lukewarm and the glass wasn't even clean. I ordered a carbonara, but the sauce was muggy and tasted like it had been sitting there for a while. The service was friendly though, two stars for that. read more

If I were rating on service alone, this place would score five stars quite easily. The owners seem to love what they do, and it makes you want to go there. While the food is great, it sometimes falls a little short for me. Coffee is okay, not great or bad, and my steak was med-well when I asked for med. Small things aside, I still go back here on occasion. read more

My good streak in the city of Adelaide has come to an end, We ordered Oysters, bruschetta and a few different mains. The bruschetta was moderate, Oysters hadn't been prepared very well, therefore having grit and shell all through the oyster. Our mains, Chicken Avocado, Chicken Parmigiana Out of the dishes the Chicken Avocado seemed to be the winner by a landslide. The parmigiana had been over cooked and then the edges burnt to more of a charcoal crunch then a golden crisp From the experience here the only reason it gets two out of five stars is the helpful waitress and I will not be dining there again. read more

Unhappy with both the food and the service. So many better restaurants around. We had a pizza which was dry and cardboard like and a chicken pasta dish which was quite ordinary. read more

Great food and service. I enjoyed it so much that I visited twice in one week while in Adelaide. Must have is the garlic bread and fettuccine carbonara. Surrounded by Asian restaurants, it's a welcome change. read more

Food 5/5 Service 5/5 Atmosphere 4.5/5 Despite everyone else's reviews I really do love this place the meals are always fresh as they have the markets across the road and I'm sure they use it to there benefit. The service is also exceptional I always feel welcomed. My favorite Italian in Adelaide. read more

Bland; simply one word used to describe this restaurant. I was quite displeased with both the waiters and the food being served. First off, the waiters lack a lot of manners, they don't say "hello" or "please, take a seat here" instead, they direct you to a location in the restaurant and say "that's free" in a dehumanising tone. Second point; the food, me and my friend ordered pastas and garlic bread. The garlic bread wasn't special, just slightly burnt toast with garlic butter, and the pastas were fairly tasteless! They lacked the general zing that a more vibrant Italian restaurant can offer furthermore the food in a genuine Italian restaurant wouldn't look like a packaged pasta meal from woolworths. Overall, very displeased and wouldn't recommend if you're in the general vicinity. read more

Dropped in for lunch with family from interstate and had a lovely chicken foccacia. In laws had the resoto. Very nice but filling feed. Waitress was lovely and gave us an extra piece of bread for a child who didn't order off the menu. Highly recommended read more

Passatempo Caffe Ristorante in Adelaide was really nice. We walked in and were welcomed and seated by a very friendly and positive waiter. He immediately put some empty plates, cutlery and serviettes down for us, and a bottle of water and two glasses soon after. The waitress was also very friendly and kind. She took our orders - A small capricciosa pizza to share for starters, followed by our mains. My wife had the Spaghetti Marinara and loved it! Best she's had in a very long time. She's Italian too, so you know it's true! And I had the Risotto Con Pollo, which is the best risotto I've had in a long time also. I really love a good risotto, and it's very rare to find one as delicious as this. I can't recall ever finding one as amazing back home in Brisbane, but I do remember having a really nice one in Melbourne once. But this one - Just brilliant! We also ordered a red wine - Pepperjack Shiraz (from the Barossa Valley). Loved every drop! The service, the food and drink were all great! The big TV behind the bar was a bit distracting. They had a cooking show on, which we didn't really want to see. The TV might be good for lunchtime viewing during the day but not for a romantic dinner. I think maybe they should turn the telly off at night. But other than that, they did a really good job of making us feel welcome, and by feeding us some really nice food. Great quality! If we ever come back to Adelaide (not on our top priority list), we'll eat here again. read more