I keep coming back to PAGU because I want to love this restaurant more than I do. Everything is tasty but it's always a smidge less tasty than what the description leads you to believe. The portions are small (they are tapas style so when you order the ramen, don't expect a full bowl of ramen despite paying $16), the prices are high, but the vibe is so awesome that you always want to come back. Really, PAGU is a masterpiece in marketing and design. On a Friday night, they were buzzy but definitely not crowded -- lots of open 2/4/6 person tables available and spaces at the bar. The crab, tomato, and corn mazemen was under-salted and kind of bland, lasted about 8 bites. The togarashi brussels were yummy but borderline over-spiced -- I eat pretty spicy and I could feel the itch in my ears. The chicken katsu looked like a satisfying portion size. Everything -- even the brussels, ran $13-18 per dish. Dessert was quite innovative. We got four: the dorayaki affogato (interesting idea, standard taste), the walk in the woods (definitely the best -- shiitake mushrooms in dessert is crazy good), the sheep's milk yam ice cream (funky and tasty, but a small scoop), and the sichuan chocolate cake (spicy and mouth-numbing). Desserts will run you $6 to $12 per. Overall, come here for the vibe. Get excited about the innovation in each dish but dial back your expectations a little, and you'll have a grand time. read more

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We ordered: The shiitake mushrooms - comes with raw egg and three toast. My friends really enjoyed this combo, but I am not a fan of mushrooms. 3/5 The sliders - didn't have much of a taste to it 2/5 I put the lettuce from the cutlet chicken and the sauce into the sliders, which made it better! Cutlet chicken - I highly recommend it was made perfectly: crispy/ tender/ and the right sauces. 5/5 The fried oyster baos comes with a squid ink bao which is why it is a black bao. The bao was so good I liked this bao better than the pork belly one but don't get me wrong I loved the pork belly one too. 5/5 The pork belly bao - the pork belly was juicy and delicious! 5/5 Both the baos were made very well! The baos weren't dry at all and just the right amount of sauce. 2 baos per order Curry croquettes: these weren't bad but very different from the usual croquettes, my friend thought they were spicy. 5 balls per order. 3.5/5 The steak tartare: the potato chips were very good the tartare was okay it wasn't bad but it didn't have much taste in my opinion. 3.5/5 Dessert: the purple yam dessert was not good. I don't taste purple yam anywhere in this and the sauce that comes with it is "smoked" or something. They don't do anything special for anyone's birthday occasion btw. Area: there are two big tables that can fit 6-8 people each upstairs if you book ahead of time for big parties. Downstairs: bar areas and tables. Parking wasn't hard to find outside at 5:30pm read more

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We came here because it was listed on the Boston Globe's best ramen, but I was pretty disappointed especially considering the caliber of the other restaurants. This restaurant was considerably more upscale than the others, and the prices reflected that- $12 for a 12 oz beer can and $16 for the smallest ramen I've ever gotten. Flavors were good, but with the very small portion size it left me wanting more. The spicy tempura brussel sprouts were a highlight of the meal, perfectly crispy and flavorful. Overall, the atmosphere was upscale but lacked character, the food was overpriced, and for a ramen place you can absolutely get better and less expensive food, even in Central Square specifically. read more

Pagu - Tempura brussel sprouts - Japanese Near Me - Cambridge, Massachusetts

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We came here the other day with a large group of friends and it was simply amazing! Pros: + Fusion food - I am always a sucker for combos. Especially since this is a Spanish and Japanese mix! Gotta love the innovation + Squid ink Bao - so good! Definitely split an order with your friends before your meal! It's a can't miss flavor, but an order is just too much with entrees too. + Chicken Katsu - so delicious and so well made! Cons: - A little pricey - but for the uniqueness, it is worth the splurge - time - the service is an easy pace (not rushed). Great for lazy Sunday mornings. Not always the best if you're in a rush to somewhere else after though read more

It has been a long time since I regretted dining at a restaurant that I thought I'd really enjoy. I'm all about Japanese food and tapas. The price point for the portion size of the quality at Pagu also made the experience worse because I came in with higher expectations. Even without those higher expectations, Pagu has failed. Service was also just ok. I came here with a few friends for Pagu's New Year's Eve tasting menu. I have heard from some friends that their experience with Pagu's regular menu was better, but on a downhill spiral nonetheless. We should have known something was up when every great restaurant was booked out for New Year's Eve and we could still get a reservation at Pagu and the restaurant was half empty upon walking in. The menu was five courses, including dessert with each plate in the pictures attached being about the size of my small Asian hand, for reference. My favorite course was the first - two torched salmon pieces that looked like sushi pieces with salmon instead of seaweed. The pickling of the filling was delicious but the salmon was overcooked, dry. My friends' favorite dish was the second course - fried clams with hot sauce and squid ink alioli. The fried clams were actually tasty, but the way it was served, huge dollops of squid ink and hot sauce scattered throughout the plate was impossible to eat (think: mouthful of savory, grey paint looking blob, or delicious but overkill hot sauce in that quantity). Then each subsequent dish became more and more disappointing. Squid was s e v e r l y overcooked and chewy, purple rice was mushy and flavorless, mash potatoes looked plastic-y, tasted bland and like-microwaved flavor, and oxtail stew texture was great but lacked flavor. Even a $ or $$ restaurant wouldn't do this to me - so why, Pagu? When I passed the kitchen, I saw there was pretty much a line of operational to pump out these little dishes, given there's only one menu at the restaurant that night and were all served in the same order. Maybe for that reason, cold food was not served cold and hot food was not served hot or warm. With temperature of food aside, there was no consistency in serving decent food. At $70 per person (pre-tip and tax and "kitchen appreciation fee") for five TINY portions, I really wish I was able to get a table at Toro or Barcelona for delicious tapas or Cafe Sushi for some amazing Japanese food to wrap up 2018. We had to go to McDonald's that night after this dinner. Maybe there will be better luck with the regular menu, but I have zero incentive or desire to take the gamble. read more

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Great decor, friendly service, but overpriced for the quality/quantity of food. The drink selection was very large and looked good, but I didn't get anything there. I would definitely come back just to grab a small app and drinks. Came here for brunch, and the selection for me personally wasn't that interesting. I got the congee with braised pork, which was yummy, but not something I'd pay for again. All in all, if you're a Boston resident, maybe come here to try or come in for drinks, but I wouldn't make this a first stop if you're trying to go for a foodie tour of Boston. read more

Pagu - Japanese Near Me - Cambridge, Massachusetts

When I heard "BC alumna", I immediately made plans to go with other BC alumni. Very proud of chef/owner Tracy Chang's story (on their website). On to the actual food - we got the squid ink oyster bao, tortilla, midnight ramen, and cod with fish bone soup. Definitely recommend ordering tapas style with some big and some small plates to share. The squid ink bao was interesting, not bad, but just interesting. The tortilla was a delicious cake of potatoes. The midnight ramen had nice springy noodles and a slightly spicy broth once everything was mixed in. The best for last - the cod was melt in your mouth and the soup was very strong. If all fish dishes tasted like that I wouldn't get yelled at by my mother for not having more cooked fish in my diet. The service was very friendly and the hostess allowed me to push my waitlist spot back by an hour. The waiters were very attentive and overall had a good vibe. A very datey, night out kind of feel. (P.S. to the passing fellow diner who pointedly shouted "Hope the food tastes as good as the photos look", why I say they did indeed! ;) ) read more

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Nice place near Central square for some Asian fusion food. Good happy hour specials which seem to be available the weekend as well. Loved the chicken nugz, which was served piping hot and with a choice of two dipping sauces. Wafflato was good too but could've been served a little hotter. Overall good experience for some mid-day snacks and drinks. read more

Pagu - Japanese Near Me - Cambridge, Massachusetts

My husband and I went to Pagu tonight and were thoroughly impressed from start to finish. The first part of the review pertains to the safety measures, followed by the food, drink, and service. -Pagu has taken the strictest covid safety measures of any restaurant I'm aware of. Masks are worn by all employees, and guests are required to present their vaccination cards before being seated. There isn't a lot of spacing, but I'm sure it's because vaccinated people are the only guests. This definitely made dining more calm and enjoyable and I'm really happy to support a business like this. -The food was phenomenal. We ordered the following: * Bao Buns - two pork buns with thick cut pork belly seasoned beautifully. * Biang Biang Noodles - handmade noodles made to order with a spicy, savory slow cooked pork. The noodles have an incredible bite. *Cheesy Wafflato - a very delicious savory waffle with a hot honey glaze. A great appetizer! * Chicken Katsu - definitely my favorite of the night! An incredibly crispy panko-coated chicken thigh topped with Pagu katsu sauce and aioli with pickled cabbage. It was so good we ordered a second plate. * Suckling Pig - we ordered enough for two and it was more than enough. With two sauces, a vinegary white kimchi, house made pickles and bao buns, this was a phenomenal make-your-own dish. We ordered a bottle of sake and a drink called Tropic Thunder, which was like drinking a boozy warhead. Lastly, the service. We had the pleasure of having Madison as our server and they were incredibly professional and pleasant. Madison recommended the cocktail, and brought us a slice of polenta cake on the house because the ice cream component couldn't be fulfilled. Although Madison was our server, other servers and staff were all hands on deck at our table and others by making sure dishes were at tables and water glasses were full. With the amount of pressure restaurant staff have been under, the staff were poised and truly so pleasant. I'm so happy to have dined at and experienced Pagu. Thank you to the entire team! read more

Took the wife for date night. Great ambience, like a nice bistro vibe... comfortable but classy. Service was impeccable, attentive but not over the top. We were hungry so we started with 5 apps. But importantly, the food was great. The pork bao was a great starter, with pickled cucumbers. I'd say it's as good as it gets. They had other bao options, I should've tried them! The cod croquettes were super flavorful and excellent, highly recommend. As was the hamachi sashimi. We had two salads, the cucumber salad (more like a mushroom salad with cucumber) and the kale salad. Both seemed a bit underdressed. Not a highlight. The spicy noodles were excellent: the pork was delicious. I think I want to eat a bowl of just the pork! The black cod was also delicious, tender, very buttery and perfectly cooked. Dessert was probably the highlight for me. You must try the polenta cake (with soft serve maple ice cream). The black sesame tofu was amazing (it's like a black sesame custard or something, it's just delicious, reminds me of something I had in Beijing). Next time, I want to bring a larger party so I can try the suckling pig and tuna collar, and the mapo tofu looked great. read more

don't get me wrong - the food was delicious, although I will say a tad overpriced for what it was, but the bone marrow was delicious and suckle pig lived up to its name too! but a couple things, they were accommodating to my group of 10 but service was extremely slow. we were not told that the suckling pig would take 1.5 hours to come out near the end of our meal when we were all full. I think our actual food started really coming out a full hour later as well. Given that we were in a group I understand but also I think the AC was broken so we were just chugging along in the heat. On top of that, we had checked with Pagu if we can bring a cake in for a birthday. They laid out plates and utensils, brought the cake out for us. I've done this at other restaurants as well, I am always okay cutting the cake. But right after, the waitress goes in and says oh we'll cut it too and retrieved the plates they set down. It ended up being a $50 charge to cut the cake, which all in all between the group was fine but I wasn't presented the option to otherwise and I wasn't informed there would be a fee. All in all I might come back for a date night but not for a group activity because of the wait times. read more

Worth checking out! This dining experience does the Spanish/Asian fusion well. The portions are tapas style, meant to be shared amongst the table. I'd definitely recommend 2-3 per person. Food was delicious! Some highlights I'd definitely recommend: the squid ink unagi baos (could eat this all day long), the biang biang noodles (very spicy, so beware!), and the wafflitos (cheesy waffles, has almost a garlic bread flavor but drizzled in honey. Sounds eccentric but totally delicious). We also tried the tempura string beans, the cod, the cod croquettes, and the polenta cake (all 4/5). The food does take a while to be served, and there was a slight mix up with a few of our orders, hence the 1 star deduction, but the kitchen staff definitely made up for it by apologies and giving us a free dessert. Would definitely come back! read more

Pretty good food, but overly pricey for how small the plates are. They're unique, I'll give them that, but the sashimi plate is literally 4 slices. Thankfully the waiter explained the sizes and the lunch specials were enough to fill is up. The place itself has a cool atmosphere and the service was prompt. I would say this isn't that unique or interesting to come a second time and pay the prices. read more

Pagu - Salad with cheese - Japanese Near Me - Cambridge, Massachusetts

This is definitely a nice modern restaurant that is just a few blocks south of Central Square T-Station. We stumbled upon this restaurant after checking out some Instagram posts and whatnot. The three dishes two of us ordered and shared was their midnight ramen, their Black Cod, and their Squid Ink Oyster Bao. I'm a sucker for ramen so after hearing from our waitress about her recommendations, we decided to go for it. I have a high expectations for ramen but I personally like Pikaichi and Santouka more due to their broth being more flavorful. The black cod was soft and flavorful and the squid ink boss were enjoyable too. However all of our dishes were pretty expensive where 3 dishes split amongst 2 people were around $60 total before tip and tax. For me personally, the restaurant is a one and done for me but I wouldn't mind coming back if a friend or visitor wanted to stop here for a meal. Keep in mind that The restaurant also charges a 4% kitchen appreciation fee on top of tip read more

Pagu - Midnight Ramen, Black Cod, and Squid Ink Baos - Japanese Near Me - Cambridge, Massachusetts

We enjoyed the food here - the unagi bao is tasty, the duck confit is delicate, the black cod is fresh, the biang biang noodle is authentic, and the pizza is rich (the last two are my personal favorites). I also enjoyed the matcha tiramisu very much. However, the portions are small for the price. If you want to have a satisfactory meal without overspending, you'd need to order a pizza. I didn't like the drinks/cocktail, which were expensive. read more

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(This review somehow didn't get posted when we wrote when we first went, but I have an update from tonight at the bottom). When we finally pulled the trigger and made a reservation at Pagu, we were so excited. But to say it was underwhelming is generous. It started with our sake flight. The sparkling sake was flat, obviously from a bottle that had been open a while. The nigori, an unfiltered sake, was poured unshaken. Anyone who knows sake knows that you have to shake nigori otherwise you're drinking the sour top portion, which is not representative of the sake. We followed up with the oyster shooters. Friends, I've had MANY oyster shooters but NEVER have had one so misguided. Disgusting. It was a bizarre portion of sparkling ginger soda topped with an oyster and ikura. Just clumsy. The procession of dishes were fine. The shishitos were good but tepid. The uni ikura mazemen was strange, as piping hot uni and ikura is not an ideal way to serve such delicate elements. The cod was goodish, but the seaweed salad is an overwhelming partner for the sweet subtle fish. If it were just the ok food and subpar sake I might have given them 3 stars. But. We ordered their owl's whatever cocktail, expecting a tiki cocktail as described in the menu. But for the whopping 20+ dollars for the drink, we received what we SWEAR was literally jaeger on ice. It was totally undrinkable. Even the server thought there was something seriously off. We proceed with the meal, only one course in, expecting a new drink is on thFast forward to the end of the meal, the manager comes over and explains that that's the way it's supposed to be (which is fine) but now we've had an entire meal with no drinks. She brought us over a drink menu and never came back. The server explained it's not his fault that the bar never fixed our drink and maybe that's partially true. But as a former server myself, the whole meal experience was inexcusable. No discount or complimentary offering was made for the very disappointing experience. Will not be back. UPDATE: we wanted to give it another try as it had been a while and decided to order takeout this time. literally everything we ordered was awful. Mushy, overly salty, and somehow also flavorless. Both cooked fish dishes and sashimi dishes were fishy (not in a normal, acceptable way, like in a poor quality ingredient way). And good lord was it expensive. The cake was desert dry, the icing was made from something like crisco. The matcha cookie was inedible. The salad was a wet clumpy flavorless ball with almost no ingredients but a couple snap peas and salty radishes. Never again, sayonara Pagu. read more

I'm a foodie and saw this restaurant was a James Beard award semi finalist and decided to give it a try. Before talking about the food let's mention everything else. First and it could just be me, they need a better sign out front. If you're not familiar with the area you definitely need your GPS. It's very open, bright, clean. Some tables are a smidge too close in my opinion but understand the need to use all available space as best you can. From the moment you walk in everyone has a smile and are friendly, happy to help, offer suggestions and explain/answer questions. One of the friendliest waitstaff I've encountered in a while. Service itself was also great, prompt and courteous. If I could give 5 stars for everything but the food I would. But since the food is factored in I can only give 3 stars though it really would be 3 and a 1/2. I have been in the food industry for over 30yrs and with Covid and economy I understand costs have gone up but you can still go places that make it worth the price for what you get portion wise, this is not such a place. We tried 2 different starters, 3 entrees and 2 desserts. When my friend and I left we were wishing for just a little more for what we paid. Mostly everything was very tasty, some were great, some were ok and one was a dud. There was a hamachi sashimi, yummy but slightly over sauced. Wasn't anything we hadn't had before. A squid ink bao with fried oyster, oyster itself lot of flavor but the rest was ok we enjoyed it overall. The bone marrow....I've had bone marrow many places and this one makes the bottom of that list. Again the flavor was nice but hardly any bone marrow it was basically sautéed mushrooms. Are favorite was the cod, though slightly under cooked the sweet hint flavor with the pickled veggies made up for that. We've also had duck confit many places and this one didn't wow us, just ok. It was the only dish that seemed worth its price though. For dessert the tofu foam and black sesame was a unique combination and surprisingly very good maybe a little too sweet. And lastly the olive oil cake, sigh, the cake itself was good but whatever jam they served tasted like it came from a jar. The texture was off for us as well. Both desserts came with maple flavored soft serve drizzled with olive oil which we had never had, again surprisingly tasty. Overall I will not be going back. There were some interesting dishes and again some were great but the price to portion is just not worth it. As always never take my word and give it a try yourself. read more

Reservations were a bust. Unable to accommodate us and kept going back and forth about COVID protocols. Couldn't tell you how the food was because they were unaccommodating to provide service. read more

I would like to give this restaurant 4 stars, but after our recent dining experience I cannot. The food was good, the service was pretty good but the management practices are not. We had a $195 subtotal that ended up being a $300 bill for 4 people. After the receipt was printed we found out we were charged a 20% COVID fee (not a tip). While I understand that restaurants have taken a hit and there are additional fees associated with this, $40 additional for being able to dine outside is a bit outrageous. I've seen as a standard 3%-5%. The worst part is we inquired about this additional fee, and it took the waiter a while to even find it in tiny text on the side of the menu. To not make this very high additional fee clear upfront is truly not right and a bit slimy. So do I not tip 20% because of this fee?...no that is not fair to the server. To the management - this practice is not right, your prices are not cheap to begin with and the lack of transparency is wrong. This experience left us feeling wronged and also with a bitter taste. I would strongly suggest you change your ways or it will further hurt your business. Because of this we will likely not be returning. read more

I'll skip commenting on service - as I have been giving a wide berth to everyone bouncing back from Covid - we're just thrilled be to be back out dining. We had high expectations for Pagu given the pedigree of the owner and chef, so was eager to try things out. They are presently only using the outdoor patio for now it would seem, but the dining room looks cool and would love to see what things are like once fully back to normal; the patio is spacious and very nice. As for the food - its was big hits or big misses. We tried 4 dishes from the tapas style menu. A "snack" appetizer of squid ink bao buns were amazing - tasty and unique. We also opted for the cedar campfire black cod - perfection in its simplicity - the fish was incredibly moist and fresh. A greens dish titled "Snap Peas" (an update to their Edamame Hummus) arrived with 5 snap peas - which seemed to be an egregious error in naming - I'd suggest sticking to calling the dish Edamame Hummus as opposed to leading the diner in to thinking they are getting some some snap peas; the edamame hummus was unfortunately unmemorable. Last was the Mapo Tufu - which ended the dinner on a better note - rice was cooked to perfection, and the pork and tofu had a nice kick to it. We tried 3 of their cocktails; all were a bit on the small side, and the presence of some unique ingredients were faint, almost unnoticeable (did not detect strawberry in the strawberry Negroni, peach jam in the Pica Pika was not there; that said, it appears that the servers are double-timing making drinks at a table and the bar is not presently in use, so perhaps once a proper bartender is back at the helm, the quality of drinks will improve. All told though - we appreciate the quality and potential and will most certainly give it another try down the road. Just would manage expectations for the short term for now...... read more

I wasn't really sure what to expect with Pagu, because many modern fusion restaurants end up being over the top or just plain strange, but I loved my meal here! My husband and I came here to celebrate after graduation and had an excellent experience. The service was phenomenal and the food delicious. We were especially impressed with the octopus...it was cooked perfectly and flavored very well. I also really liked the roasted mushroom mazeman, and they even gave us free croquetas as part of a promotion they were doing for graduating students. I definitely look forward to returning and would highly recommend Pagu as yet another good option for a special night out in the Central Square area. read more

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First time visiting Boston and Pagu was recommended by a friend from the area. We checked it out the other day and the food was amazing! We had: Cheesy Wafflato Tempura Brussel Sprouts Pork Belly Bao Cedar Campfire Black Cod Teriyaki Salmon Childhood Fried Rice Napa Cabbage Lomo Honey Dew My personal favorites are the ones I attached photos of. Service was excellent as well. The staff was very attentive. Definitely recommend this place and would come back if I'm ever back in the area. read more

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We had our rehearsal dinner for our wedding at Pagu. It was perfect. It's been 3 months since we had it and I still have people telling me how much they loved the food. The whole experience was amazing from start to finish. All the staff, Tracy the chef owner), and Caroline, the event coordinator, was very professional and wonderfully nice and kind. Plus their patio is dog friendly. I see they are getting negative reviews because of the vax requirement, but if you're skipping this place because of something that's been easily and freely available for so long, you're missing out on an amazing restaurant. I wish I lived in Cambridge so I could go more often! read more

I'm a big fan of Pagu- great food (small plates of Japanese/Spanish fusion), great service, nice patio, hard to go wrong here. I started with a tasty Purple Rain cocktail (vibrant purple Tiki drink), and then two of us split the following: -Cheesy wafflato: BEST. THING. EVER. Cheesy potatoes crisped up in waffle form? I could eat a dozen of these and be perfectly happy. -Tortilla with chorizo: second best thing ever- how can you go wrong with a delicious potato egg cake covered in aioli topped with (mini-hot-dog-esque) chorizo? -Squid ink oyster bao: a tasty, well-balanced bite. -Xo gai lan: solid choice if you're looking to add veg to your meal (note that it does have some heat) -Jamon iberico: delicious, as usual/expected. -Chocolate cake: fine but not memorable, would skip next time. We left full but not stuffed, and were very satisfied with the whole experience. Definitely check them out (tip: they have happy hour food deals). read more

Pagu - Purple Rain - Japanese Near Me - Cambridge, Massachusetts

Went on Friday night after work, ordered 2 drinks, bravas, squid ink bao, xo gai lan, sucking pig ramen (substitute crispy pork belly with Rita's pork), and oxtail stew. 4 of 5 bravas were served in hasselback style, 1 was not, for a moment I thought maybe they did not complete this dish. Ramen and stew were not that impressive, especially factor in the price. The seasoning of Rita's pork reminded me of what my dad used to cook for me when I was a kid, it is good. Squid ink bao is the only dish that brought some surprise to the table, bao is ok, the combination of fried oyster with shiso is great, just mind there may be a very small piece of oyster shell in it (my husband and I had same experience from 2 buns) Being an Asian and had been to Spain, this is not very impressive, even consider it serves fusion dishes. But is not a bad option if you are in the area hoping for something different. Last note, they charge 4% kitchen appreciation fee. read more

Must visit and try! One of my favorite outdoor dining options right now due to COVID and dining option before/after this is resolved. Their cheesy wafflato, duck confit, cod, and suckling pig dishes were amazing along with their cocktail and wine selection. read more

Pagu - Suckling pig - Japanese Near Me - Cambridge, Massachusetts

Amazing food and service! Had a 20 pax party for our daughter's graduation and very happy with the restaurant's menu, planning, communication and service! Definitely recommend for meal or party services. read more

This restaurant puts forward a wonderful aesthetic, but in reality each dish really just seemed to be about 70% carbs, 30% everything else. Maybe it was a fault in what we ordered, so I'm willing to give Pagu another shot, but for the prices, I was a bit disappointed with the overall dishes. For example, the "avocado y pan," which had potential to be an interesting twist on avocado toast just had mashed (not even particularly appealing) avocado scooped on thick slices of bread with nothing else. The Bao in particular were another disappointment in terms of the "good stuff" to carb ratio as after two bites, I found myself left with just half a bun. Overall, I just guess given the price point and interesting restaurant concept, I was hoping for more from these dishes. My favorite dish was the fried goat cheese, beet, and arugula salad. I definitely would want to return to try some of the other protein dishes such as the ham or tuna tartare. read more

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I don't usually post negative reviews but my experience at Pagu last Thursday (6/16) calls for one. Pagu has long been an after work oasis for my co-workers and I and we stand by their experienced bar staff and tasty cocktails. Since the pandemic we have been a work from home office but last Thursday we were celebrating one of our birthdays and we decided to visit Pagu for a cocktail. We were met at the door by the rudest hostess I have honestly ever experienced. Although wearing a mask, you could see her contempt at us right out of the gate. We were told abruptly "no tables without food". We are friendly enough so we said that's fine, we will order something. Then we were rudely told to show vaccine cards..(although I find this policy ridiculous at this stage of the pandemic when we know that the current variant can infect and be spread by vaccinated ) we respect this and we all were desperate to find ours. I had a different wallet with me so I didn't have mine. This turned out to not even matter because this hostess was so blatantly rude while we searched that we all simultaneously decided to leave and go somewhere else. Total VIBE KILL. Pagu, if this is who you showcase in the front of the house I'm afraid many will leave before the party can start. Won't be back anytime soon. PS. Really. Zero star review. 1 star is generous. Kelly H. read more

I really was looking forward to trying this restaurant... because I've heard so many great things about it. I had the ramen... and it was seriously one of my least favorite ramens I've ever had. The broth was bland... there was just nothing going for it. The meat also lacked flavor. I also had the pork baos... and it wasn't terrible, but it also wasn't memorable. I've had better baos that are more melt in your mouth and rich and delicious... needless to say it was a disappointing experience food wise. I think the kitchen might have had an off day, so I feel like I should give it another try, but it was just so disappointing that I'm not sure I want to... read more

Pagu - Ramen - Japanese Near Me - Cambridge, Massachusetts

Pagu is amazing! The food and service were fantastic! I loved the braised pork belly bao and spicy knife cut noodles! I also have a severe nut-allergy and Pagu is now completely nut-free! The matcha cookie with sunflower seeds was delicious. read more

Pagu - Menu - Japanese Near Me - Cambridge, Massachusetts

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Had a fantastic experience from start to finish! All tables are given a complimentary dish of olives--big plus in my book, keep em' coming! The restaurant itself is spacious, boasting an open kitchen layout so you can see how your food is prepared. Nothing spacious about the distance between you and your guests though, as I found the table space to be quite intimate in the best way possible. My boyfriend and I ordered two oyster shooters to start, steak tartare, grilled octopus, and the uni ikura mazemen. -Oyster shooters-tasty, albeit overshadowed by the carbonated soda it was served with. -Grilled octopus-expertly grilled. The mint and citrus were nice complements to each other. -Uni ikura mazemen-not particularly memorable and had a rather steep price tag for what it was. Would benefit from a nitamago (eggs are an instant game changer). -Steak tartare-loved this so much, we ordered a second one for the end of our meal. Excellent music was played throughout the night. I NEEDED to get my hands on the playlist and was enthralled when the manager was willing to share his Spotify playlist with me. My current jam "Born Too Late" by Dent May is all thanks to the staff at Pagu! read more

I love Pagu so much! I love the atmosphere (especially the open kitchen), the gracious service, and the beautiful food. I really couldn't imagine what Japanese/Spanish food would be like together--and I'm so glad it far exceeded my expectations. Truly, the food at Pagu really is just all of my favorite things. I recently had the lamb boa and it was the best boa I've ever had. I love the corn, the special collar dish (with rice and hand roll fixin's), whatever the sashimi of the day is, and the matcha cookie. My goal is to eat my way through the entire menu! read more

Overall the food was good and the service was good too. We had the green beans dish, the calamari then the mushroom spicy noodles and the pork spicy noodles. I would recommend all those dishes. They all had great flavor. The ambiance of the place is also really great. The bathrooms were also clean! The one thing I didn't like was the guy who was in the floral shirt, glasses and the left hand brace who was sprinkling the pepper on the food after they were prepared he used NO GLOVES. I watched him touch the pen, push on doors scratch his head and then used the same hand to sprinkle spice/pepper onto the food of everyone. I think he should wear gloves while handling even the sprinkling of spices at the end on the food. Please fix this, before you lose customers. read more

I've been here twice and both times I was happy with my experience Good service. Good food. Good ambiance. Napa cabbage was surprisingly good. Shiitake mushroom was bit salty but flavorful. I would've loved it if it was less salty. Garlic crisps in the fried rice just made up for what could've been ordinary fried rice. Curry crab croquettes were okay, couldn't really taste crab. Short rib was very very good, very tender, so flavorful. Cod was also very tasty, but oily. Wasn't a big fan of the seaweed side. Chocolate cake with pepper corn icecream was interesting. I thought the chocolate and the spice went well together. The pepper corn flavor is very mild. I was afraid that the icecream was gonna be spicy. I would recommend this place and would revisit. read more

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Nice environment... reservation at 6:15... arrived before 6 and we got seated right away. Good service but kind of slow when serving since they want you to take your time to eat instead having all your food at the table. As a fast eater, small tapas doesn't take lot of time to eat. We ordered few appetizers, the curry crab was really good and cheesy waffles. Ordered the squid ink bao which nothing special, food art. Midnight ramen they split in 2 portions even we did not asked but it was good that too oily and it taste better without the spicy (destroy the taste of the soup) and fried rice not recommend since nothing special and overprice. For dessert, purple yam definitely not recommend as it taste weird for me but black sesame tofu was good, not sweet... not much tofu taste since the black sesame covers it. read more

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The food small portion . It's good if you are on diet and light meals. The staff was education to us before we are ordered. Appreciate that . We had Mexican cola , tempura , veggie paella. Recommend matcha cookies is the best read more

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Pagu is this gem of a restaurant in Cambridge that not enough people are talking about. Inventive food? Check. Great drinks? Check. A staff which makes you feel like family? Check. So why haven't I been until recently? I'm not entirely sure, but better late than never. I came for brunch with my friend, and indulged in a number of their creative menu items: Squid ink lobster tortilla - a fluffy Spanish tortilla topped with a solid amount of guacamole and a hefty topping of lobster. Pink beets tortilla - delicious and colorful beet sauce on top of their authentic Spanish tortilla. Cuke & ninja radish crudité - an insanely beautiful and fresh display of veggies. Squid ink oyster bao - definitely one of my favorite dishes. The bao was incredibly light and the fried oyster was perfection. Roasted banana bread - this was such a delightful way to end the meal. The banana bread was moist and topped with a nice scoop of coffee ice-cream and a brûléed banana which I would eat a million times over. I can't wait to come back here for any meal of the day (they serve breakfast, lunch, brunch, and dinner)! Thank you, Pagu for doing you. read more

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Having dined here many times over the past several years we were delighted the food and service remain exceptional. The staff are so friendly. We ordered the stripped bass ceviche, beet salad, black cod and squid ink bao with fried oyster were all delicious. Having not tried the desserts before we went for the dark chocolate cake (is there possibly a better version?) and a spectacular cheesecake. You will not be disappointed. read more

I've never written a Yelp review in my life but, my God, this place is so terrible that it convinced me to write this. DO NOT GO HERE. This is the worst restaurant that I've ever been to at this price point. The food had me wishing that I had just stayed hungry instead. First, we started off with French Fries and the Braised Pork Belly Bao. French Fries were under-seasoned, stale, and boring. It came with aioli, ketchup, and a Thai Chili Sauce. The aioli was likewise flavorless and felt like I was just eating mayonnaise. The Braised Pork Belly Bao was by far the best item on the menu and it wasn't even anything mind-blowing. Just tender pork in a fluffy bao. And it also lacked seasoning as well. Next up, we ordered the Cedar Campfire Black Cod. The size of this dish would have been okay if it were meant for a 3-year-old child. There is no justification for this dish to be $30+. Flavor was good but the portion was absolutely ridiculous. The flavor of Biang Biang noodles was ok but the noodles were thick enough to be bulletproof. I could go on with the other dishes we ordered but I'm sure you get the idea. Do not go here unless you are looking for a bad deal and a terrible time. read more