Pammy's — Restaurant in Cambridge

Pammy’s: A Disappointing Attempt at Fine Dining in an Already Underwhelming Food Scene

I went to Pammy’s for my birthday, hoping for something truly special—something that would finally stand out in Cambridge’s underwhelming restaurant scene. Unfortunately, it turned out to be one of the most disappointing fine dining experiences I’ve had anywhere, both in terms of food quality and overall value.

Ambiance & Reception: 8.5/10

The space itself is warm, inviting, and well-designed. The host was exceptional—friendly, accommodating, and professional. However, the lighting felt oddly scattered, and some design choices seemed more aesthetic than functional.

Service: 6/10

For a fine dining restaurant, the service felt cold, defensive, and dismissive rather than polished and professional. Our waiter, in particular, responded curtly when we inquired about vegetarian options. It wasn’t outright rude, but it lacked the attentiveness and hospitality you expect at this level.

Food: Overpriced, Mediocre, and Overly Focused on Fancy Ingredients

This is where Pammy’s completely fails. The food isn’t just overpriced—it relies on expensive ingredients to justify high prices rather than actual skill, balance, or execution.

Here’s what we had: • Lumache Bolognese (gochujang pasta) – Supposedly a signature dish, but the flavors didn’t work. The gochujang felt forced and out of place, rather than enhancing the dish. • Lasagna Bianca – The cheese was oddly gooey and stretchy, making for a strange, unappetizing texture. It came with “greens,” which turned out to be literally just lettuce with some Parmesan on top—lazy and uninspired. • Squid Ink Gnocchi with Lobster – The gnocchi itself was fine, but the squid ink added nothing except visual appeal. The lobster was overcooked, rubbery, and flavorless, and the sauce had no depth. • Fried Cruller Dessert – This was an attempt at being fancy, but it was just a basic cruller (tractor wheel-style donut) served with yogurt. It looked nice but tasted forgettable. • Complimentary Cookies – Two tiny chocolate chip cookies that felt like an afterthought rather than a meaningful touch.

Bread Service: Basic and Unmemorable

Pammy’s does offer a bread service, but it was nothing special—just a simple slice of bread with olive oil. The crust was nice, but the inside (especially in the middle) was too soft and mushy. The olive oil was good quality, but again, nothing remarkable. It was a completely standard bread-and-oil offering rather than an experience-enhancing touch.

Trying Too Hard to Be Fine Dining—But Failing at It

One of the biggest problems with Pammy’s is that it feels like it’s desperately trying to be fine dining, but it doesn’t actually know how to execute it. • The menu throws in every luxury ingredient possible—foie gras, oysters, tartare, lobster, truffle—as if that alone makes a place high-end. • The menu descriptions are over-the-top pretentious—making everything sound more elaborate than it really is. • The plating is carefully arranged to look upscale, but when the flavors are underwhelming, it just feels like style over substance.

Great fine dining restaurants don’t rely on luxury ingredients and elaborate plating to justify high prices. They execute dishes with perfect precision, balance flavors beautifully, and create something unique and memorable. Pammy’s does none of that.

Final Verdict: 3/10

Pammy’s is not fine dining—it’s a pricey, pretentious attempt at fine dining that completely fails in execution. The food is mediocre, the vegetarian options are laughably bad, and the service is defensive and cold rather than polished and professional.

I genuinely do not understand how this place has such high reviews. It seems like diners in Boston and Cambridge are more impressed by fancy-sounding menu descriptions, high prices, and Instagram-worthy plating than by actual flavor and execution.

If Pammy’s existed in DC, San Francisco, or New York, it wouldn’t last long. There are far better fine dining restaurants at this price point in...

Let me start by saying I have been looking forward to going to this restaurant for a long time, as I live in the neighborhood and anxiously peered into the window while walking by over the past few months. When my girlfriend and I found out that it had finally announced a soft opening, we were in! Without knowing anything about the menu, we had no idea what to expect during our experience.

The atmosphere in the bar/dining area is great. The brown leather, frosted glass globe sconces, and gold accents give off a cool, 1920's vibe that works for a great date spot or a classy place to meet up with friends.

After sitting down at a stylish, rounded booth table, we decided to go with glasses of wine. I went with a regional glass of white from Maine, and it was fantastic. Who knew Maine was a wine hotspot? We then proceeded to order 2 appetizers. The Heirloom tomatoes and the octopus. Both were absolutely perfect! I've seriously never had octopus that was cooked that well. Literally melt in your mouth texture. The tomato dish (paired with a piece of garlic bread) was certainly memorable as well. After ordering 2 appetizers, we took a look at the menu and decided that we would both be full after splitting a pasta dish, after all it was $26 and we would be getting desserts to top everything off. The pasta arrived (super fast might I add, service was fantastic) and my girlfriend and I took a look at it and wondered where the rest of it went. Seriously there were 10 noodles (we know because we each had 5 and could count them on one hand). The pasta was great, but it left us both hungry and we had already spent $80.

To finish the meal off, we were going to order a dessert, but they were $11 each and also not filling (judging by the items ordered at the table next to us), so we decided to call it a night and grab some dessert at a great bakery down the street.

Atmosphere 5/5 Service 5/5 Food 4/5 Value 1/5

Overall, it pains me to say that we will not be going back anytime soon unless they decide to increase their portion sizes or lower their price point. It's hard to leave feeling satisfied after spending $100, and think about grabbing takeout Chinese from the place next door to satisfy your rumbling stomach. If you are celebrating a special occasion and don't mind spending $60 per guest, then I would highly recommend this. Otherwise, I would recommend Waypoint (right down the street) or Giulia (make a reservation 3 weeks in advance) for a...

In town from NYC, brought here by a friend. First off, service was amazing, approachable and insanely friendly. Very genuine and high touch service, and not fake "I'm nice because it's hospitality" level of service. Real "I'm so glad you're here and I hope you love it" kind of vibe.

Food was a prix fix "choose your own adventure" style menu where you pick any 3 dishes. Got the Lumache bolognese, the Mafaldine tripe pasta, and the skirt steak with pineapple confit. All were incredible winners. Lumache bolognese only LOOKS like your typical orechiette bolognese, but it's so much more with the gochujang bringing an insane depth of flavor with a hint of spice and the extra pockets of the Lumache shape squirreling extra flavor in each bite. It doesn't bring the frutiness a Calabrian chili might, but instead a strong and serious study in savory. The intensity is tempered with a basil chiffonade, but I felt it could have used a bit more to give my palate a rest. The Mafaldine was the most fun for me, as it was hard to distinguish the pasta from the tripe. When it first arrived it reminded me so much of the chili oil tripe dishes you get from sichuan/hunan restaurants, and the flavors are definitely there, but again, rocks around with savory flavors instead of the Mala (I don't like Mala) or vinegar from that dish. It's their own interpretation and I love it so much more this way. The labneh underneath upped the game even more though, tempering the spice and savory with creamy tang, just enough to make it interesting, and keep you going. The skirt steak was also amazing. The steak itself was cooked perfectly tender, and retained all that intense beefiness you love and want from a skirt steak without crossing over to too much minerality. The pineapple confit was a nice counter, especially the caramelized bits, though because it was dark I sometimes confused steak with pineapple. This is definitely a dish where you want to assemble your bites to enjoy the Combination of flavors and textures. Pineapple, steak, swipe in Jimmy Nardello peppers. Wonderful. Special shout out for the lasagna bianco my wife ordered. I love layered things, and I've never had a lasagna where I could sink my teeth through every delicious al dente layer of pasta and COUNT them on the way down like you would with an excellent croissant.

I will be certain to come back next time I'm in...