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In fine dining, restaurants sell the experience just as much of the food. Pagu — a 2024 James Beard Outstanding Restaurant semifinalist in Cambridge known for its Japanese and Spanish cuisine — proves that a dining experience is about much more than each singular bite. While Pagu’s attention to detail is impressive, some issues with its portions, service, and overarching concept make its overall performance feel lackluster.

Pagu’s dining space provides a laid-back, yet mysterious atmosphere. It is open concept, with most tables giving guests a clear view of the kitchen. Dark blue walls and plain wood paneling make the space feel modern, though not cold. The atmosphere is not stuffy due to the space’s adorable pug memorabilia — dog-themed stickers and artwork grace the entrance, giving an impression of quirkiness when diners first step into the establishment.

The restaurant’s tendency toward the peculiar is reflected in some of its appetizers. Pagu’s menu is full of familiar favorites — from tartare to bao — but it puts only minor spins on each offering. For example, the patatas bravas appetizer consists not of sliced potatoes doused in toppings, but of tiny fingerling potatoes splashed with sauce. The dish’s price of $12 may generate surprise when only five baby potatoes appear on your plate. Still, the dish was beautifully cooked; the potatoes were sliced with tiny ridges so as to contrast the fluffy interior with a latticed, crispy exterior. The Thai chili aioli dolloped on each spud gave them an edge of spiciness that didn’t overwhelm the palate. While the portion is disappointingly small, the quality of each bite is nevertheless impressive.

The highlight of Pagu’s menu is, without a doubt, its signature Guchi’s Midnight Ramen. The dish is packed with bouncy, hand-pulled noodles that give the soup a factor of heartiness. A marinated egg floats at the dish’s center, with the yolk lending the soup base a creamy texture that balances the kick of the chili crisp. Chewy bits of pork belly and a sheet of nori swim in the ramen’s broth, giving each bite variation in its texture and flavor. It is not overly salty, as ramen can often become, but rather revels in an umami-forward taste. The dish is filling and priced at $18, making it a fair means to access top-quality ramen.

The chicken katsu is another notable menu offering. The dish consists of a perfectly juicy cutlet of fried chicken drizzled with a black garlic barbeque sauce and a creamy aioli. A briny and not overly sweet serving of pickled cabbage cuts through the crunchy, spiced exterior of the chicken. The coating of the katsu contains curry spices, giving it an incredible depth of flavor. Yet, the dish is missing the rice that often comes alongside curry katsu. The repeated use of crunchy ingredients could have been better accented by a softer, more subtle flavor in the form of some simple rice, and the portion size of the dish could have been improved.

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The menu’s petite offerings seem to signal that Pagu places itself in the high dining world, but the restaurant’s service doesn’t reflect this bar of excellence. Be prepared to wait up to 45 minutes between courses — creating an awkward pause when you aren’t sharing and forcing friends to eat before one another lest the food becomes cold. On the night that The Harvard Crimson visited Pagu, these long wait times were not acknowledged by the servers, making for a strangely clinical experience that contrasted against the homey vibe of the restaurant space. The waiters also did not make suggestions about the menu or seem energized by the restaurant’s overall concept, leaving diners to fend for themselves when navigating the fine dining experience. Surprisingly, for a restaurant dedicated to “food and service” — according to their website — Pagu simply doesn’t impress in this regard.

The concept behind Pagu also doesn’t quite follow through on its promises. The restaurant focuses on Spanish and Japanese fusion, but the servings seem to just pair different dishes from these regions on the same menu instead of actually creating anything new. The katsu and ramen didn’t exhibit notable Spanish influence in any dimension, and the patatas bravas only mirrored Japanese food in that they were as small as pieces of sashimi. The moment that you sit down at Pagu, the waiters tell you that much of the food is served tapas-style, but one can’t help but wonder if “tapas-style” is code for winnowing down the portions. Pagu seems to stand on the line between marrying and pairing two types of cuisine, and it insufficiently communicates this questionable attempt to visitors.

Despite this, when you take a bite of Pagu’s food, you won’t be disappointed. The restaurant, however, also proves that there is more to dining than just taste. Pricing, service, concept, and portion are all key to an excellent experience. Pagu itself recognizes this distinction; in its website’s “About” section, it proclaims that “‘Food’ is not JUST something we eat.”

2024 James Beard Best Chef of the Northeast Semifinalist Chef Tracy Chang follows up on this statement in some ways — she is a powerhouse in community service and knows how to use her position as a chef for good. Yet, somehow, despite this focus on that first-bite feeling, Pagu begins to fray at the edges when you consider what’s occurring off the plate.

—Staff writer Hannah E. Gadway can be reached at hannah.gadway@thecrimson.com.